|
|
Archive@NYU >
Institute of Fine Arts >
Institute of Fine Arts Conference Proceedings >
Front to Rear: Architecture and Planning during World War II, March 7-8, 2009 >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2451/30276
|
| Title: | Neville Chamberlain: An Unlikely Influence in Post-War British Planning |
| Authors: | Potter, Edmund |
| Keywords: | architecture
urban planning
World War II
Great Britain
Chamberlain, Neville |
| Issue Date: | 19-Sep-2011 |
| Abstract: | While the name Neville Chamberlain has an accepted place within the
World War II lexicon, it is largely absent in the study of the conflict
in relation to architecture and town planning. During the inter-war
period, Birmingham, England led the nation in council housing, due in
part to the city's alignment with the political career of Chamberlain.
As he rose to prominence in the Conservative Party so did the fortunes
of the community. Shortly after he became Prime Minister in 1937,
Chamberlain used British fears of an air war to launch an investigation
into the distribution of the nation's industrial population. This
paper will explore how Chamberlain's attempt to improve the living
conditions of the working class through the Garden City aesthetic
influenced the New Towns Act of 1946. It will discuss how the model of
Birmingham led the Prime Minister's Barlow Commission to call for an
'embargo' on future factory construction in London and other large
industrial centers. Rather than continuing the policy of rebuilding
city centers with affordable housing, new disbursed communities
(satellite towns) would be established throughout the country based on
the Garden City model. This paper will examine how Patrick Abercrombie,
who had been a member of the commission, salvaged many of the concepts
of the plan despite the liability of being linked with one of the chief
authors of appeasement. It will discuss Abercrombie's 1944 Greater
London Plan, which called for eight to ten towns to be built in a ring
around the capital. Together, these new communities could re-house
383,000 people. Abercrombie's plan inspired a weary nation and became
the core for much of post-war planning. Finally, this paper will
discuss how Chamberlain’s patronage impacted Birmingham’s
role as a leader in town planning and post-war design. In 1945,
Birmingham, like much of central London, lay in ruins. The Germans had
damaged 103,919 homes, many in areas originally set aside for slum
clearance. During 1943, the Ministry of Town and Country Planning
established the Advisory Panel on Redevelopment of City Centres.
Birmingham's City Engineer, Herbert Manzoni, was one of the panel
members. Despite this, three years later, the Government refused to
give Birmingham the right to develop a new town under the 1946 Act. The
new Labour Government hoped to create the healthy environment of the
inter-war estates, but without the middle class cultural agenda promoted
by inter-war architects and planners. Rather than rely on 'traditional'
English forms, they looked to the Modernists who had been driven out by
Hitler before the war. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2451/30276 |
| Appears in Collections: | Front to Rear: Architecture and Planning during World War II, March 7-8, 2009
|
All items in Faculty Digital Archive are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved.
|
