Masterplan
line up: (L to R back row) John Thorp, David West, Irena Bauman,
Ian Tod with (front row L to R) Dave Hull and Kevin Grady.
Over
350 people packed out the first session of this year’s
4x4 making places 2004 series on the theme of ‘Masterplan
Mania’.
David West from Alsop Architects kicked off the first event
of this series entitled ‘Masterplanning what’s it
all about?’ filling the room with the energy and passion
for his mission to revitalize Bradfrod’s city centre
with a giant lake. He suggested that the industry ditch the
term masterplan and replace it with ‘framework’
- a view shared by other speakers.
The audience received a fascinating insight into the wider
thought-processes poured into Alsop’s brief from Bradford
Centre Regeneration to stimulate an area of the city centre
just 2km by 2km. West looked at the rapid development and
change of the wider M62 corridor from Liverpool to Hull, examining
Bradford’s position within it in order to understand
the role that the 2km by 2km stretch played.
He described how the topography and original water system
of the city had become a driving force behind proposals to
remove redundant buildings and infrastructure to create ‘One
Landscape Many Views’ - a new interactive public space
that will act as both a destination and a value generator
for the city. A key message was that the people of the towns
and cities must be encouraged to come forward and be involved
in shaping its future.
The second speaker, Dave Hull of consulting engineers Buro
Happold, emphasised how successful masterplanning is dependent
upon strong partnerships and shared aspirations to achieve
development for everyone.
The third speaker, Leeds Civic Architect John Thorp, who,
with Koetter Kim, is leading the city team on Yorkshire Forward’s
Renaissance programme, outlined the painstaking research and
processes behind achieving the vision for Leeds stemming from
its past history and comparing it with the cities of Edinburgh,
Barcelona and Florence. The Civic Architect suggested a model
for the whole of Leeds based on a flower with a central core
and radiating petals reaching out into the countryside and
surrounding communities.
John Thorp’s Flower
of Leeds
Bauman Lyons director Irena Bauman, renowned for her straight
speaking, provided the most thought-provoking presentation
of the evening.
Bauman posed some hard questions about the challenging relationships
between Yorkshire Forward and the region’s local authorities,
which have to work together on the Renaissance initiative.
Alluding to Alsop’s involvement in Bradford’s masterplan
as a London practice, Bauman questioned the validity of commissioning
consultants outside the area – a query that was re-enforced
by Gordon Carey of Carey Jones Architects who referred to
them as being ‘parachuted in’. The resulting view
was that the parachutists have a useful role but needed to
be combined with local skills and talent.
The ensuing question and answer session, facilitated by chairman
Kevin Grady, Director of the Leeds Civic Trust, highlighted
that the issue of community engagement was close to many hearts.
As the discussion transferred from the heat of the packed
lecture theatre to a local bar, the consensus appeared to
be that although enlisting community ‘buy in’ was
essential, the secret of mastering it had yet to be achieved.
Said series founder Ian Tod: “This was a cracking start
to this years 4x4 making places 2004 series which offers a
forum, not to say framework, to provide a better understanding
of what’s going on, just as the task of delivering the
transformations gets underway.”
The three subsequent programmes ‘Getting started - how
do we make it happen?’ ‘Experience - what can we
learn?’ and ‘The bigger picture - are we making
places that last?’ - were also extremely well received
by the audience.
