0:00:02 > 0:00:05The cities that we live in - their busy streets
0:00:05 > 0:00:09and imposing buildings tell us much about our past.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13But no history of architecture would be complete
0:00:13 > 0:00:15without considering the unbuilt.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20The grand plans which were conceived, yet never realised.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25I'm setting out to discover how the great minds of the past
0:00:25 > 0:00:29imagined the future, to investigate the daring dreams and schemes
0:00:29 > 0:00:32that were put forward, and which very nearly happened,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34that would have created a totally different Britain
0:00:34 > 0:00:36to the one we know today.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42And it's here in our cities, the crucible of ideas and invention,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46that some of the most ambitious plans have been imagined.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Since the very first civilised societies,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54the greatest intellects of their time have produced masterplans
0:00:54 > 0:00:55for the perfect metropolis.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02In this programme I'm exploring how two radical thinkers
0:01:02 > 0:01:07devised colossal, transformative schemes for London and Glasgow,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11in a bid to create their very personal vision of the ideal city.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Separated by 400 years,
0:01:17 > 0:01:22both these grand plans started with a blank slate.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26One sought to create a magnificent baroque capital.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31The other a completely modern, efficient city of the future.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Welcome to the amazing world of unbuilt Britain.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53As an architectural historian, I believe that the unbuilt
0:01:53 > 0:01:57can tell us just as much, sometimes more,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00about our past as the projects which were realised.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07The cities we live in today have evolved over time.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09But the idea of the masterplan,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12the perfect arrangement of urban society,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14is a recurring theme throughout history.
0:02:16 > 0:02:22Somebody described the greatest invention of mankind as the city,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26and the future of society are cities.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28But what makes a city work?
0:02:30 > 0:02:33The city is about values, it's about aspirations.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37They're enlightening as well as offering prosperity.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43The search for the perfect metropolis goes back to antiquity.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46In Roman times Vitruvius,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49considered to be the first architectural historian,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52drew up a blueprint for the ideal city.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55His circular designs sought to promote harmony,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57and inspired many Renaissance cities.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Some designs were borne out of idealism
0:03:01 > 0:03:05such as Thomas Moore's 16th century concept of Utopia,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09while others were driven by a desire to display wealth and power.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13In the early 17th century, Charles I dreamed of building
0:03:13 > 0:03:18a grand new city complete with a spectacular palace
0:03:18 > 0:03:19to rival Versailles.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22With no surviving drawings,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25we can only guess how this might have looked.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Architects love to imagine the future,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30but it's rare for there to be the opportunity
0:03:30 > 0:03:32to create a city from scratch.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37However, in the case of the unbuilt projects that I want to explore,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41the bold designs produced were attempts to impose order
0:03:41 > 0:03:44after the chaos of two major catastrophes,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48the Great Fire of London and the Second World War.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51People saw these traumatic events as opportunities
0:03:51 > 0:03:53to create a new social order.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59The city of Glasgow proposed plans in the 1940s
0:03:59 > 0:04:03to sweep away all remnants of its poverty-stricken past,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07and, in its place, build a modern vision of the future.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11And several hundred years earlier, audacious plans were put forward
0:04:11 > 0:04:14to replace London's cramped medieval streets
0:04:14 > 0:04:18with a city of wide boulevards and magnificent piazzas.
0:04:20 > 0:04:26It's here in the capital that my journey begins, on the river Thames.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31London is an eclectic mix of the traditional and modern.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Its buildings, where people live and work,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37have developed over the centuries to create the city that we know today.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43The evolution of this city can be traced back to Roman times,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46and if you were travelling up this river in the 1600s
0:04:46 > 0:04:50you would have seen a thriving, crowded city
0:04:50 > 0:04:54with buildings crammed together in a haphazard fashion.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56This was a vibrant trading hub,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00destined to become the centre of Britain's Empire.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04But in the space of three days it all went up in smoke.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15As morning broke on the 2nd of September 1666,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Londoners were faced with a devastating crisis.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Their city was ablaze,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23and what came to be known as the Great Fire of London
0:05:23 > 0:05:26was devouring everything in its path.
0:05:28 > 0:05:34400 streets, 89 churches and more than 13,000 houses
0:05:34 > 0:05:37were consumed by the flames.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42It was calamitous, with some shock and horror and confusion.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45When I read Samuel Pepys about the birds trying to fly
0:05:45 > 0:05:48with burning wings, you know, it just really brings
0:05:48 > 0:05:51what a catastrophe it was home to me.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56But for some, the obliteration of the medieval capital
0:05:56 > 0:06:00offered the opportunity for radical urban renewal on a vast scale.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04This was an opportunity that had to be seized.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05On the 11th of September,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09just six days after the fire had been brought under control,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12the King was presented with a grand plan
0:06:12 > 0:06:15to rebuild the city along completely new lines.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18The author of this bold plan was just 33-years-old,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22and had just a smattering of architectural experience.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24His name was Christopher Wren.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Today, Wren is considered to be Britain's finest architect.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34But at the time of the fire he was yet to prove himself.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38To understand what drove him
0:06:38 > 0:06:40to draw up a design for an entirely new city,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44I've come to Westminster School where he spent his formative years.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49So, Adrian, what sort of a character was the young Wren?
0:06:49 > 0:06:50Oh, he was a swot.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52- He was a swot.- A proper geek.
0:06:52 > 0:06:53A proper geek.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56You couldn't get his nose out of a book.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59People talked about the early appearance of an uncommon genius.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01What did that genius extend to?
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Er, initially, I think, it's a voracious interest in all things -
0:07:06 > 0:07:09anatomy, physics, in the mathematical sciences.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11He's experimenting with sundials,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15he's a problem solver, he's an intellectual.
0:07:15 > 0:07:16A really prodigious talent.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Astonishing, just astonishing.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21But while Wren was a young man,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24England was in the midst of a brutal civil war
0:07:24 > 0:07:27which was ripping the country apart.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29That was a tremendously turbulent time.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31What impact did it have on Wren's life?
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Well, of course, it's a turbulent time for everybody.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39But for Wren in particular his own world is in chaos.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42His father, a clergyman, has been kicked out of his home,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44the Deanery at Windsor.
0:07:44 > 0:07:45His uncle, the Bishop of Ely,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48has been thrown into the Tower of London without trial, without charge.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And so Wren's expected career path, which would have been into the Church
0:07:51 > 0:07:53like his father, like his uncle,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55that's closed to him and suddenly he's kind of cast adrift.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58He doesn't know where he's going and what he's doing.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02When the Monarchy was restored in 1660,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Wren's family re-established their position in society.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09But having seen the chaos that had engulfed the country
0:08:09 > 0:08:13during the Civil War, Wren would spend the rest of his life
0:08:13 > 0:08:15trying to make sense of the world.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18He was interested in natural philosophy,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22coming to understand anything that one could see, feel or touch,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24to look at the world in a brand-new way.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27And so the whole world was his laboratory.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Wren became Professor of Astronomy here at Oxford
0:08:32 > 0:08:35before he was 30-years-old.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39But it was in architecture that he found the focus for all his talents.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Wren was one of the leading mathematicians of his age.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46I think he became interested in architecture
0:08:46 > 0:08:49and the technical and scientific problems involved in it
0:08:49 > 0:08:53and also the artistic possibilities, and he was brilliant at drawing.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55And so it combined all his interests -
0:08:55 > 0:08:57the technical side and the artistic endeavour.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02He became familiar with Vitruvius' De Architectura
0:09:02 > 0:09:04and absorbed the fundamental principles
0:09:04 > 0:09:07of classical architectural design.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Behind me is one of his earliest buildings, the Sheldonian Theatre.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20This was only Wren's second design - but it was a statement of intent.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21Classically inspired,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25but with ingenious new engineering and structural solutions,
0:09:25 > 0:09:27it illustrates beautifully
0:09:27 > 0:09:32the incredible grasp that Wren already had on his new profession.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35However, this was only one building.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Designing an entirely new city with such little experience
0:09:39 > 0:09:41was an incredible undertaking.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45When Wren sat down and thought about his new plan for London,
0:09:45 > 0:09:50there were two key areas. How could London be a modern city,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52and how could he invent modern architecture
0:09:52 > 0:09:55in order for London to be that modern city?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00In just six days, and with the embers still burning,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Wren completed his plan for a new capital city.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07And I've come here to All Souls College,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10where Wren had been a fellow in his early years as an academic,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12to see his masterplan for London.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20And there are some familiar landmarks
0:10:20 > 0:10:22that Wren gives us to orientate us.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24So, this is old London Bridge here.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28We have the river here, the river Thames, we have the Tower of London,
0:10:28 > 0:10:29which has survived the fire here.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33He's also drawn a dotted line that you can just see
0:10:33 > 0:10:35which shows the extent of the fire damage.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38So everything within this line has been destroyed by the fire.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Everything outside it has survived.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So everything within this line is Wren's new city.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Of course St Paul's has been destroyed in the fire,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50but there's a space for a new cathedral here in this piazza here.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51And we have also the Royal Exchange,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54which has also been lost in the fire, marked here.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58So, there are really two centres then between St Paul's
0:10:58 > 0:10:59and the Royal Exchange.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Yes, they're the two principle sites of Wren's new city.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07They're connected by one of Wren's main thoroughfares.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09And those thoroughfares are one of the defining features
0:11:09 > 0:11:13- of this new plan. - Mmm, absolutely.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15One of the main problems was congestion,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17the medieval city was very, very congested.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20These avenues that Wren proposes are much, much wider
0:11:20 > 0:11:23than the streets were in the medieval city.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25This plan was a complete break with the past,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29and Wren also took the opportunity to tackle some of London's
0:11:29 > 0:11:31most fundamental problems.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Wren seems to have been thinking of a set of rules
0:11:35 > 0:11:38to dictate this new city, one of which is moving a lot of the trades
0:11:38 > 0:11:41outside of the city, that were previously in the city.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44In particular, things like brew houses
0:11:44 > 0:11:46and bakers, which were causing a lot of pollution.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50So what we have here is a new city with big, new, broad avenues,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54and not those polluting trades that were making the pre-fire city
0:11:54 > 0:11:56such an unpleasant place to live.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00And what sources was Wren drawing on as inspiration for this plan?
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Prior to drawing this he'd been in Paris in 1665,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08the year before, and this bears some resemblance to contemporary
0:12:08 > 0:12:09Parisian street planning.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12But he was also looking to ancient precedents.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Absolutely. If we look at this part of the city here
0:12:15 > 0:12:19where Wren has drawn a sort of piazza with radiating avenues coming off it,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22we think this is taken from a description of an ideal city
0:12:22 > 0:12:24in the Roman author Vitruvius.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26So Wren has gone to an ancient source to come up with
0:12:26 > 0:12:28this new city plan.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31In terms of the experience of being in this urban space
0:12:31 > 0:12:33it would have been very impressive, wouldn't it?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36It would've, yes, and if you actually think about the view
0:12:36 > 0:12:39that you would have had standing in this piazza where St Paul's is,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42all the way up through the Royal Exchange and beyond.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Very, very long stretched out views that you did not get
0:12:48 > 0:12:52in the medieval city, you still don't get it in the City of London today.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54It would have been an entirely different city.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58In terms of Wren's grand vision,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01what do you think he was really trying to achieve?
0:13:01 > 0:13:05What Wren is doing here is creating a new city,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08a new contemporary European city, a capital city,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12but one that is guided by ancient precedent.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15So, really, a magnificent phoenix rising from the ashes.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Absolutely. If this was built, this would have been one of the most
0:13:17 > 0:13:19impressive cities in Europe.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Wren saw this plan as an opportunity to do away with those dirty,
0:13:27 > 0:13:32cramped streets, and a new city could be built in its place.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35London would become the new Rome.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41But Wren was not the only person to draw up a grand plan
0:13:41 > 0:13:43for a new London.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47In the weeks following the fire, numerous plans were put forward
0:13:47 > 0:13:49to rebuild the city.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Of all of them, though, there were really only two rivals
0:13:51 > 0:13:56to Wren's design - those put forward by Robert Hooke and John Evelyn.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Both men were friends of Wren.
0:14:02 > 0:14:08And both Evelyn and Hooke shared the desire to reshape the capital city.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Three of the greatest thinkers of their age
0:14:10 > 0:14:12were now in direct competition.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Wren, Evelyn and Hooke, of course, were all members
0:14:17 > 0:14:19of the Royal Society,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23which existed to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25But, of course, these men, they were friendly,
0:14:25 > 0:14:26but they were also rivals, as well.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29And so they would have spurred each other on, you know,
0:14:29 > 0:14:33who can produce the best plan that the King will accept?
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Wren, Evelyn and Hooke were quite different characters,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39and produced quite different plans.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Evelyn was a gentleman. He came from a rich, landowning family.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46We know that he was very well connected at court.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49He thought that he had the ear of the King.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52So, there was the prospect of success.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54He was someone that was really concerned about
0:14:54 > 0:14:56how to improve the city.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Evelyn's plan was based on a radial grid,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and recognised the importance of religion and commerce,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04by giving a prominent position to St Paul's
0:15:04 > 0:15:07and important commercial buildings.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Evelyn modestly insisted that his plan would make London
0:15:11 > 0:15:13the most noble city ever.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19As regards Hooke, he hailed from a much more modest background.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22He was the son of a curate from the Isle of Wight.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26He saw this as his passport to social preferment.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30The plan attributed to Hooke proposed a rigid grid layout
0:15:30 > 0:15:34of urban blocks, which is more akin to modern American cities.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37His simple and functional-looking design
0:15:37 > 0:15:40was backed by the City Fathers.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44So, for these three men whose lives were rooted very much in London
0:15:44 > 0:15:46and in the cultural milieu of London,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50the chance to remodel it must have been a tremendous opportunity.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Yeah, a dream come true, and it's testament to their excitement,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57just the speed at which they presented their plans.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00They leapt at the opportunity to remodel London
0:16:00 > 0:16:03and make it the greatest city in the world.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06Time was of the essence.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08London was in crisis,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12and a choice had to be made about how the city should be rebuilt.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Like Wren, Evelyn had the ear of the King,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21while Hooke had impressed the leading men of the City.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23But which of their plans would ultimately be deemed
0:16:23 > 0:16:25best for the capital?
0:16:28 > 0:16:31London's future hung in the balance.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33A decision had to be made.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40Today, urban planners have benefit of sophisticated analytical tools,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43which mean they can assess whether a plan will work in practice.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50The science is based on analysing the way people flow in cities.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54I've asked Tim Stoner to use the very latest software
0:16:54 > 0:16:58to forecast what impact each of these plans would have had
0:16:58 > 0:17:00on the way that people move around the capital.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05So, Tim you've been running some 21st-century spatial analysis
0:17:05 > 0:17:08on these 17th-century plans. What have you found?
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Well, we've been looking at the strength
0:17:10 > 0:17:15of the street connections, the likelihood that people will flow
0:17:15 > 0:17:17through the streets in each proposal.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21What we've discovered is that what people are always looking for
0:17:21 > 0:17:24is the least line of resistance along their journey.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27And traders take advantage of this, they move to the locations
0:17:27 > 0:17:31where people are most likely to be passing by.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36And we've been using a scientific model that analyses each street
0:17:36 > 0:17:40and creates a coloured map of the proposal,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43with the red streets the ones
0:17:43 > 0:17:46which people are most likely to pass through.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Then the orange and the green, to the blue streets,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53which are the ones that are least likely to be active,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55to have the hustle and bustle
0:17:55 > 0:18:00that you would expect and indeed need to have in a trading city.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02And what we have is a set of results
0:18:02 > 0:18:06that suggest that Hooke, Evelyn and Wren
0:18:06 > 0:18:09would have created radically different outcomes.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11So how does Hooke's plan measure up?
0:18:11 > 0:18:17Well, on the face of it, Hooke presents a regular gridiron,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19not unlike many 20th century cities.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25And what we can see are two strong red routes
0:18:25 > 0:18:29that run from the west to the east of the city,
0:18:29 > 0:18:34but the streets to the south, and especially the north-south streets,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38are weak. Hooke is the simplest of the three, the most ordered,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41the easiest to understand, but in fact,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45probably the least humanistic in terms of the way it works.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47How does Evelyn's plan measure up?
0:18:47 > 0:18:52In many ways, I think Evelyn's is the most curious of the three plans
0:18:52 > 0:18:56in that it creates, essentially, a ring road.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00He has this curious racetrack condition
0:19:00 > 0:19:04which avoids the main buildings that he's proposing in the city
0:19:04 > 0:19:08and creates a bypass, effectively.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11So he has a symbolic centre of St Paul's, but actually,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15once people go up to St Paul's, they don't then flow past St Paul's.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- There's nowhere for them really to go to.- Correct.
0:19:18 > 0:19:19The grid is working against him.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24So if you like, there's a mismatch between the key buildings
0:19:24 > 0:19:25and the key routes.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28And what did you find when you looked at Wren's proposal?
0:19:28 > 0:19:36Well, Wren is quite easily the strongest of the plans.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40There's a great deal more red on this as a proportion
0:19:40 > 0:19:43of the city as a whole, in comparison with the others.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47There's a lot of activity across the whole of the city.
0:19:47 > 0:19:53It's in Wren that we see flows of activity distributed evenly,
0:19:53 > 0:19:55not only east-west
0:19:55 > 0:19:59in these five strong,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01busy lines of movement,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04those red lines that pass west to east,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06but also north-south
0:20:06 > 0:20:10and especially radially towards the Royal Exchange
0:20:10 > 0:20:13at the centre of a radial grid.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16All roads lead to the Royal Exchange.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19It's a remarkable proposal, actually.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23'Wren's plan is not only superior
0:20:23 > 0:20:25'when compared to those of his contemporaries,
0:20:25 > 0:20:29'there's clearly much that modern planners can learn from his ideas.'
0:20:33 > 0:20:37It was a real revelation running the science past the plan.
0:20:37 > 0:20:43We see lots of ordered grids in 20th century planning, but we see
0:20:43 > 0:20:46very few that seem to have the human touch that Wren has here.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50The building blocks, the DNA of a human city is all there,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52and it's a rare thing.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57It's a rare thing not only in the late 17th century,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00it's a rare thing throughout the 20th century.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03And I think this is the genius of the design.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05I think these are certainly results
0:21:05 > 0:21:07that Wren would have found most gratifying.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13This was a brand-new type of city.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15It was like nothing that had been seen before.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20Wren's idea of what a city was transformed London.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28So what would have Wren's London have actually looked like?
0:21:32 > 0:21:34All that exists is his street plan.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37But by referencing some of Wren's later works, it's possible
0:21:37 > 0:21:41to imagine how very different London might have been today.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46And so here you can see the plan...
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Artist Paul Draper is fascinated by the unbuilt,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55and has painstakingly researched Wren's architectural designs
0:21:55 > 0:21:57to put together an amazing interpretation
0:21:57 > 0:21:59of his ambition for London.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03In a sense, one has to get into the brain of the architect
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and try and imagine what he would have done
0:22:06 > 0:22:09by looking at his drawings and what he did elsewhere.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14And here it is, in all its glory.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38So this image shows us what Wren's plan would have been like
0:22:38 > 0:22:41if it had actually been taken forward.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43It's what it might have looked like.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48So for instance, this is the Customs House which was designed by Wren,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51burnt down in the 18th century,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54but it would have been on the riverfront,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58this rather magnificent riverfront that was envisaged.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01There is an illustration of what it looked like
0:23:01 > 0:23:03and so I could put it next to the river
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and imagine what it would be like.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10I took Wren's churches and moved them to the nearest location
0:23:10 > 0:23:14on his plan to where they actually were built,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17and of course some of them were destroyed in the Blitz,
0:23:17 > 0:23:18so I reinstated those as well.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22I took the Temple Bar from Fleet Street
0:23:22 > 0:23:25and put it at the end of London Bridge
0:23:25 > 0:23:27and put some traitors' heads on the top.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31- So there's an element of Capriccio in here as well.- There is.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Bit by bit, it was like a jigsaw fitting together
0:23:34 > 0:23:37of various elements that I had done research on there.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40But it's a great privilege to have that opportunity
0:23:40 > 0:23:42- to bring that to life.- Yes.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Yes, in a sense I became Wren sitting at his drawing board
0:23:46 > 0:23:49trying to think what he would have done.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54In place of the chaotic, medieval city of his youth,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Wren had imposed not only order
0:23:57 > 0:23:59but also grandeur.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01One of the things this drawing does
0:24:01 > 0:24:05is give us a fantastic sense of a city built of brick...
0:24:05 > 0:24:06- Yes.- ..for the first time.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11Yes, one of the new rules was that the houses had to be built in brick.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15And so it was a completely different city
0:24:15 > 0:24:17from the one that was there before.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21And is Wren's London something, Paul, you wish you could have seen?
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Well, it certainly would have been a magnificent city
0:24:24 > 0:24:29with these wonderful boulevards and focal points and vistas.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33It really would have been one of the greatest cities in Europe
0:24:33 > 0:24:34and probably the world.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50By October 1666, it became clear that it was Wren's plan
0:24:50 > 0:24:54which was favoured both by the King and Parliament.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Under this ambitious new architect's direction,
0:24:57 > 0:25:02the previously chaotic London was to be reborn as a modern city.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Wren's plan was a blueprint for a capital
0:25:12 > 0:25:15to rival the great cities of Europe.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Nearly 200 years before Haussmann's renovation of Paris,
0:25:18 > 0:25:23Wren had produced a highly sophisticated example of urban planning.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26It was one man's vision of a metropolis,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28one man's vision of the future.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30It was radical, it was inventive,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33but ultimately, it was doomed to failure.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45There was one thing that Wren could not plan for -
0:25:45 > 0:25:49the realities of rebuilding after a major disaster.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Parliament may have initially favoured his plan,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59but it rapidly became clear that rebuilding had to start straightaway
0:25:59 > 0:26:02if the city was to survive financially.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07We need to imagine the devastation, we need to imagine
0:26:07 > 0:26:12people camped in fields, in danger of starvation all around London,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15the necessity of building as quickly as possible.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18There was the fear that tradesmen would vanish
0:26:18 > 0:26:20to the suburbs or vanish to other cities
0:26:20 > 0:26:24and the city's economic weight would be diminished.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28And making significant changes to the layout of the city
0:26:28 > 0:26:30was simply not feasible.
0:26:31 > 0:26:32All the new plans for London
0:26:32 > 0:26:36would have required an enormous amount of property redistribution,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38cutting new streets,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42abandoning the foundations of the public buildings and the churches,
0:26:42 > 0:26:47redrawing ward boundaries, redrawing parish boundaries.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49When they looked at the practicalities,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52they realised the only logical thing to do
0:26:52 > 0:26:55was to let people rebuild on their own plots -
0:26:55 > 0:26:59in fact, not let them - force them to rebuild on their own plots.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06Quite simply, London couldn't afford the time or money for a grand plan.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10There was a genuine fear that if London wasn't rebuilt immediately,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12it wouldn't get rebuilt at all.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16So instead of Wren's vision for a grand and magnificent metropolis,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20London was rebuilt along the same medieval street plan as before.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Wren's spectacular design for a new capital was never to be realised.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39But as a consolation, he did win one very important commission -
0:27:39 > 0:27:42St Paul's Cathedral.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Today, this magnificent building has an iconic status.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53It dominated the skyline when it was built,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55and in the 300 years since,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59it has become a cherished landmark for the British people.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01It also allows us, perhaps,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05a glimpse of what Wren's London might have looked like.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Unlike the thousands of visitors who come here every year,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11I haven't come to worship or marvel
0:28:11 > 0:28:14at what is acknowledged as Wren's finest building.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18I've come to see the cathedral Wren wanted to create.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21For here, away from the public spaces,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24lies another story of the unbuilt.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30This is the great model,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Wren's design for St Paul's as he first imagined it
0:28:33 > 0:28:37and wanted to build it, but which was never actually realised.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Inspired by Michelangelo's St Peter's in Rome,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Wren's design was based on a Greek cross
0:28:44 > 0:28:48and would have been unlike any church in Britain.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53But the clergy felt that the first Protestant cathedral since the Reformation
0:28:53 > 0:28:57should not have a design so closely associated with Catholicism,
0:28:57 > 0:28:59and so they vetoed Wren's plan.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04This is the magnificent building
0:29:04 > 0:29:07which would have sat at the heart of Wren's new London.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11This is the unbuilt St Paul's.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18Despite his incredible achievements,
0:29:18 > 0:29:21in his final years, Wren was a frustrated man
0:29:21 > 0:29:25tormented by the fear that he had wasted his life dabbling in rubble.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31He was 90 when he died,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34after catching a cold on a visit to St Paul's.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42In the centuries that followed,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Britain changed from a predominantly rural society
0:29:45 > 0:29:48to one increasingly more urban.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53And in tracing the story of the massive growth of the city,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55I've discovered a parallel story of the unbuilt.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01As British cities saw a huge increase in population,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05the need for a visionary with a grand plan was greater than ever.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18In the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution pulled enormous numbers of workers into the cities,
0:30:18 > 0:30:22and with them came overcrowding, poverty and disease.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Slum houses were built, very high density,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31back-to-backs, courtyards, even blind-backs,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35in other words, houses with no back, vision, window, ventilation.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Shared toilets in the courtyards,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41no hot and cold running water.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45And there were tens of thousands of these slums in the larger cities.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51Appalled by the conditions workers lived in,
0:30:51 > 0:30:56in 1817, the mill owner and utopian socialist Robert Owen
0:30:56 > 0:31:01attempted to create agricultural and manufacturing villages.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05His radical scheme provided workers with good homes, schools
0:31:05 > 0:31:08and the means to grow their own food.
0:31:08 > 0:31:13He described his idea as communities of unity and mutual co-operation.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17But Britain was not ready for such egalitarian ideals
0:31:17 > 0:31:19and they were never built.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24In 1932, American visionary Frank Lloyd Wright proposed
0:31:24 > 0:31:26an entirely new concept -
0:31:26 > 0:31:28a city which wasn't a city.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Wright envisaged a vast, semi-rural landscape
0:31:32 > 0:31:34covering the entire continent,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38where futuristic flying vehicles, or aerators,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41would make it possible to travel long distances easily.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46His unbuilt scheme may seem fantastic,
0:31:46 > 0:31:50but it was a genuine response to the very real problems
0:31:50 > 0:31:52of inner city decay and squalor.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54It would take the Second World War
0:31:54 > 0:31:57to bring about real change in British cities.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01It wasn't just the destruction brought by German bombs,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04but also a feeling that the mistakes of the past could not be repeated,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07that led to the emergence of a new kind of vision.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12The future of cities was no longer in the hands of architects.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16This was the age of the urban planner, and with them came
0:32:16 > 0:32:20a raft of new proposals for how our cities should look and work.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25This explosion of plans was motivated not just by an enthusiasm
0:32:25 > 0:32:27for reconstructing the built environment,
0:32:27 > 0:32:30but also by the opportunity for change.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33This was a chance to prepare for the modern world
0:32:33 > 0:32:34that was just around the corner
0:32:34 > 0:32:37and it was also a chance to build a fairer society.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48- NEWSREEL NARRATOR: - The wealthy country,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50and the slums.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52All the millions of money
0:32:52 > 0:32:56and all the millions of our countrymen that still live in this,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59where the citizens of tomorrow play in filth
0:32:59 > 0:33:02in their inherited nursery, the gutter.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07The thoughts all turned towards post-war reconstruction,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10essentially creating a better Britain.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14That was the overwhelming feeling, and a large part of it
0:33:14 > 0:33:17was physically reconstructing the cities.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23Well, you can't say they aren't happy.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25But this shouldn't be...
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Lads shouldn't have to play in a place like this.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Kids shouldn't have to grow up in soot and muck.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33It isn't right.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37The recovery of the great cities from slumdom -
0:33:37 > 0:33:41that really is part of a general intellectual,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43political and social movement.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46So you get tremendous plans being developed
0:33:46 > 0:33:48about what the new world is going to be like.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57One city which was clearly in need of comprehensive change was Glasgow.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01Glasgow's early builders did not anticipate
0:34:01 > 0:34:04the quick and fast growth which has taken place.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07What they provided has proved totally inadequate
0:34:07 > 0:34:09for the needs of today.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13Glasgow was regarded as the horror city of Europe,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16a city with an urban disease.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18In the centre of Glasgow,
0:34:18 > 0:34:22within literally a radius of about two or three miles,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24nearly 750,000 people lived.
0:34:28 > 0:34:34The social and health problems from massive overcrowding
0:34:34 > 0:34:37were disastrous for large populations of the poor.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44Today, Glasgow is a fine example of a Victorian city.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46But in the 1940s,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49much of its housing was dilapidated and decaying.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54Many districts are overcrowded, lacking in open spaces, and ugly.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56The unsatisfactory conditions
0:34:56 > 0:34:59of thousands of people in Glasgow today.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05This perfectly preserved Glasgow tenement is now a museum,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07and gives us some idea
0:35:07 > 0:35:10of the cramped conditions many had to endure.
0:35:10 > 0:35:15This feels quite quaint and rather cosy until one remembers that
0:35:15 > 0:35:19typically, a room like this would have been lived in by five people,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23who would all have slept sandwiched into the bed alcove in the corner.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25There would have been no hot running water
0:35:25 > 0:35:27and no indoor toilet facilities,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and it's no wonder that people were concerned about that
0:35:30 > 0:35:34and felt that something needed to be done to change the situation.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38To tackle its housing crisis, Glasgow Corporation
0:35:38 > 0:35:42announced its intentions to carry out major changes to the city.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46The man they entrusted with the task
0:35:46 > 0:35:49of coming up with a plan for a modern Glasgow
0:35:49 > 0:35:53was chief engineer and master of works Robert Bruce.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57His report was published in 1945.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02It's hard to explain this report without sounding melodramatic
0:36:02 > 0:36:06but that's because this plan was, and is, quite staggering.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11Bruce proposed demolishing Glasgow's Victorian city centre
0:36:11 > 0:36:13and starting all over again.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17Bruce didn't just want to demolish the slums.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22He wanted to get rid of everything.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Casualties would have included
0:36:24 > 0:36:27Glasgow's School of Art by Charles Rennie Mackintosh,
0:36:27 > 0:36:31Central Station, and the buildings of Alexander "Greek" Thomson.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35To find out what Bruce intended
0:36:35 > 0:36:38to replace Glasgow's historic centre with,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41I've come to one of the buildings which would have been destroyed,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44the City Chambers,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46to see Bruce's vision for Glasgow.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00I think what is really striking when you look at this
0:37:00 > 0:37:02is just how bold and ambitious this plan was
0:37:02 > 0:37:05to completely bulldoze the centre of the city
0:37:05 > 0:37:07and create this new inner core.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09In a way, there are parallels
0:37:09 > 0:37:12with what Robert Moses was doing in New York in the 1920s,
0:37:12 > 0:37:17where he talked about hacking your way through the city with a meat axe
0:37:17 > 0:37:19in order to clear neighbourhoods.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22And in many ways, what Bruce was suggesting here
0:37:22 > 0:37:26was similarly kind of brutal in what he wanted to achieve.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29He viewed Glasgow as a really important city,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32and that just sort of tinkering around the edges
0:37:32 > 0:37:36in terms of trying to restructure and redesign it was not sufficient.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40So Bruce really felt that something very radical was needed.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47To understand just how far-reaching Bruce's proposals were,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50we've taken the plans he drafted almost 70 years ago
0:37:50 > 0:37:54and with the use of the very latest computer graphics technology,
0:37:54 > 0:37:58produced this visualisation of his new Glasgow.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14When he began planning the city,
0:38:14 > 0:38:16it was really drawing inspiration
0:38:16 > 0:38:19from a series of kind of modernist thinkers,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22about how you could create a much more efficient city,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24a city that was almost like a machine
0:38:24 > 0:38:26in terms of having different functional areas.
0:38:29 > 0:38:30And at the centre of that
0:38:30 > 0:38:33would be this new civic axis
0:38:33 > 0:38:35along the waterfront,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38where you would have these big civic buildings,
0:38:38 > 0:38:39the new City Chambers,
0:38:39 > 0:38:43the new city courts, a public library,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47located at the geometric heart of the city.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50And then surrounding that, you would have these other functional areas,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53dealing with housing, dealing with commerce.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55And the result, he argued,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57would be a city of beauty,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59a city of order and a city of efficiency.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04Like Wren's plan for London,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Bruce wanted to move industry out of the city centre,
0:39:07 > 0:39:09and each separate zone
0:39:09 > 0:39:13would be connected by a new, more efficient road network.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17The centre would be kept for more affluent high-rise apartments
0:39:17 > 0:39:18and office blocks.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22To realise fully his plan,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25Bruce estimated it would take 50 years.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29To actually achieve this,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31you would have to act in quite a brutal way.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36You know, you'd have to destroy neighbourhoods, communities.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39People would be displaced to other parts of the city,
0:39:39 > 0:39:43and he really embraced that modernist way of thinking
0:39:43 > 0:39:46about creative destruction, that you had to get rid of the past
0:39:46 > 0:39:48so that you had to kind of start again.
0:39:49 > 0:39:50But there would have been
0:39:50 > 0:39:52some significant losses as well, wouldn't there?
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Even this building that we're in, this fantastic City Chambers,
0:39:56 > 0:39:58would have been razed to the ground.
0:39:58 > 0:39:59That's right, yeah.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02I mean, the 19th century areas of the city would have been destroyed,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04but also large parts of the Merchant City
0:40:04 > 0:40:08that were built in the 18th century would also have disappeared.
0:40:15 > 0:40:16There's a view at the time
0:40:16 > 0:40:18that these buildings are bad buildings.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21They're very ornamented at a period that doesn't like ornament,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and they're associated with the disgusting trace
0:40:24 > 0:40:30of an evil, capitalist expansion of the 19th century
0:40:30 > 0:40:32which needs wiping out
0:40:32 > 0:40:34and replacing with a beautiful new city
0:40:34 > 0:40:38that's appropriate to a more egalitarian world.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43There is frustratingly little known about Robert Bruce,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46but his writing suggests a man driven
0:40:46 > 0:40:48by a clear vision of the future.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53In his report, he stated that re-planning should be "surgical"
0:40:53 > 0:40:55and that "boldness is required."
0:40:57 > 0:41:00Bruce's description of performing surgery on the city
0:41:00 > 0:41:02feels like something of an understatement
0:41:02 > 0:41:04when one looks at the plans that he devised.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07This wasn't just a facelift - it was a complete heart transplant.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12But not everyone shared Bruce's enthusiasm
0:41:12 > 0:41:15to build a bold new Glasgow,
0:41:15 > 0:41:17and his plan had opponents.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20The most formidable was Sir Patrick Abercrombie,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23the 20th century's most famous urban planner.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29He was striking looking, because he always wore a monocle.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33It does give him a rather eccentric, old-fashioned
0:41:33 > 0:41:37and rather aristocratic kind of appearance,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39rather like some Prussian army officer
0:41:39 > 0:41:42in some Hollywood movie, you know.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Abercrombie had been charged with the high-profile task
0:41:48 > 0:41:51of re-planning London after the war.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54His solution to the capital's problem of overcrowding
0:41:54 > 0:41:57had been to propose the creation of new towns,
0:41:57 > 0:41:59smaller satellite communities
0:41:59 > 0:42:04which would siphon off the excess population from London.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07There must be change, always change,
0:42:07 > 0:42:11as one season or one generation follows another.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16There's a wonderful movie made in 1946,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19but the appearances of Abercrombie are astonishing,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22because he had a rather patrician kind of voice,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25and he was saying, "Well, we have to move a million people out of London,
0:42:25 > 0:42:30"we shall send them all out to these new towns."
0:42:30 > 0:42:32There was no real assumption
0:42:32 > 0:42:36that the people who were being moved had any say in the matter.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39That's why there are all those bad and ugly things
0:42:39 > 0:42:43that we hope to do away with if this plan of ours is carried out.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47The Government asked Abercrombie to turn his attention to Glasgow,
0:42:47 > 0:42:52and in 1946 he published a rival report to Bruce's
0:42:52 > 0:42:55called the Clyde Valley Plan.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Abercrombie pronounced emphatically
0:42:57 > 0:43:00that the solution to overcrowding in Scotland's biggest city
0:43:00 > 0:43:06was for almost half its population to be dispersed to new towns.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Since the early 1900s,
0:43:08 > 0:43:12there had been moves towards spreading new towns around Britain,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14to have a green belt around the city,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16beyond the green belt to build new towns,
0:43:16 > 0:43:19and thereby to relieve the pressure on the city.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22And those ideas were being carried up to Scotland.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26Abercrombie's Clyde Valley Plan
0:43:26 > 0:43:29was completely at odds with the Bruce plan.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34The two reports represented two very different planning philosophies.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37The new-town solution which Abercrombie proposed
0:43:37 > 0:43:40was inspired by the English garden city tradition of the early 1900s,
0:43:40 > 0:43:45while Bruce looked to modernism and its high priest, Le Corbusier.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Le Corbusier's thinking in the '20s
0:43:52 > 0:43:55had a great bearing on the approach Bruce took.
0:43:55 > 0:44:00Dramatic, modern, white buildings in well landscaped surroundings.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07Le Corbusier was one of the pioneers of the modernist movement.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Its ethos was simplicity and functionality
0:44:10 > 0:44:14with a visual emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines
0:44:14 > 0:44:16and no unnecessary design detail.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21It was a belief in the new world.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Glistening white blocks rising tall, surrounded by parkland and trees.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Efficient and new and clean,
0:44:31 > 0:44:33and everybody would be equalised.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39His designs inspired generations of architects,
0:44:39 > 0:44:41and his legacy can be seen
0:44:41 > 0:44:44in practically every British city today.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46Le Corbusier was another of the great architects
0:44:46 > 0:44:50who attempted to create the ideal city.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53In 1925, he produced this spectacular vision
0:44:53 > 0:44:55for a high-rise Paris.
0:44:58 > 0:44:59Although never built,
0:44:59 > 0:45:02it imagined a completely new approach to urban life.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10Bruce was trying to achieve what Le Corbusier had yet to realise,
0:45:10 > 0:45:13a city built entirely on modernist principles.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19And here, at the top of one of Glasgow's first tower blocks,
0:45:19 > 0:45:21is the perfect place to find out
0:45:21 > 0:45:24why Bruce believed that building up was the future.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Lucy, these principles had been laid out very clearly
0:45:30 > 0:45:33in the designs of Le Corbusier.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36What's the connection between his work and that of Bruce?
0:45:36 > 0:45:41If you compare the urban designs of Le Corbusier and Bruce's plan,
0:45:41 > 0:45:43there are some very clear similarities,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47because the aspiration to build up, to build vertical cities
0:45:47 > 0:45:51was a very strong current in modern urban design,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54because it allowed the opportunity
0:45:54 > 0:45:56to create more open space within the city.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00So for a city that had been very congested,
0:46:00 > 0:46:04this offered the opportunity, seemed to offer the opportunity,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07to have breathing space in the city.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10So in his illustrations,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13we see high-rise apartment towers and office buildings
0:46:13 > 0:46:16surrounded by areas of parkland.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19So this is the breathing space which people hadn't had before.
0:46:19 > 0:46:20That's right.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23- And which was going to enhance their quality of life.- Absolutely.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26The green areas, the breathing space within the city centre.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29And in particular was the idea of zoning,
0:46:29 > 0:46:33so separating the different uses of space in the city.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35The ideas of rationalising urban space
0:46:35 > 0:46:39that were very much part of modernist urban designs.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43Of course, we now know that that...building-up dream
0:46:43 > 0:46:46can turn out to be something of a nightmare.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49But at that point in time that wasn't on the horizon, was it?
0:46:49 > 0:46:52No, I think there was tremendous... tremendous optimism
0:46:52 > 0:46:56about the potentials offered by modern building techniques,
0:46:56 > 0:46:59by engineering, by technology and by modernist design.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05So I think Bruce had a lot of conviction.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10Robert Bruce believed
0:47:10 > 0:47:13that Abercrombie's new towns were not necessary
0:47:13 > 0:47:15and that with his modern planning ideas,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18all of Glasgow's million-plus population
0:47:18 > 0:47:21could be accommodated within the city's boundaries.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29But this wasn't just about planning.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32There was also a political agenda.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Glasgow Corporation feared losing half of its citizens,
0:47:36 > 0:47:40which would inevitably dilute its considerable power.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44Glasgow still regarded itself as the second city of empire.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48It regarded itself as one of the great cities of the world,
0:47:48 > 0:47:52and one of the... if you like, criteria for entryism
0:47:52 > 0:47:55into that roll of honour was size of population.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59Given Glasgow's awareness of itself, given its sense of identity,
0:47:59 > 0:48:02especially among the political classes,
0:48:02 > 0:48:08they weren't going to see that prestige disappear on their watch.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15At the centre of this power struggle were two very different characters.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Abercrombie was well connected and charismatic
0:48:18 > 0:48:21and was savagely critical of the Bruce Report.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25His adversary may have had neither the public profile
0:48:25 > 0:48:27nor pedigree of Sir Patrick,
0:48:27 > 0:48:31but Robert Bruce was clearly convinced of the merits of his plan
0:48:31 > 0:48:33and had the backing of the city.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38To try and sell their concepts to the population,
0:48:38 > 0:48:43the council put on an exhibition called Glasgow Today And Tomorrow,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46complete with an enormous model of the city.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49They also commissioned school books and films
0:48:49 > 0:48:51which laid out the bright future for Glasgow
0:48:51 > 0:48:55which would be realised if these changes were embraced.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59This was before the days of public consultation,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02but the Bruce plan would involve enormous upheaval
0:49:02 > 0:49:04for Glasgow's poorest communities.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06And to win hearts and minds,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09the city cinemas screened this propaganda-style film.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Looking down on a city of congested buildings
0:49:14 > 0:49:17and narrow roads,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20down there a great population
0:49:20 > 0:49:22living under outmoded conditions,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25which give rise to much confusion
0:49:25 > 0:49:27as well as discomfort.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32This is ostensibly about the quality of people's homes,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34and these changes were so far-reaching
0:49:34 > 0:49:39that the Corporation needed to convince Glaswegians
0:49:39 > 0:49:41that there was a better future ahead,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45but there's a very strong political undercurrent to this, isn't there?
0:49:45 > 0:49:49I think that the film demonstrates the bigger issues at stake here.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53You could read it as a film about planning and architecture,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56and the design of homes and the design of the city,
0:49:56 > 0:49:58but actually you're really addressing
0:49:58 > 0:50:01bigger societal challenges about the way we live.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06And really, being told to move somewhere else for the greater good
0:50:06 > 0:50:11is laudable in terms of those post-war idealistic principles,
0:50:11 > 0:50:13but if you're controlling people this much
0:50:13 > 0:50:15and telling them where they can't live,
0:50:15 > 0:50:19it's actually a thinly disguised version of social engineering.
0:50:19 > 0:50:25People in houses will be dispersed more evenly over a wider area,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27so giving more breathing space.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31Modern planning does more than just provide houses.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33It builds community areas
0:50:33 > 0:50:36with schools, cinemas, churches, shops,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39social and welfare amenities.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Watching the film, one feels drawn along
0:50:42 > 0:50:45and very much convinced by the arguments which are laid out.
0:50:45 > 0:50:46They're very compelling.
0:50:46 > 0:50:51And then suddenly at the end, one sees the plan.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53It's, frankly, a shock.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55The plan for Glasgow of tomorrow is taking shape.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59The overcrowded and overdeveloped city
0:50:59 > 0:51:03will give place to a new and free-flowing city.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05It's quite astonishing, isn't it?
0:51:05 > 0:51:07Suddenly, in those final seconds of the film,
0:51:07 > 0:51:10you're confronted with this incredible vision
0:51:10 > 0:51:12that doesn't look like Glasgow at all.
0:51:12 > 0:51:13It's very shocking.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16I'm sure jaws must have dropped in cinemas,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20because all vestiges of older types of Glasgow,
0:51:20 > 0:51:21old styles of architecture
0:51:21 > 0:51:25have been completely obliterated in a modern style.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28That was looking forward to the future.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30There is much more to be done yet
0:51:30 > 0:51:32to make Glasgow of today
0:51:32 > 0:51:34a new and better Glasgow of tomorrow.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40Bruce's proposals for Glasgow prompted a huge amount of debate.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46What was clear was that Glasgow had a major housing crisis.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50But on the table were two very different solutions.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56At stake was the future of the city and its historic buildings.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04In 1947, the planning committee of Glasgow Corporation
0:52:04 > 0:52:08approved Robert Bruce's scheme, and at that point
0:52:08 > 0:52:12it looked like this extraordinary plan would be put into action.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20But two years later, in June 1949, the tide turned against him.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28Despite all the propaganda,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31the film, the exhibition and the school books,
0:52:31 > 0:52:34the recommendations of the Bruce Report were dropped.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47Glasgow Corporation decided not to proceed with the Bruce plan.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56The opportunity of a lifetime had been snatched away from Bruce.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00And within weeks of the rejection of his master plan,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03he resigned from his post as chief engineer.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07Sir Patrick Abercrombie's argument
0:53:07 > 0:53:10to build a number of Scottish new towns
0:53:10 > 0:53:12won the day.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15There is a wonderful story, which may be apocryphal,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18that at the very end of the process,
0:53:18 > 0:53:23someone said to him, "You know, you said there should be a new town,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27"but you haven't said where it should be."
0:53:27 > 0:53:32And Abercrombie was due to catch the sleeper train back to London,
0:53:32 > 0:53:36and, in very Abercrombie fashion, he said, "Oh, get me a taxi!"
0:53:36 > 0:53:40And he said, "Drive out five miles and then turn right."
0:53:40 > 0:53:43And they drove right round Glasgow, five miles out,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46and apparently at one point he said, "That's it, over there."
0:53:46 > 0:53:48And that was East Kilbride.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51And then he dashed off to Glasgow Central to catch the train.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56East Kilbride became one of Scotland's five new towns.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02But the legacy of Bruce's plan for Glasgow is clear to see today.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06In the decades that followed, some of the spirit,
0:54:06 > 0:54:10if not the detail, of his ideas was implemented,
0:54:10 > 0:54:15although Robert Bruce didn't live to see many of these changes.
0:54:15 > 0:54:20He died in a car crash in 1956, aged just 52.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23My impression of Bruce
0:54:23 > 0:54:29is that he was a man of commitment and sincerity
0:54:29 > 0:54:32to trying to sort out the problems that Glasgow faced.
0:54:32 > 0:54:38The spirit of the 1940s was spectacular confidence,
0:54:38 > 0:54:40that they were utterly persuaded
0:54:40 > 0:54:42that they could revolutionise the world,
0:54:42 > 0:54:44and that they had to revolutionise the world,
0:54:44 > 0:54:48which meant that they attacked it with a vigour
0:54:48 > 0:54:52that means that they lacked subtlety a lot of the time,
0:54:52 > 0:54:54and they surged ahead,
0:54:54 > 0:54:57hoping that they would manage to produce a better city.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02While Bruce certainly deserves recognition
0:55:02 > 0:55:04for the scale of his ambition,
0:55:04 > 0:55:09there are not many who regret that his plan remained unbuilt.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11If the Bruce plan had happened,
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Glasgow would look very much like an East European city,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and really would have lost all the character and beauty
0:55:18 > 0:55:21that we now associate with Glasgow city centre.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Although, like most British cities,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Glasgow's architectural heritage is by no means completely intact,
0:55:29 > 0:55:33there came a point when the city began to appreciate
0:55:33 > 0:55:37what lay beneath the soot and the grime of its industrial past.
0:55:37 > 0:55:38'68 is the first year
0:55:38 > 0:55:41that somebody washes a building in Queen's Crescent.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45It turns out to be golden honey-coloured stone.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47People said, "We didn't know that."
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Then they cleaned the whole thing and realised this city isn't black.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58And that is actually what brought the Bruce plan and its legacy to an end.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00It is an appreciation of what was there.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10Both Wren and Bruce tried to imagine the future,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14but they could never have foreseen that now, in the 21st century,
0:56:14 > 0:56:17more than half the world's population lives in cities.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24Today the search for the ideal city is more pressing than ever
0:56:24 > 0:56:27and also more elusive.
0:56:27 > 0:56:28One can't help thinking
0:56:28 > 0:56:32this idea of the grand plan is a deeply flawed concept,
0:56:32 > 0:56:36one that's very attractive to architects and planners alike,
0:56:36 > 0:56:40but can we really judge how people should live?
0:56:40 > 0:56:45Can we really produce planned cities that have the colour
0:56:45 > 0:56:48of some of the most interesting places which have grown up over time
0:56:48 > 0:56:52and, of course, are inhabited by people doing things people do?
0:56:53 > 0:56:55Just as the influence of Bruce and Wren
0:56:55 > 0:56:58can be seen in Glasgow and London,
0:56:58 > 0:57:02the unbuilt is very much a part of the world we inhabit today.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06The unbuilt plans are really these great chapters
0:57:06 > 0:57:09in our changing perception of what a city is,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12what a society, what a community can be.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15And what the unbuilt cities do is really hope and dream,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18and it's good to hope and dream about what we can be.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24What I've come to understand while unearthing
0:57:24 > 0:57:28the incredible unbuilt projects that history has forgotten
0:57:28 > 0:57:30is just how fine a line there is
0:57:30 > 0:57:33between a project becoming reality
0:57:33 > 0:57:34or being abandoned.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40The real sense of culture of the time, the Zeitgeist,
0:57:40 > 0:57:41lies in the unbuilt schemes,
0:57:41 > 0:57:44because the only difference between the unbuilt and the built
0:57:44 > 0:57:47is maybe the political will wasn't there or the money wasn't there.
0:57:47 > 0:57:52So you can see imagination, fancy, stupidity.
0:57:52 > 0:57:53You can see everything.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00The fantastic or even just the fantastically ambitious
0:58:00 > 0:58:04has an important part to play in seeing architectural history
0:58:04 > 0:58:08as part of a grander intellectual and historical project.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13While our built environment is rooted in reality,
0:58:13 > 0:58:19in many ways, the unbuilt, free from the limitations of the real world,
0:58:19 > 0:58:22can tell us more about who we aspire to be
0:58:22 > 0:58:24and what we could potentially achieve.
0:58:26 > 0:58:28For me, though, what is most exciting
0:58:28 > 0:58:31is the thought that somewhere among these discarded plans
0:58:31 > 0:58:33is the germ of an idea,
0:58:33 > 0:58:35the genesis of something that could be
0:58:35 > 0:58:38and perhaps one day will be built.
0:58:54 > 0:58:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd