“Basildon’s always stuck with me. The dichotomy between its original utopian vision and the realities of its modernist architecture, distinctive statutes and terrible reputation.”

Christopher Ian Smith grew up in what he calls the “shadow” of Basildon.

A documentary filmmaker obsessed with architecture, folklore and the uncanny, Smith has spent the last four years of his life documenting the challenging, funny and sometimes tragic story of Basildon — a British “new town” in Essex.

Prior to the film’s premier screening this October, I caught up with Smith to find out what drew him to the town, what his film sets out to uncover, and ultimately, why the reality never delivered on the New Town Utopia…

First mentioned in the Domesday Book, Belesduna — later Basildon — didn’t come into its own until after World War II when it was redeveloped by the UK government as a “new town” — a utopian vision for a top-down, scientifically planned and managed society. Here work, leisure and home life were neatly separated for maximum efficiency, rationality and at the lowest possible cost.

While this idea may draw initial visions of Stepford Wives-style conformity, the reality was quite different. As Smith explains “Many of these new towns had consistent management, but not a consistent vision. In reality, there was a huge amount of looseness in terms of who designed them and how they were developed. Top-down management meant that budgets and the materials used were often identical, but the end result was almost entirely open.”

It was this mixture that gave rise to the brutalist architecture of Basildon, a town in which everything is different and yet simultaneous the same — the original concrete jungle.

For many of us, British new towns do not represent a desirable place to live. According to Smith however, ongoing gentrification and a growing appreciation for brutalist design are on the verge of bringing Basildon back to life.

“It’s remarkable how quickly these things turn around. I like brutalist architecture and I like the way the buildings in Basildon look. Then again, I’ve never had to live in one.”

“There’s this idea that, because new towns were commissioned in a formulaic way, the people who designed them didn’t care about the people within. I think that’s wrong. The 1950s and 60s were an amazing era of experimentation, and I truly believe that the people designing these places genuinely thought that they were doing what was best. Depending on your perspective, they weren’t necessarily wrong.”

But while Smith may be optimistic about the ideology behind new towns, his documentary does not pull punches when it comes to the decline of these communities.

“Some fault must be placed at the government’s door, but to blame any single government would be an oversimplification. The current difficulties faced by towns such as Basildon are a result of numerous governments’ cut-backs and a variety of poor policy decisions across multiple political parties. That’s what happens; politicians change and things get neglected — if you buy a car and don’t get it serviced, it will fall apart. That’s what happened in Basildon.”

“And it’s not just government neglect. Globalisation, Thatcher, Blair, wider economic problems; these have all helped to chip away at community, local industry and the high street. Basildon is a great example of where there has been no one, singular reason for the downfall of the new town utopia — I’d like to hope my film does a good job of portraying that fact.”

New Town Utopia will be premiering in the Towngate Theatre, Basildon on Saturday 21st October at 7.45pm. To book tickets visit http://www.towngatetheatre.co.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5493

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