Interview with Derek Walker (part 2)
In part 2, Derek expresses concern about how much of the design philosophy of MK will endure under the management of the local council, and with changing ways of life in the future. In his opinion: ‘the Shopping Building … has always worked because…the idea of a street idea with landscaping worked very well … it’s just a delightful place to be really and I just feel so many of the other places should have had similar qualities’. His opinion of the design of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone is less favourable.
Derek recounts some anecdotes about MKDC characters and occasions, in particular a couple of incidents at the very successful exhibition at the Design Centre, which attracted several new businesses to MK. Pointing out various design inspirations for MK and CMK in books and journals, mentions quality London buildings and their spacing, tree grids, fortified cities, parklands and light penetration. Derek remembers he and his team working closely with Helmut Jacoby, who produced the inspirational line drawings of the city in the early 1970s, based only on MKDC working drawings: ‘… I mean, they were very, very good. He was very, very easy to work with.’
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