Interview with Chris Woodward (part 2)
Chris refers to the first period of CMK planning as ‘the boring diagram’ phase, producing diagrams looking at how to realise the Masterplan standards. He recalls: ‘…Derek got absolutely exasperated … he is an image person, he wanted models, imagery’. But Chris explains that the diagrammatic plans set a strategy for offering the letting agents flexible space. Talking of their research while developing the plan, looking at shopping centres in the UK and in the US, Chris notes that ‘… one way of regarding the Masterplan is as a generic American model… scarcely adapted to English circumstances’. He notes: ‘…the Masterplan … did anticipate the sorts of levels of car ownership and use that we now have. People at the time thought this is mad’. They discuss why the conventional wisdom of the benefits of mixed use development was not followed in CMK, resulting in the one large shopping centre.
Chris describes his working life in MK, the roles within the CMK team and the atmosphere at work in Wavendon Tower. Discussing roles within the CMK team, Chris confirms that the design of the Shopping Building itself should be credited to Stuart Mosscrop, Chris himself and Syd Green, each of them having a vital role. He acknowledges Stuart’s role as director of the whole process; Chris did most of the drawings. He moves on to discuss more details of the design, their inspirations for the arcades, and roof shapes. In particular he mentions the German book ‘Passagen’, a catalogue of every single shopping arcade in the world. He recalls coming across reflective glass for the first time in the USA and putting together a proposal for its use which was enthusiastically received. In general the team’s proposals were accepted by the MKDC Board, although they were thoroughly scrutinised because of the use of high quality materials.
Chris notes that it was a great feather in the caps of the letting agent to get John Lewis Partnership (JLP) involved at all …they are regarded as a sort of gold standard’. He was the job architect for JLP negotiations and comments that he took this seriously. ‘…they were stubborn and whimsical, which is a very odd combination’. Finally, Chris talks about how rewarding he finds his work as an architect. He has never been back to Milton Keynes; asked why, he says: ‘because I’d rather have my memories of how we intended it, how the Corporation intended it to be, rather than get upset by malign or … absent-minded destruction. … I like being cheerful and happy’.
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