Cumbernauld: Beauty & Brutalism (Cultural Travel Guide to Scotland's Controversial New Town)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.พ. 2023
- Voted the World's Best New Town in 1967, Cumbernauld has provoked more discussion over its planning and architecture than any other town in Scotland, and arguably Great Britain. From 1959 onwards the original village found itself surrounded by dual carriageways as new housing developments sprung up to solve the post-war housing crisis in Glasgow. Urban planners plotted a new way of living whilst architects ditched standard housing designs to create a new blueprint for accommodating the town's first citizens. However, Cumbernauld's masterpiece, and eventual folly, was the Centre, an enormous Brutalist building designed by Geoffrey Copcutt that housed all the facilities of a standard town centre: shops; offices; council buildings; apartments; and a hotel. Showered with architectural awards in its early years and studied by architects to this day, the building has not matured well with age. Voted Britain's Most Hated Building in 2005 it has now been listed for demolition.
This film takes a look at the various elements that make Cumbernauld such a fascinating and polarising town: the green spaces; the brutalist architecture; the Roman remains; and Andy Scott's incredible sculpture Arria. I also pay a visit to the cultural hub that is the Cumbernauld Alternative Network to witness the projects that Leigh and Alan are promoting to the youth of the town.
Jonathan Wheeler
Travel Obscurer
Filmed February 2023
Music licensed through Artlist
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Really enjoyed this -
Really well made
You, should try the bucket challenge in. Cumbernauld town centre every time it rain's.
I was in the centre last week. I think the shopping side dead. I would convert that aspect of the building into a museum and art gallery. You see people, particularly older people, wandering around. They clearly want to be there but there is nothing to do or see. The building is poorly maintained too with water leaking all over the place. As a place people actually want to come to it could draw more money and investment. You could have exhibits related to the film industry with Wardpark just up the road which would bring in money from people doing the Outlander tour.. I would also big up it's connection to the 60s and 70s and fully restore it. Running the penthouses as a mini hotel with 70s styled interiors. Cumbernauld is an interesting place with a lot of history. It deserves a place where it can take pride in itself.
Some really good ideas there!
Good piece of film making Jonathan. Towns like this one the councils ought to be putting more money into projects to make more people want to visit it so that the people of this town feel proud to come from there
Thank you Maria. I have contacted the local council to see if they are interested in sharing the film on their social media. No response as yet :)
Time for serious clean up. Plans for redevelopment which will be decades in the making. Central for Glasgow , Stirling and other close towns. The state of disrepair has now become quite evident. It had great potential for young families. The loss of shops like everywhere else I suppose is mostly down to online shopping and the new digital era. It’s sad to watch the decline. The decay and filth leaves nothing to the imagination. Repairs to leaks are non existent. Buckets arranged around droplets from ceilings.This isn’t a recent occurrence and decline was imminent when the C.D.C handed their keys over. Why
this being the largest town in Scotland doesn’t have a hospital is quite unbelievable. I have pity for the youth of today having to look at this dilapidated monstrosity. I think it was once quoted “ A rabbits Warren on stilts”. Perhaps the Phonex shall rise again for a better Cumbernauld. I remember the pigeons nesting underneath and their droppings, wondering who came up with such a farcical plan and how did they expect to keep a monumental task clean. Where is the St Enoch clock? Out of sight out of mind. Another gripe to add to the collection, how come band A B, have their grass cuttings lifted by the council yet social housing is left. Money certainly talks. Complaints made about the boy racers doing their revs and donuts most weekends at the rooftop car park and at the bottom of the Seafar Rd. Matter of time before yet another fatality. All hours of the night with exhaust pipes enough to blow them to the moon and back. Pointless complaining about the car park as it’s private and nothing can be done is the reply. Yes this is good film making . Beautiful green belt. It has endless possibilities Cumbernauld. Firstly we need to clean up our own back yard
Really interesting comments Elaine. Yes, as a visitor I too thought "endless possibilities...but". St Enoch's clock is a good example. I was walking around trying to find it and nobody I asked knew where it was. Indeed, few knew what it was. Perhaps hardly surprising given where it now finds itself.
When you look at the concept of new town layouts and then the more recent 15 minute towns and cities and the similarities are remarkable!
I agree. Same concept just different architecture.
I grew up in Cumbernauld, i really enjoyed your take on it. There was a lot to be said for being a kid there , it always felt like a schizophrenic place though. The architecture took on a different feel in the winter too😂. Also as significant as the town centre is , i was there a year ago and it looked very run down.
Thanks for the feedback. Can't disagree that on a cold grey day the place could probably feel pretty bleak.
I can honestly say, given that I have stayed her for almost 20 years, I have yet to see a more soviet era collection of depressing brutalist structures. Why anyone would want to keep this carbuncle is beyond me.
In 1972 I moved into a penthouse when they were owned by the Cumbernauld - this is what they were like. You opened the front door into a area that was floor to ceiling pine walls, you could go down a half flight of open wooden stairs into a bedroom with a porthole and separate bathroom or you could go up half flight of open wood stairs into a large room with underfloor heating with one wall in glass looking to the hills. The ceiling of the sitting room was wooden panels. From the sitting room up another half flight of open wood stairs into the kitchen with huge windows looking over hills. From the kitchen another half flight of wood stairs led onto the roof.
It did though have a few problems in the methods used to construct resulting in the building being difficult (or nearly impossible) to maintain.
Fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
@@TravelObscurer My husband was studying landscape architecture (and also spent a year at horticultural college) and also a town planner, so spent about 6 months seconded to the Development Corporation (which was how we got a penthouse). The initial idea for the roof was to have it full of tropical plants, but the only plant that grew on the roof was Arctic Moss. The next scheme was to have the roof designed with rock shapes, except at the first high wind the rock blew off the roof and smashed the penthouse windows - so the roof became asphalt.
Have you ever wondered about the road layout around Cumbernauld? It was hoped it would be a F1 race track (truly) so the bit under the Town Centre is perfect for refuelling stops - honestly you could not make half this stuff up.
You also need to dig into the archives about how property was allocated - it will make you hair stand on end.
@@flower-ss2jt Formula 1 around Cumbernauld? Now that would have been something! If only one of those apartments had been restored and turned into a visitor attraction.
@@TravelObscurer Cumbernauld would give Monaco a run for it's money!
The penthouses were architecturally an amazing concept of brutalist, yet minimalist design. And should be preserved as how architects believed would be the gold standard for everyday living.
Not unlike Goldfinger's ideas of brutalist Trellick Towers or the Aylesbury Estate (now demolished due to high crime) were visions of perfect communities back in the 60's.
If you like architecture The Faculty of Law, St Cross Buildings for the University of Oxford remains an excellent example of how a well constructed and maintained brutalist building can reflect how 60's architecture can be acceptable if in a restricted area, but fails when transposed on a large scale.
Oh My Goodness - some positive media about Cumbernauld. Thank you. Cumbernauld is not the town centre. It's far more than that. It's a town with some great outdoors spaces ( you didn't mention the beautiful canal) and when you look at it from a distance, you can't see the dwelling for the trees. Its 12 mins by train to the city centre and boasts some of the best schools in Scotland. The sports facilites are great too - we've a sports stadium used for the community, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, dance schools. The history surrounding the place is fantastic. Roman walls, roads and artifacts. The airports are 20 mins and 30 mins away (not to mention our own airport) It's a great place to live, work and bring up a family. Thanks Jonathan!
Thanks Matthew. I really wanted to promote a different image of the town given that it suffers from lazy negative stereotypes (like my earlier film about Barrow in Furness). With all the facilities, the transport advantages and the green space it was easy for a first time visitor like me to see that it would be one of the best places to live in the central belt. I do think the Council is missing a few tricks though. For example, the lack of any signage or parking for Arria seems ridiculous. In other places it would be signed as a landmark from the motorway. I could also see visitors being drawn to a small Brutalist Design museum or at the very least an informative trail to find the 1950s and 60s highlights that remain., not to mention the Roman artefacts that are hidden away.
@@TravelObscurer I think to some extent some of the architecture will survive. You show Sacred Heart Church, its square, and brutalist, but in some regards, its quite lovely. In fact, this, and some of the other buildings (St Mungos church for example, which you also show) seem to harbour some of Cumbernaulds soul. There are other lovely touches around , the big stones which have been left all around become natural playground for the children, and the odd public sculptures. These should stay and you are right, perhaps have info and plaques set up so the people can be proud of what we have. We should, however, take lots of pictures of the town centre before taking a big ball and knocking it down.
It's simply awful to be inside, its empty, depressing and this is from someone born and bred (and still) here who has loads of memories of racing my mum as she went down the escalators, while me and my brother ran down the ramps.
They do miss lots of tricks and this has to lie squarely with the Motherwell based NL council. Cumbernauld is 11th biggest town in Scotland and is run from the 24th biggest. Imagine Glasgow being run from Paisley. The place gets ignored (and some say milked of its relative high contributing council taxes). Building Arria in a cemetery was also quite frankly nuts. A museum in the new 'hub' would be fitting, charting Cumbernauld through the thousands of years its be inhabited. When placed beside our 2000 year old roman wall and altar, our 1000 year old Motte and Bailey, 16th centaury Dove Cot, couple of hundred year old Mansion house, the 50 years or so of brutalist architecture will be a small foot note.
Thanks again Jonathon, more power to your elbow.
@@matthewmckellar698 Thanks Matthew. Absolutely agree with everything you say. Sorry, I have only just seen your comment because somehow TH-cam had stuck it into a suspected spam filter (?).
This is fantastic Jonathan. Maybe you can include East Kilbride. The first New Town in Scotland.
Thanks. Ironically, I did a day of filming in East Kilbride last week. I have a few interviews lined up and the full film should be uploaded in a couple of weeks.
love that movie Gregory's girl, but should have been called Greg's lassie ;-)
Yes, you're right!
Good film mate. It is far from perfect ( not many towns are ) but as you pointed out it has some great green spaces, it is surrounded by them. Think the planners idea was the town centre would be the hub of the town, it worked well for a few decades, when I was growing up in the 80s the centre was always busy, anytime I go there now it seems pretty empty. Several reasons for the decline in my opinion, people shopping online a big reason, but also the building of a couple of retail parks within the town, also a tesco down in Eastfield would have lost it shoppers, in a way the council have helped in the decline by granting these developments thus taking a lot of custom away from the centre. People that would have shopped there years ago now don't. cheers.
Thanks. Yes, you're right, town centres all over the UK have suffered from out-of-town retail parks and online shopping. It's unfair to label Cumbernauld with a particular problem just because of the architecture. The green spaces were the biggest surprise for me. I was filming in East Kilbride recently and it just didn't have the same feeling.
I don't think they should knock down the centre because, as grim as it is, it has become part of the towns identity, history and culture. Cumbernauld has a rough urban beauty that locals should be proud of. My hometown of Dundee however is in absolute dump and I despise it with a passion.
I tend to agree with you but if I lived with it every day I'd probably want yo see some significant refurbishment. I hope to do a Dundee film soon. Surely the V and A has given it a bit of a lift?
@@TravelObscurer The centre could be regenerated into a new shopping centre with some old areas maintained as part of a museum on brutalist architecture. But that's just a concept. I love Cumbernauld, great wee gem.
I typed up that comment while half-asleep so I may have exaggerated about my hometown. Dundee is a very historical city and the waterfront and west-end are really nice. Broughty Ferry and Lochee areas are definitely worth a visit too. The V&A brightened things up a lot, I go once every while. It was designed by architect Kengo Kuma, who also made the 2020 Tokyo Olympics venue. There's seems to be a growing connection between Scotland and Japan. + we've also got The Beano, 3 J's and the two closest football teams in Britain.
Dundee got a bad rep in the past due to suffering from post-industrial decline, however it's improved a lot since then. There's tons of new projects being built so there's a lot to look forward to. My dad is originally from Parkhead in Glasgow but moved to the Hilltown, Dundee and my mums from the Kirkton scheme. I mostly grew up in Douglas then moved to Linlathen where I live now. Every city has it's rough edges but I'm proud to be a Dundonian.
@@TravelObscurer not refurbishment - demolition! It was a good idea, but didnt work in reality, It needs to be gone.
I lived in Cumbernauld in 1970, and quite frankly a good power wash wouldn’t go amiss on the shopping centre. I remember how clean it was. There are special soaps to prevent the mold and mildew coming back so soon. Surely the town planners can foot the bill for that? Having said that my Dad who was the Head of Maintenance back then had an uphill battle regarding the painting schedule with the climate there. The power’s that were, wanted painting to be done every 8+ to 12 years. My Dad was wanting it to be every 3 to 4 years. Good luck.
I have so much to add on cumbernauld centre, it was and still is a one of a kind building and no other new town is like here, The penthouses in my mind need to be preserved for the future, it is what Cumbernauld is its ❤ The building is suffering badly today and i'm not sure really if it will stay or go, if it could be upgraded as in modern renovation but keep the waffle exposed and strip it back to the original waffle celings in mall. Get rid of the bland white look and showcase the marvel that is the Centre cumbernauld
I just watched Gregory's Girl, and meant to look the place up!
Perfect timing! Must be thirty years since I last saw it.
Yahoo!Thanks~ gorgeous , goodbye. 😎
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🤩this building is history, that’s what’s gives meaning to , knocked down and another meaningless cold one comes up
What's it called?
Oohhh I’m the dopamine boy
Hi!
I’m the boy in the blue it’s a good video 👍🏽
Thanks Kallen!
Can you go to ma house in Cumbernauld in darly road beside number 40 on the right
I randomly came across this video and I've heard of this city, but never been in Scotland (I'm from Germany). That old shopping center certainly has seen better days and I'm sure there's many who would love seeing it demolished, but I think it looks very interesting ... well, I'm a sucker for brutalist architecture. It would just end up being replaced by these boring identikit block-shaped buildings that spring up everywhere these days ... I see it happen in my city all the time and I can't stand it.
If you love brutalist architecture then the cumbernauld centre really is a classic!
I couldn't agree more. As a person from cumbernauld its quite old and has been there for ages but still the thing that makes cumbernauld cumbernauld.
What's it called.......
A complete whitewash. It was and is a social disaster zone - I had to visit a month ago and the place actually frightened me. You and your architectural luvvie pals will not be living there with no money in the middle of winter, I take it. But the main reason to knock it down now is that it would cost hundreds of millions just to bring it back to where it was maybe 30 years ago - and it was deteriorating then.
A voice of reason vs all this rubbish