A hieroglyphic object of modernity: the timeline mural at Basildon Bus Terminus and New Town

Abstract

New Towns were conceived as utopian visions of modernity that evoked the hope and spirit of a post-war nation. Inhabiting homes, schools, shopping precincts and places of work and worship, these atomized communities represented a moment of British reconstruction that lasted until the 1960’s. In many ways appearing as capsules of time; emphasized by the patina of brutalist concrete, aged tower blocks and graffiti removal. The notion of place, movement and travel affected the visions of these townscapes, offered by various responses from inhabitants and developers. In 1949, the Basildon Development Corporation was formed as a result of The New Towns Act of 1946; and consequently The Town and Country Planning Act (1947). Alongside Harlow, Essex New Towns moved communities from the heart of the East End of London, to places that promised a utopia for all. Basildon Bus Terminus served as a locus for modern interchangeable processes that drew people in and out of the town. The timeline mural started out as a contemporary composition by William Gordon that was situated above shops, overlooking an open plan depot, seen from the road and railway. Being 60 yards long, this hand-painted geometric composition was a cinematic contribution to the new bus station in 1958. A symbol of Britain rebuilt and reconstructed, this paper evaluates how a localized vision of community was forged through corporate design from one perspective and contemporary public art from the other. The inter-changeable process accommodated by the Eastern National bus route, compressed the speed of time into a structure of timetabling and the management of daily movement. A proliferation of guidebooks, tenants handbooks, bus timetables and official maps indicate that contemporary design practices were employed to illustrate the importance of modernization. Post-industrial regeneration employed architecture to set these new agendas, where design could flourish in the everyday and present a model of a Britain ready for the future.

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