| CHANGING PICCADILLY Horrible carbuncle designs for a new-look Piccadilly Circus. | ||
|---|---|---|
| This clip is not available for streaming at this time. Please contact WPA. | Tape Master: | 6033 |
| Catalog #: | 83886 | |
| Clip Number: | 83886-1 | |
| Orginal Film: | CP 328 | |
| Timecode: | 01:10:05 - 01:11:58 | |
| Location: | London, England | |
| Year Shot: | 1961 (Actual Year) | |
| Audio: | Yes | |
| Color: | Yes | |
| Headings: | ARCHITECTURE: Drawings & Models CITY PLANNING: Urban Renewal LOCATIONS/EUROPE: UK, England, London SIGNS: Electric Signs SIGNS: Neon | |
| Description: | CHANGING PICCADILLY Horrible carbuncle designs for a new-look Piccadilly Circus. Various shots of Piccadilly Circus at night; the illuminated signs are seen, plus an 'Underground' sign for the tube. Various daytime shots of the area; M/S of Eros; high angle traffic scenes. C/Us of a model by Sir William Holford, made when the London County Council asked him for ideas for the future of Piccadilly. It shows a fairly monstrous looking design of Eros as part of a pedestrian area (which later happened, of course!) and a cinema stretching over the road while traffic passes underneath. High angle shot of the real Piccadilly looking towards Coventry Street with Eros in the foreground. M/Ss and C/Us of the third and first prize winning models in a competition run by an evening newspaper; both are hideous (in my humble view), and show the characterful buildings of the Piccadilly area being replaced by filing-cabinet-looking tower blocks and bleak architectural features. The winner of the first prize included two awful pillars where illuminated advertising signs would be incorporated, as well as a horrendous towering cylindrical hotel - yeuch! C/U of a drawing of this model; looks horrible, though I imagine it must have seemed rather modern and sleek in 1961. M/S of a double-decker bus driving with a Guinness advert on the side, driving past Piccadilly at night; M/S of the illuminated signs. Commentator says "One day this wonderful sight will be quite unknown and to some of us only a nostalgic memory". | |
WPA FILM LIBRARY
