Anyone who wants to know the values of King Charles III – who, as a prince, generated controversy by expressing strong opinions and sometimes trying to act on them – can head to the picturesque village of Poundbury, the now monarch’s favorite project.
Built according to Charles’ architectural principles, the expanse of Dorchester, in southwest England, illustrates how different his view of public life is from that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who died last week at age 96.
The sovereign revealed little about her opinions and preferences and was careful to avoid polemics. Charles, on the other hand, often shared his views on subjects that interested him, such as architecture, environmental protection, and alternative medicine.
Last week, in his first speech as king, he signaled that he would be more reserved from now on. But Poundbury remains a physical, inhabited testament to his former passions.
The land on which the allotment was built forms part of the Duchy of Cornwall. As Charles was the Duke of Cornwall before he became king — and therefore owned the land — he saw an opportunity to put his ideas about architecture into practice when the Dorchester expansion was assigned.
Charles stated that many opposed his project, “from the Treasury to everyone else”. “I was told it didn’t make any sense economically,” the current king said in a 2019 ITV documentary. “But I was determined to stand by my opinions. Because I always believed [nelas] long-term.”
Critics say that, with no traffic lights and strangely curved streets, Poundbury was amateurishly planned and looks more like a toy town than a real place. But others admire Charles for sticking to his convictions and standing up to opponents for 30 years, creating a community popular with some 4,500 residents and attractive to newcomers.
Construction on Poundbury began in 1993, after then-Prince Charles laid out his ideas on architecture and urbanism in the book “A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture”. There, he expressed his preference for “buildings that sprang from our architectural tradition and that are in harmony with nature” and derided post-war buildings and modern urban planning for their “sheer ugliness and mediocrity”.
“The spirit of Poundbury is to build a city, a place that works primarily for the people who live here,” Blake Holt, president of the residents’ association, told Reuters. “What we have is high-quality, creative architecture on a human scale.”
A single traffic sign at the site indicates that roundabout rules apply to the area around a statue of Charles’ maternal grandmother, the Queen Mother. It is the only concession made in this regard. The absence of traffic lights, in addition to uneven roads, would supposedly force drivers to slow down and give way to pedestrians.
The unusual approach to traffic management and the variety of building styles, based on different aspects of British architectural heritage, contribute to Poundbury’s distinctive look. Companies were integrated into the project, generating around 2,500 jobs in stores, cafes, offices and factories.
A local chocolatier is among Poundbury’s success stories. For a while, a cereal manufacturer filled the streets with trucks, but then gave up. “We learned from this that certain industrial or commercial uses can easily be incorporated into residential and mixed-use neighborhoods and others don’t,” says Simon Conibear, who was Poundbury’s real estate director for 20 years.
Despite initial skepticism, residents are warming up to Poundbury, according to Chris Moyle, 64. A resident of nearby Weymouth, he says his mother is considering moving to the village. “At first, a lot of people thought it lacked personality,” he says. “The place grew a little, it started to have bars, cafes and novelties, whereas at the beginning it was just a bunch of houses.”
The artist Judy Tate, who lives in the place, defines it as very welcoming. “Most people have moved relatively recently, so everyone is very open-minded about socializing.”
Rising home values indicate interest in the neighborhood, although critics claim it is inaccessible to many. The average property price in Poundbury last year was more than £400,000, according to real estate website Rightmove.
The Duchy of Cornwall office, which manages the development, says it meets official social housing targets. “There’s always been a bit of a ‘Marmite effect’ in town. Some things worked absolutely brilliantly, some not so much,” says local councilor Richard Biggs, referring to a famous spread of yeast spread on bread that people tend to to love or hate. “There’s always some sort of conflict between the design vision and what’s actually allowed by traffic regulations and that sort of thing.”
With Charles becoming King, his son William succeeds him as Duke of Cornwall and becomes the owner of the lands. William doesn’t show the same interest in architecture, and planners don’t expect him to interfere with the rest of the construction period.
Conibear says that, except for minor modifications to the original plan, the development was delivered in a manner consistent with its principles. “I think he [Charles] He will always be proud of Poundbury, and with good reason,” he says. “He will consider it ‘job done’, effectively, when Poundbury is finished in 2025.”
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