Thamesmead/Town of Tomorrow, Section Perspective, Loretta Bosence 2014
I made this A1 hand drawing for an ongoing project entitled ‘Mottainai’, based on a site at Thamesmead, South East London. Mottainai is a Japanese term which has no translation in English, but is used to describe a feeling of regret when something is wasted. We were asked to produce a drawing that contained ‘mottainai koto’ – a collection of mottainai things, and to imagine what was below the ground in our section drawing.
In my eyes the ‘mottainai’ at Thamesmead is the failed utopian dream, offered to working class people, uprooted from their ‘slum’ terraces and promised “a decent place to live”. The considerable and genuine efforts of GLC planners to create an ideal environment for families to thrive in were thwarted by fundamental design flaws and lack of investment in upkeep. Before long, fragmented communities found themselves in an isolated concrete jungle, forgotten by the rest of the city.
In my section I have imagined the foundations of the failing concrete to be built on the rubble of the brick slums, which were once themselves the latest utopia for the poor. (As it turns out, this is not far from the truth). Now they are demolishing parts of Thamesmead and set to embark on the creation of a new dream.
