Panel discussion with the director TOM CORDELL

Discussants: CAMILLO BOANO (MSc BUDD Director) and ALEXANDRE APSAN FREDIANI (Lecturer in community-led development)

As all of the DPU students embark on the fieldtrips to different countries in the globlal south the last week of April, the DPU film series team has put together a special screening+panel discussion session to mark the beginning of this new term.

The feature length documentary that explores London’s recent architectural history presents the method and practice of the Modernist architects who rebuilt London after World War Two. It shows how they revolutionised life in the city in the wake of destruction from war and the poor living conditions inherited from the Industrial Revolution. This film is their story.

Utopia London travels through the recent history of the city where the film maker grew up. He finds the architects who designed it and reunites them with the buildings they created. These young idealists were once united around a vision of using science and art to create a city of equal citizens. Their architecture fused William Morris with urban high-rise; ancient parkland with concrete.

Utopia London examines the, social and political agendas of the time in which the city was rebuilt. The story goes on to explore how the meaning of these transformative buildings has been radically manipulated over subsequent decades. Inspired by the optimism of the past it poses the question; where do we go from here and now?

Everyone is welcome to attend