Shankland and Cox at Cergy-Pontoise. Passing on British town planning working practices in France

Abstract

ABSTRACTBetween 1967 and 1970, Bernard Hirsch, director of the Mission (town planning commission) for Cergy-Pontoise invited the architectural practice Shankland and Cox to assist the employees at the Mission in designing the new town. During the four years of their collaboration Shankland and Cox produced several reports and assisted the French in the creation of the planning briefs for the design of the new town. The correspondence between the Mission and Michael Welbank, who worked for Shankland and Cox, regarding the design of the préfecture neighbourhood in Cergy-Pontoise, as well as the internal notes at the Mission, in addition to the written testimony of Bernard Hirsch in his famous book Oublier Cergy (Forgetting Cergy), show how the employees at the Mission integrated the British methods and concepts into their work practices. Through their collaboration with Shankland and Cox, it was the working methods of the London County Council Architect’s Department planning division which were directly passed on to those creating new towns in France.