Skelmersdale was selected out of the many New Towns of the 60's due to the fact I personally have relatives who reside there, and thus have visited countless times, and the general attitude of those relatives who have lived there all of their life is; 'It's a s**t hole!'.
But this is just one example of failed Modernism, executing an ambitious project with little time and recourses was always bound to become something of a disaster. This was not just restricted to large scale projects like this, Robin Hood Garden's by Alison & Peter Smithson also become a questionable project, but this will be discussed more in detail in a later blog post.
Skelmersdale was Modernist, through and through, even the logo the represented the town was Modernist;
(Source)
However, the means of which the town was executed was not in fact utilising the key ideologies that the likes of Le Corbusier devised and presented as successful through his countless buildings. It was a somewhat 'cheap and cheerful' rendition of Modernism that once seemed like a new, shiny place to live quickly became littered with street art (considered anti social behaviour) due to very little amenities at hand for the residence to enjoy, hence they quickly became bored and had to occupy themselves one way or another;
(Source)
It was this one mistake that may have made the project a success, even Le Corbusier included three floors of shops, bars, restaurants and many other recourses like gyms within the buildings themselves.
The band Magnetic North depict the life of a typical Skelmersdale with its endless roundabouts and repetitive houses with tiny windows in their music video for 'Signs';
Discovered through this article from The Guardian - 'Ballads for Lancashire's lost utopia'
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