Fit for a king: Prince Charles’ experimental city is proving critics wrong
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After a three-hour drive through the English countryside, I arrive in the town of Poundbury and climb out of the car to examine my strange new surroundings.
To the right stands the imposing Duchess of Cornwall Inn, which borrows its rich architectural detail from Palladio’s Convento della Carità in Venice. Next door, the neoclassical-style Strathmore House is bright yellow like some sort of St Petersburg palace and boasts fourteen giant Corinthian pilasters topped by a pediment bearing the Queen Mother’s coat of arms. In front of me the sprawling Royal Pavilion combines Greek Revival details with Roman arcaded architecture.
Bevan Shields16:44, Jul 25 2021
Justin Tallis/Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II tours the square in Poundbury, England on October 27, 2016. Poundbury is an experimental new town designed with traditional urban principles championed by The Prince of Wales.
ANALYSIS: After a three-hour drive through the English countryside, I arrive in the town of Poundbury and climb out of the car to examine my strange new surroundings. To the right stands the imposing Duchess of Cornwall Inn, which borrows its rich architectural detail from Palladio’s Convento della Carità in Venice. Next door, the neoclassical-style Strathmore House is bright yellow like some sort of St Petersburg palace and boasts 14 giant Corinthian pilasters topped by a pediment bearing the Queen Mother’s coat of arms. In front of me the sprawling Royal Pavilion combines Greek Revival details with Roman arcaded architecture.