NEW STREETS BEAR FILM NAMES IN SWINDON
Swindon's recent decision to name streets on a new housing estate after elements of the James Bond franchise has ignited a peculiar debate: should such pop-culture homages become standard practice in residential development? The controversy, if one can call it that, centers on the Motorola Building's fleeting appearance in a Bond film, a detail now memorialized with street names like 'Dench Close' and nods to actors such as 'Pierce Brosnan'. This provincial nod has ballooned into a broader, if slightly absurd, argument for the ubiquitous presence of the Bond universe in urban planning.
The naming convention was apparently spurred by the town's brief connection to the film franchise, specifically the Motorola Building. This structure, a substantial aluminium and glass complex completed in 1998, once housed manufacturing for GSM radio transmission equipment. It occupied an area akin to three football pitches and accommodated 1300 staff before redundancies in 2001.
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The initial impulse to commemorate a minor cinematic cameo has seemingly emboldened proponents of further such tributes. One observer, identified as a film and TV extra from Swindon, has voiced support for more streets being named after popular culture icons. This sentiment echoes through commentary suggesting that every new housing estate deserves a Dench Close, a phrase that has become the rallying cry for this unconventional movement. The idea posits that any development near Bond-related locales should have license to adopt the franchise's nomenclature.
Critics, albeit thinly veiled in the published commentary, find the notion of a 'Dench Close' less an honorific and more of a "warning." The debate, however, sidesteps deeper inquiries into the practicalities or cultural merit of such naming strategies. It's an argument seemingly fueled by the sheer persistence of the Bond mythos, rather than a reasoned proposal for urban placemaking.
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The discussion also wryly points out that street names honouring actors like 'Desmond Llewelyn', a perennial Bond mechanic, are clearly insufficient. The existence of an Amazon James Bond gameshow from three years ago is even contrasted with a street name, questioning which better embodies the franchise's spirit. This suggests a broader dissatisfaction with the perceived superficiality of modern tributes.
The Motorola Building itself, built for significant manufacturing operations, stands as a testament to a different era of industrial presence in Swindon. Its sheer scale and the cost of its construction (£40 million) mark it as a substantial, albeit now perhaps anachronistic, landmark. The building's brief afterlife in a spy thriller now seems to have eclipsed its original industrial purpose in the public imagination.
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