Historic England director claims city has lost ‘most interesting’ buildings
ALEADING heritage expert has slammed the decision to demolish Birmingham Central Library, claiming the public would regret it in 40 years’ time.
Chris Smith, director of planning at Historic England, said that the city centre was losing its “most interesting” architecture, as the buildings of famed 1960s architect John Madin are bulldozed.
Historic England, the public body tasked with protecting buildings, advised three times that Birmingham Central Library should be listed in a bid to protect its iconic importance.
But Mr Smith claimed that former architecture minister Margaret Hodge blocked the move.
“We recommended the listing three times,” he said this week following Historic England’s Angel Awards in London.
“She said, ‘I’m not listing that because I’m a democrat. The English don’t like Brutalism’.
“Our job is to be slightly ahead of the game. If no one is noticing where the trends are coming from then they will be gone before you can list them.”
The library was opened in January 1974 and was a looming icon of British Brutalist architecture with its bold concrete structure and famous inverted ziggurat.
Demolition work began in April as part of the £500 million Paradise regeneration project, despite a major campaign to list and save the building for the future.
The loss of the library sparked the creation of the Brutiful Birmingham campaign group, which is calling for the preservation of the last few examples of the architectural style across the city. Asked if people would regret the decision to demolish the Central Library in 40 years’ time, Mr Smith said: “Yep. First of all Birmingham had one great architect John Madin and bit by bit we have knocked down all of Madin’s best buildings and left modest other things. “The most interesting things have gone from central Birmingham. “Now the story has gone.” The old library had many vocal supporters who long called for it to be listed, with repeated attempts by Historic England to give it protected status ignored by the Government. In a letter to the Birmingham Post last year the campaign group Friends of the Central Library made an impassioned plea to save the building.
The letter was signed by Alan Clawley, author and secretary of the Friends; Dr Barnabas Calder, from the University of Liverpool’s school of architecture; Oliver Wainwright, Guardian architecture and design correspondent ; and the World Monuments Fund, among others. They said: “The former Central Library is one of three Brutalist buildings in the UK identified by the World Monuments Fund in 2012 as the best of their kind. “The others, Preston Bus Station (now Grade II-listed) and London’s South Bank Centre (currently being renovated), are both now safe from the bulldozers. “But John Madin’s distinctive building remains under imminent threat of demolition... There is clear evidence of a growing appreciation of Brutalist architecture. “Inevitably, as history tells us, people will demand to know why this short-sighted plan was ever allowed to take place.” The final Paradise project is expected to be completed in the mid-2020s and will house eight office buildings and a new hotel. Mrs Hodge was unavailable comment.
The most interesting things have gone from central Birmingham. Now the story has gone Chris Smith, director of planning at Historic England
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