Comment Gone but not forgotten – but will Birmingham ever learn?
centrepiece of the new Paradise development was lost.
We might have been more reconciled if the replacement vision had architectural merit.
You can judge this for yourselves because one boring, bland, blackclad building has now been built. History in the making? I think not. I doubt the World Monuments Fund will have this on their endangered list in the future.
Of course, a finger can also be pointed at the architects who take on the design commissions for such developments and then disregard the architectural and heritage value of existing buildings.
They also have a professional responsibility to ensure that every measure is taken to retain exceptional architecture, especially where its preservation is supported by expert opinion.
Certificates of Immunity make it easy for architects and developers to pre-empt any challenges to their plans for demolition.
The certificates clearly imply that a building might indeed merit statutory listing, as is the case with Birmingham’s Ringway Centre in Smallbrook Queensway, the Chambers of Commerce in Edgbaston, and 123 Hagley Road.
We mourn the loss of the Central Library as we do the loss of other significant buildings in Birmingham: the Post & Mail Tower (1961-66) in Colmore Circus, the NatWest Tower, in Colmore Row (1964-75), and the BBC Pebble Mill Studios (1961-71), in Bristol Road, in Edgbaston.
These iconic buildings, many designed by John Madin, incorporated a number of firsts. When it opened, the Central Library was the largest non-capital city library in Europe.
Both the Post & Mail Tower and the Central Library involved innovative use of glass.
The double height glass and internal concrete balconies of the Central Library afforded views out to the atrium for visitors while protecting the books from the damage done by direct sunlight.
These are just some of the criteria, recognised in the listings of the Twentieth Century Society and the World Monuments Fund, which would have justified statutory listing of the Central Library.
In its rush to develop new and glossy areas of the city, Birmingham should learn the lesson of the loss of the library and recognise the merits of the best buildings of the second half of the 20th century before this architectural period is entirely obliterated.
The Guardian last week published a dozen pictures from around the world of Brutalist architecture under threat or destroyed... the Birmingham Central Library was its British example.
Next time, we will revisit some of the Birmingham buildings of this period that are currently under threat.
Brutiful Birmingham is a campaign group established to raise awareness of and fight for the retention of the best of late C20 buildings in Birmingham.
We welcome your views: www. facebook.com/Brutiful-Birmingham, follow us on twitter: twitter.com/ brutifulbrum, or email us at : brutiful2015@gmail.com. Mary Keating represents
Brutiful Birmingham
There is no doubt that Historic England would have supported an application for grade II listing of the library