Birmingham’s boldest old architecture turned into Top Trumps
Brutalist game on the cards
THEY’RE the buildings Brummies love – or loathe – and now they’ve been turned into a Top Trumps game.
The city’s most striking brutalist landmarks from the 60s and 70s are celebrated in the winner takes all contest.
They include the old Birmingham Central Library, famously described by Prince Charles as “a monstrous carbuncle” and demolished in 2013 despite attempts by campaigners such as Brutiful Birmingham to save it. The prince branded the ‘inverted ziggurat’, designed by architect John Madin, as “a place where books are incinerated, not kept”.
Other landmarks on the cards include the New Street Signal Box, Muirhead Tower, on the University of Birmingham campus, and The Rotunda.
The game will allow people to play off against each other, with buildings rated on categories including ‘brutality’ and ‘ugliness’.
Birmingham design studio Spaceplay is the company behind the limited edition version of the classic card game.
“Our Top Trump Card deck features 24 of Birmingham’s finest and most controversial brutalist buildings,” the studio says.
“Each card scores across six categories to battle out with opponents and become the brutalist Birmingham Top Trump king.
“The cards provide information on the architect, the date of completion and the number of storeys for each building.
“We’ve then made some of the categories more fun, showing how exclusive the building is, how bespoke the architectural detailing is.
“And we’ve showed how misunderstood this style of architecture can be by including an ugliness category. It’s a way for Brummies to have fun, celebrate our city’s heritage and learn more about some of our favourite concrete havens.”
The cards are on sale now but are also available to order at £16 a pack from www.space-play.co.uk