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Why do British city centres look so dull, rough and grey?

Collingwood

Blame the Luftwaffe. Cities that weren't so heavily bombed tend to be fairly free of this. Though the government doesnt exactly help by building every public building in whatever god awful style it thinks is most "modern" at the time.

Only because it gave the bastards an excuse.

For all the damage done to places like Coventry by the Luftwaffe, in the decades thereafter their own city council did a hell of a lot worse.

You're entirely right about public buildings - they should be inherently conservative. Take for example a local library or community centre: there will be architects who naturally want to experiment, to be 'novel', but such a project is far too important for that. Such buildings will endure, and will be the centrepieces of their communities: if you fail now, the consequences will last a hell of a long time.

Officer Dibble

Blame the poor imagination of 1960s architects.

I think quite the opposite: they had far too much imagination. Constantly striving for originality at the expense of learning the lessons of the past, dismissing anything vaguely traditional as pastiche.

What they didn't realise is there is reason in our architectural heritage: wisdom passed down through the ages.

Reply 21

4x4

10

I quite like the centre of london

Reply 22

Melancholy

20

Asteron

Architects need to find a harmonial balance between traditional and modern architecture. It appears that most seem to be too innovative with some of their modern architecture, and end up with grotesque creations which look as if the designer has tried too hard to make it appear unique/contemporary.

I think that 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) is a good example of modernized architecture created correctly. It's an extremely unique creation, yet I feel it manages to retain stylish and contemporary aesthetics, without transforming into some modern, concrete monster.

It would be nice to see more traditional architecture; however. Buildings such as Buckingham Palace and the Bank of England represent how the Greek/Roman renaissance style of architecture is timeless and continues to be unique and stylish. We should definitely dedicate some of our architectural designs on Baroque architecture, aswell as the more modern creations.

Personally, I think the Gherkin looks like a massive dildo penetrating the London skyline. Different strokes for different folks? :p:

That said, I agree that Britain should enjoy different approaches to architectural styles precisely so that there's something for everyone.

Reply 23

Collingwood

15

L i b

You're entirely right about public buildings - they should be inherently conservative. Take for example a local library or community centre: there will be architects who naturally want to experiment, to be 'novel', but such a project is far too important for that. Such buildings will endure, and will be the centrepieces of their communities: if you fail now, the consequences will last a hell of a long time.

This problem is probably inherent to the system. It's far easier to convince council officials spending other peoples' money to risk it on a vanity project or architectural form that appeals mainly only to other avant-garde architects than to convince someone who's stumping up their own money to do the same.

Reply 24

vander Beth

13

L i b

Only because it gave the bastards an excuse.

For all the damage done to places like Coventry by the Luftwaffe, in the decades thereafter their own city council did a hell of a lot worse.

You're entirely right about public buildings - they should be inherently conservative. Take for example a local library or community centre: there will be architects who naturally want to experiment, to be 'novel', but such a project is far too important for that. Such buildings will endure, and will be the centrepieces of their communities: if you fail now, the consequences will last a hell of a long time.

I couldn't agree more about public buildings being more conservative. Our city hall was designed by I. M. Pei, but now it just looks terribly dated; it's stuck in the 80's. Thing is, it replaced a wonderful Beaux-Arts city hall(which they are luckily renovating).

I'm sick of seeing these avant-garde building being put up, especially when there are replacing historical ones that don't look aged in two years. I was actually sad when I heard they were moving the branch library from a wonderful, period Bauhaus building that goes historically and aesthetically with the surrounding neighborhood to something with neon lights above the windows.

Reply 25

fran.ha

17

noggins

I wish they would rebuild spaghetti junction at Birmingham, it looks so ancient.. but I guess the big cheese believes in the old saying 'if it ain't broke'

I'm just imaging spaghetti junction with flashing lights down the sides and made entirely out of chrome. It would like a fairground ride! If only...

Reply 26

Clubber Lang

15

dubai actually isn;t that nice..

Reply 27

hafa

9

Clubber Lang

dubai actually isn;t that nice..

I think Dubai is nice, however I would not live there it is way too artificial for my liking. But I do visit the place now and then for a holiday.

Reply 28

Sephiroth

18

Lefty_P

I think that qualifies as a WIN

Oh god, how awesome would it be to be at the top of one of those buildings? You'd think you could just step out and jump on a fluffy cloud. But would you get the same kind of view being so close to it?

I can't wait to visit Dubai. But only after the majority of their main projects are complete. Apparently they have plans to build something bigger than the Burj. I love tall skyscrapers. The UK needs some. Even the size of the Hilton in Manchester amazes me and it's nothing special.

Reply 29

Norfolkadam

18

Dubai looks like an absolute hell-hole quite frankly. It's so artifical and as soon as the oil runs out it will become a ghost town and a relic of the capitalist age.

London is one of my favourite cities in the world because it has quite a low-rise skyline compared to say American cities. The way that office blocks are clustered around the City and Docklands means it has areas which hold the culture and feeling of a British city. When you go out to Docklands (or La Defense in Paris) it feels like you are stood in the middle of Chicago and it could so easily have been that the whole of London was like that. That's why I oppose The Shard in London Bridge because it falls outside the two clusters.

There are some towns and cities I'd consider grey and boring in the UK like Woking, Swansea, Ipswich and Colliers Wood then there are amazing, vibrant cities like Norwich, Cambridge, Newcastle and London. Obviously in each of the groups there are areas which are vibrant or grey (Soverign House in Norwich, Docks in Ipswich). You just have to look around.

Reply 30

RJ555

14

Definately my favourite building, bottle opener ftw :p:

:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_World_Financial_Center

I don't think I'd be able to handle the observation deck though, glass floored, urgh.

I think British architecture just seems a little behind maybe? Probably due to planning regulations and what not but I'd like to see some more unique buildings be built. Liverpool to me is the greyest city, everytime I go there it just feels so gloomy and depressing.

Reply 31

Marco1

15

There are plenty of beautiful cities in Britain e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, York. Admittedly there are those affected by the history of the industrial revolution and of course the 50s, 60s and 70s. The 60 million head of people crammed into a tiny island has prompted some pretty unsatisfactory architectural solutions too. (I still ponder the use of a garage that once you get the car in, you barely have enough room to open the door to get out!).

Manhattan has period architecture such as Art Deco but you won't get the richness of the more ancient medieval stuff that Britain has. While you were in Manhattan did you visit the Bronx? That's certainly no chocolate box picture. Britain's urban landscape can be a bit grim, sure, but it is a nation with bags of character, social freedom, humour and style. That's largely why so many people the world over want to live here.

Reply 32

Student2806

17

RJ555

Definately my favourite building, bottle opener ftw :p:

:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_World_Financial_Center

I don't think I'd be able to handle the observation deck though, glass floored, urgh.

It is an amazing building, but my favourite has always been the Chrysler Building:

Spoiler

I can't wait to see it in the flesh in September :grin:

The glass floor at SWFC doesn't look too bad to be honest - it's in the centre of the observation deck so you only see down to the 97th floor. It pales in comparison to the CN Tower's glass floor:

SWFC:

Spoiler

CN Tower:

Spoiler

I do agree though - our city skylines are incredibly boring.

Reply 33

Sephiroth

18

Well, you've just added Toronto to my list of must visit places! The glass floor looks like a totally unique experience.

Reply 34

HJV

16

Collingwood

Blame the Luftwaffe. Cities that weren't so heavily bombed tend to be fairly free of this. Though the government doesnt exactly help by building every public building in whatever god awful style it thinks is most "modern" at the time.

I don't think the Luftwaffe was in any way responsible for British 60s architecture.

A lot of German cities were bombed much, much worse than British cities. Take Dresden for example, it looks nice today and yet it was bombed flat in the war.

Reply 35

Marco1

15

Very striking and modern indeed that Shanghai World Financial Centre.

For me though you can't beat the beauty of Gothic Architecture. Give me the grandeur of stone, crafted wood, vaulted ceilings, stained glass and arches any day of the week. The proportionality, the solidity of the structure combined with the sumptuous and richly coloured interior furnishings of Pugin's Gothic revival is as good as it gets, for me. Okay, I'll stop now http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbi.cgi/Westminster_Palace.html/cid_1160286239_Westminster_Palace_02.html

Reply 36

she

16

Collingwood

Blame the Luftwaffe. Cities that weren't so heavily bombed tend to be fairly free of this. Though the government doesnt exactly help by building every public building in whatever god awful style it thinks is most "modern" at the time.