Which part of the country would you rebuild and ‘start again’

I can give you 'Mortality', by Betjeman :-

The first-class brains of a senior civil servant
Shiver and shatter and fall
As the steering column of his comfortable Humber
Batters in the bony wall.
All those delicate re-adjustments
"On the one hand, if we proceed
With the ad hoc policy hitherto adapted
To individual need...
On the other hand, too rigid an arrangement
Might, of itself, perforce...
I would like to submit for the Minister's concurrence
The following alternative course,
Subject to revision and reconsideration
In the light of our experience gains..."
And this had to happen at the corner where the by-pass
Comes into Egham out of Staines.
That very near miss for an All Souls' Fellowship
The recent compensation of a 'K' -
The first-class brains of a senior civil servant
Are sweetbread on the road today.

and the probably better-known 'Slough' . . . .

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!

Come, bombs and blow to smithereens
Those air -conditioned, bright canteens,
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans,
Tinned minds, tinned breath.

Mess up the mess they call a town-
A house for ninety-seven down
And once a week a half a crown
For twenty years.

And get that man with double chin
Who'll always cheat and always win,
Who washes his repulsive skin
In women's tears:

And smash his desk of polished oak
And smash his hands so used to stroke
And stop his boring dirty joke
And make him yell.

But spare the bald young clerks who add
The profits of the stinking cad;
It's not their fault that they are mad,
They've tasted Hell.

It's not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio,
It's not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead

And talk of sport and makes of cars
In various bogus-Tudor bars
And daren't look up and see the stars
But belch instead.

In labour-saving homes, with care
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair
And dry it in synthetic air
And paint their nails.

Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough
To get it ready for the plough.
The cabbages are coming now;
The earth exhales.
[with apologies to any Slough residents]

the barbican flats are even better now they have demolished the Brutalist office blocks that used to line London Wall.

I really like the glass pyramid at the Louvre and do works of art need to have a purpose ?????

CoolCoco

The concrete buildings in the Barbican have been sympathetically softened with mature planting and water features which enhance the area. I’d love a flat there.

I would too, imagine having all those galleries, theatres and restaurants right on the doorstep.. I love to wander round there and avidly look at apartments for sale.. though they are rather small..

Me too Coco!

The concrete buildings in the Barbican have been sympathetically softened with mature planting and water features which enhance the area. I’d love a flat there.

Drain water away from Tryweryn reservoir so decendants can
again lay flowers on family graves

Spent much of today at Canary Wharf - and loved it. Modern commercial architecture at its best, designed as a whole and works.

The place was full of people shopping eating, visiting the Museum of London (Docklands) and enjoying water based pursuits.

Only compalint, it is served by three rail links, the Elizabeth Line, Docklands Light Railway and London Underground. Each with their own seperate stations hundreds of yards apart.

Glass!!
I remember being horrified when this glass monstrosity was plonked in the courtyard of the Louvre. (1990 ish?) It has taken me a long while to see it as a thing of beauty, and I'm still not sure it enhances the place, let alone having any purpose.

I like much modern architecture, but 'beton brut' became 'brutalist' because, with a few exceptions, the buildings it produced were ugly and intimidating. You will find few defenders of brutalist architecture outside the architectural or arts establishment.

Someone did speak for the Barbican development, and, yes, the residential blocks and courts are one of my exceptions, But I notice that most of the brutalist buildings that lined London Wall in my working days have been demolished to be replaced by buildings that contain a lot of glass and that actually this road is now a really good example of integrated modern architecture.

I used to regularly visit a building jsut off London Wall and I found the road, as I knw it, frightening and alienating. Like living in some dystopian science fiction film.

Because of concrete the world is running out of sand.

www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a39880899/earth-is-running-out-of-sand/#

PS yes I realise Chicago isn’t in the UK!

Not all modern architecture is ugly, and not all buildings constructed of concrete are ugly. What looks wrong is a juxtaposition of old and new that clashes. If anybody wants to see modern architecture in harmony, there’s a surprising example in Chicago. The river trip is unforgettable, hearing about the design of the city and seeing how the design features of new buildings echo the older ones is fascinating.

I think the term "brutalism" in architecture actually refers to "béton brut", raw concrete, which Le Corbusier introduced to buildings in 1940s. He worked with various artists to create large concrete blocks of flats, mainly in Marseille I think, very much for ordinary people to live in.

The fact that 'brutalist' archtecture is called 'brutalist' says it all.

Use 'brutalist' in any other context and it is a word that describes all that is dreadful, yet used by aechitects and it is considered an acceptable.

Architects should be the servant of ordinary people, their purpose should be to design buildings that are restful on the eyes and balm to the spirit, but far too often they are the slaves of the companies and their owners who employ them to build builidngs that exemplify their owners power, money and hubris. They sneer at ordinary people who simply want homes that are comfortable to live in set in environments that are peaceful and quiet to step out into.

I would agree with lots of the above.

Personally I would knock down some follys.
They were probably useless at the time as well.
I wouldnt rebuild anything in their places.

Monica I couldn’t agree more. All those beautiful ancient buildings dwarfed by glass and concrete monstrosities.

brutalist architecture

It reminds me of architecture in ex-Soviet countries. Sometimes the old buildings remain, as you leave the beautiful, old centre of a city the brutalist grey concrete blocks take over.

Callistemon21

petra

I would bulldoze this ugly shrine to concrete.

It is truly dreadful, isn't it!

How long before it crumbles?

I really like this development and enjoy strolling round it.. agreat example of brutalist architecture.. and of course because the flats which started as social housing are now privately owned and valued at over a million each, the place will not slowly crumble..

petra

I would bulldoze this ugly shrine to concrete.

It is truly dreadful, isn't it!

How long before it crumbles?

I would bulldoze this ugly shrine to concrete.

Smart motorways - death traps

grannyactivist

My husband and I sometimes travel for work and without doubt the worst of the city/town centres we visited recently was Swindon. In fact my husband was actually worried about leaving me there whilst he did a site visit. It’s a depressingly grim place.

A friend and I used to go to a 'designer' shopping outlet there, I presume it's still open. Probably better than Swindon town centre.
Town centres are becoming increasingly depressing nowadays, but I suppose if we don't use them, we'll lose them.

My husband and I sometimes travel for work and without doubt the worst of the city/town centres we visited recently was Swindon. In fact my husband was actually worried about leaving me there whilst he did a site visit. It’s a depressingly grim place.

Unfortunately the bombing raids of the SecondWorld War ruined the city I live in and the local authority have been trying to put the city right ever since without much luck.