After seeing the new MSCP for Eastside, the CUBE at the Mailbox, buildings with squared or rectangular tiles, so many straight edged buildings that adourn the sky line. Why is Birmingham’s modern architecture so unbelievably dull?
Apart from Rotunda, Beetham, Sellfridges and the upcoming New Street, there are no buildings that give a positive dramatic impact, not only across the skyline but also at ground level. No wow factor. I’ve been to Manchester and Liverpool and they’re really pushing hard on this whereas Birmingham seems to be too shy to break with the sensible convention (or too scarerd) and more willing to let the opportuinty for making an *efficient* fast buck determine what style should be built.
If the height of the climax of architecture in Birmingham is a square box, then heaven help us. People may take the piss out of the Bilbao effect but it does provide everyone with the eye candy that makes coming into a town centre and the immediate surrounding areas much more bearable. Nothing about the buildings that have been proposed, built or renovated quite recently have been able to set any pulses racing and apart from the said buildings I have mentioned above eveything else has been devoid of any ‘personality’.
The Cube. I um-and-ah about whether I like this or not but waking up to reality, it’s just a squared up box. The cladding makes it vaguely exciting I guess but all I can think of is… Pontiac (I’ll explain this in another post possibly). A lot of buildings in this town seem to come from the folded paper school of design and are only produced by commitee (squares/rectangles) or some nutcase(s) on a mission (triangular) to come up with some crazy plans just to inject something interesting in a design just for the sake of it ending up with something totally distasteful… Eg Eastside BCU.
So I start the debate.
-Birmingham’s modern architecture is too dull and uninteresting.
-The designers/planners are either to shy or scared, or too manic without thought.
-We need more interesting and thought out design that actually inspire.
/discuss….