I read an article in The Guarfian, last week, defending Brutalism. It's a left wing mental ilness, a reflexive hatred of anything that has a sense of place, history or local culture.
The minds of leftists are strange and warped. Sexually obsessive to the state of seeing bridges as symbols of phallic oppression. They are actually mad.
Badly deployed private money is bad enough, but for me, the greatest crimes of all, were committed by our political class, how they spent our money, shaped our dystopian society, whilst enriching themselves.
Straight after the war, the "Homes For Heroes" rebuilding programs, actually not only started with good intentions, they erected some quality houses, flats & communal areas - many of them still desirable today.
Sadly, it didn't last long, before housing programmes were hijacked by politicians & shed loads of bribery and corruption (do not underestimate the role this played in our concrete future slums - lots of money sloshing around - same old story).
The councils (certainly up here in Glasgow), are in the process of destroying the worst evidence e.g. Red Road Flats. I even remember when I was a boy, we would pass through Darnley (late 70s) where Glasgow City Council had been building a large flatted development, decided to demolish the last phase - which was 80% complete - i.e. STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
UNFORGIVABLE waste! Now we just have to pay the debt & make do with what could have been a lot better.
That period of post war (WWII) utopian vision / dystopian reality fascinates me. One would think architecture would move instep with human progress... not so much. Certainly not in the UK anyway.
I lived in Berlin for a year around 2008. The block of flats we stayed in was a post-war redevelopment of Prezlauerberg. It was a short walk from Alexander Platz and the TV Tower - a tribute to an expanse of concrete if ever there was one. The flats themselves were not head turning by any means. Yet, everything about them was solid and well judged. No corners had been cut. No plasterboard or breeze-block in sight.
These houses shared a sensibility with Glasgow tenements from the late 1800's. Solid, dependable and intended for centuries of use. These were the traditional family Sunday roast next to the Smash, mashed potato and Wall's sausages of prefab builds in the UK.
I feel there is a reciprocal relationship between people and the architecture of their environment. Just look at the old Soviet blocks, and the misery writ large on the faces of those forced to live there.
I read an article in The Guarfian, last week, defending Brutalism. It's a left wing mental ilness, a reflexive hatred of anything that has a sense of place, history or local culture.
The headline was enough for me (I haven't bothered to read the article).
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jul/06/upward-thrusting-buildings-ejaculating-cities-sexist-leslie-kern-phallic-feminist-city-toxic-masculinity
The minds of leftists are strange and warped. Sexually obsessive to the state of seeing bridges as symbols of phallic oppression. They are actually mad.
Like it...here is Roger in a nightclub in Swindon ( mine and my father's to be
transparent...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ocZe8GysQ&t=865s
Very thoughtful. Thank you, Dominic!
Succinct, but so true.
Badly deployed private money is bad enough, but for me, the greatest crimes of all, were committed by our political class, how they spent our money, shaped our dystopian society, whilst enriching themselves.
Straight after the war, the "Homes For Heroes" rebuilding programs, actually not only started with good intentions, they erected some quality houses, flats & communal areas - many of them still desirable today.
Sadly, it didn't last long, before housing programmes were hijacked by politicians & shed loads of bribery and corruption (do not underestimate the role this played in our concrete future slums - lots of money sloshing around - same old story).
The councils (certainly up here in Glasgow), are in the process of destroying the worst evidence e.g. Red Road Flats. I even remember when I was a boy, we would pass through Darnley (late 70s) where Glasgow City Council had been building a large flatted development, decided to demolish the last phase - which was 80% complete - i.e. STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
UNFORGIVABLE waste! Now we just have to pay the debt & make do with what could have been a lot better.
That period of post war (WWII) utopian vision / dystopian reality fascinates me. One would think architecture would move instep with human progress... not so much. Certainly not in the UK anyway.
I lived in Berlin for a year around 2008. The block of flats we stayed in was a post-war redevelopment of Prezlauerberg. It was a short walk from Alexander Platz and the TV Tower - a tribute to an expanse of concrete if ever there was one. The flats themselves were not head turning by any means. Yet, everything about them was solid and well judged. No corners had been cut. No plasterboard or breeze-block in sight.
These houses shared a sensibility with Glasgow tenements from the late 1800's. Solid, dependable and intended for centuries of use. These were the traditional family Sunday roast next to the Smash, mashed potato and Wall's sausages of prefab builds in the UK.
I feel there is a reciprocal relationship between people and the architecture of their environment. Just look at the old Soviet blocks, and the misery writ large on the faces of those forced to live there.