The global media sensation the 4am Project was a perfect excuse for about 40 photographers to get access to our beautiful Central Library in the middle of the night. From the stacks in the basement to the very roof, we got to see the lot. Nilki Pugh’s photos, my photos. Am sure there will be more an better than mine at least appearing online, feel free to drop links to any you find in the comments:
There’s nothing that worries me more than consultation (still no results btw) , apart from knocking down Birmingham’s most important building. So I was a bit disappointed with only “the main themes” being released from the consultation into what might happen with Paradise Circus — out of 153 responses I know at least a few had very strong “don’t knock down Central Library” themes. Why not publish everything? Alan Crawley at The Stirrer pulls the response apart. And if you’re feeling in need of sleep, here it is published as a PDF so that even fewer people will read it.
You can now speak your branes on Paradise Circus about what should go where Central Library is. It won’t surprise you to learn that my answer is “Central Library”.
My highlighting: The Twentieth Century Society: “The Twentieth Century Society is tremendously disappointed by the Minister’s decision not to follow the advice of her advisers and list Birmingham Central Library. EH advice on listing is not often overturned and this is a key case in that regard. Minister Margaret Hodge has made no secret of her personal dislike for post-war buildings and has here failed to understand the basic premise of heritage protection in England. Listing Birmingham’s impressive brutalist library would not prevent renovation work, or even a well-designed radical makeover. Libraries need to be flexible as the services they provide will continue to evolve. We believe not only that the Central Library is historically and architecturally significant, but that it is capable of being adapted for the needs of 21st century Birmingham. What listing would do is make sure that proposals took into account the historic interest of these structures rather than seeking to change or even demolish them. One of the key strengths of our heritage system is that listing is decided purely on the basis of architectural or historic interest. This then allows a detailed analysis of economic viability and wider social issues to follow. This ...
As expected this time last week, the DCMS have not listed Central Library. Meaning that the council have a window of half a decade in which to knock it down and replace it with soulless offices, chain cafes and thinly walled apartments. At least that’s what Brindleyplace (why no space!) mark two says to me. This went against English Heritage advice: “In offering the Government our expert advice, we examined all aspects of its architectural interest including: whether it fulfilled its brief; whether it was a particularly good example of a public library; how well it survives; how it compares to other listed buildings of a similar type; and how influential the building has been. In our view, these tests were met.” Like the Rotunda before it, Central Library is a real building with real history and merit. Think of those buildings that have been senselessly destroyed before in the name of progress. We can’t let fashion spoil our history. But what can we do? I’ve said before how it doesn’t need to be a library, and how clearing clutter from around it would improve the area immeasurably. Is it a single issue we can rally around? Do we...
Birmingham timelapse from 7inch cinema on Vimeo. “a selection of images taken by amateur photographer Derek Fairbrother from the same spot in Birmingham’s Chamberlain square between 1963 and 1986. We’ve just compiled them for a new exhibition called Birmingham Seen which opens at BM&AG this weekend; other sequences include the Post Office tower and the Rotunda.”
Michael Scott has spent the last few years hanging out in disused buildings taking photos, but rather than being arrested and locked up he’s been given an Arts Council grant and the photos are being exhibited in the Central Library until the 12th of September. He’s snapped the HP factory, the Central studios and the Lancaster Circus fire station (which I now find out is shut). Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!
Seems it wasn’t the blocky and pointy nature of Central Library that make it “an eyesore” — as the design revealed today for the new Library in Centenary Square, is nothing if not blocky and a bit pointy. It also bears a passing resemblance to Brunell Street Car Park: Which is nice, as it’s without doubt my favourite car park. But what’s happening to Cliff Richards’s enternal flame? More at libraryofbirmingham.com
From a post by Sid Langley on the Birmingham Post blogs, a photo that shows just how lovely Central Library could/should/did/can look again without all the bloody shops and tat:
