This talk explores the 'mismatched ideologies' of Brutalism and Heritage, through examples of condemned post-war buildings that have either been saved or attempted to be saved by architectural enthusiasts, including Park Hill, Birmingham Central Library and Preston Bus Station. The talk was delivered as part of 'Revisiting Utopia: Modernist Architecture in the Post Regenerate City': a one-day symposium run by In Certain Places, which used Preston Bus Station as a case study to explore the status of modernist architecture in the contemporary urban environment.
Preston Bus Station was designed by Keith Ingham of Building Design Partnership, and is an example of Brutalist architecture. Completed in 1969, it has 80 bus bays and is the largest bus station in the UK. The building includes a multi-storey carpark on the top, and it is linked to other parts of the city centre via subways and an elevated walkway. The building, which continues to make a profit, has been threatened with demolition for over ten years, as part of city centre redevelopment plans.
Owen Hatherley was born in Southampton, England in 1981. He received his doctorate in 2011 from Birkbeck College, London for a thesis on 'The Political Aesthetics of Americanism in Weimar Germany and the Soviet Union, 1919-34'. He works as a freelance writer on architecture and cultural politics, and is the author of four books - Militant Modernism (Zero, 2009), A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain (Verso, 2010), Uncommon – An Essay on Pulp (Zero, 2011), the forthcoming A New Kind of Bleak – Journeys through Urban Britain (Verso 2012), and a forthcoming e-book on squares in Eastern Europe, Across the Plaza (Strelka, 2012).
This talk explores ideas of urban development and sustainability within the post-regenerate city. The talk was delivered as part of 'Revisiting Utopia: Modernist Architecture in the Post Regenerate City': a one-day symposium run by In Certain Places, which used Preston Bus Station as a case study to explore the status of modernist architecture in the contemporary urban environment.
Preston Bus Station was designed by Keith Ingham of Building Design Partnership, and is an example of Brutalist architecture. Completed in 1969, it has 80 bus bays and is the largest bus station in the UK. The building includes a multi-storey carpark on the top, and it is linked to other parts of the city centre via subways and an elevated walkway. The building, which continues to make a profit, has been threatened with demolition for over ten years, as part of city centre redevelopment plans.
Irena Bauman is a practicing architect and a cofounder of Bauman Lyons in 1992, Leeds, UK. With her practice she has undertaken a wide range of bespoke projects from small installations to large masterplans. She has worked collaboratively with many artists and writers and aims to combine research with practice in all her work. Her recent projects include a new promenade in Bridlington, mixed use low carbon development in Tower Works, Holbeck as well as a small shelter for walkers in Fridaythorpe. She is currently researching how adoption to Climate Change will impact on building and city design as well as on our behavior. Her book, How to be a Happy Architect was published in 2008.
Revisiting Utopia: Modernist Architecture and the Post-Regenerate City was a one-day symposium, which brought together architects, artists, urban planners and people with an interest in the future of cities, to examine the role of architecture in an age of austerity. Employing Preston’s iconic bus station as a case study, the event explored the Modernist principles that informed the construction of the building during the late 1960s and discussed the architectural impact of recent urban regeneration schemes, such as the planned re-development of Preston city centre that threatened to demolish the bus station. Examining issues of environmental sustainability and the significance of local knowledge, the event asked to what extent the utopian ideals of Modernism, and the buildings they inspired, might still be relevant within today’s urban landscape.
This video is of a panel debate, which was chaired by Lancashire County Councillor, Kevin Ellard as part of the event. The panelists are Preston City Councillor Tom Burns, Christina Malathouni - Senior Conservation Adviser at the Twentieth Century Society, architect Irena Bauman and architecture writer Owen Hatherley.
Preston Bus Station was designed by Keith Ingham of Building Design Partnership, and is an example of Brutalist architecture. Completed in 1969, it has 80 bus bays and is the largest bus station in the UK. The building includes a multi-storey carpark on the top, and it is linked to other parts of the city centre via subways and an elevated walkway. The building, which continues to make a profit, has been threatened with demolition for over ten years, as part of city centre redevelopment plans.
In Certain Places
VB005A, Victoria Building
University of Central Lancashire
Preston, PR1 2HE
info@incertainplaces.org
