Jerry Blackett: Some usefulness is temporary
Jul 28 2008 By Jerry Blackett
A few weeks ago, I was mulling over how long forever is, in the context of Tata Motors saying they had bought Jaguar/Land Rover “forever”.
I was reminded about how emotional we can get when either thinking about the future (when we are often desperate for more certainty than can ever be reasonable to expect, which was the point I was making about Tata’s acquisition of Jaguar/Land Rover) or the past, when a sepia wash dribbles across our memory and we yearn for what we think was a golden age.
It’s the past I want to reflect upon this time. Margaret Hodge is deciding imminently whether Birmingham’s Central Library should be protected from redevelopment by being given Listed status. Proponents of this include John Madin, the architect.
It is understandable why John would want to protect part of his life’s work. It is a strong human emotion to want to be associated with a legacy. Something that leaves an imprint as we pass through this short life.
Or is it? Contrast John’s feelings about our Library with those of Frank Gehry, who to quote The Financial Times of July 11th is “arguably the best known figure in contemporary architecture”. Frank has a lot to be precious about. The Bilbao Guggenheim that jolted cities around the world to create iconic architecture in search of global destination and festival status. Another special building would be Los Angeles’s Disney Concert Hall.
Never afraid to be controversial, Frank is currently finishing off what looks like a stack of sticks near the Serpentine in London. More like a jumble of discarded off-cuts than a thing of beauty, this may not create a defining piece for our age.
What we should reflect upon is Frank’s approach to his legacy. To quote from The Financial Times interview:
“Life is temporal. There’s too much preening and fussing over fancy details, about an idea of perfection. It’s all phoney.” What he said next we should read with the Central Library firmly in mind. “We are temporary and so are all our structures. A few last through the ages with varying degrees of presence. Perhaps.
“In the last year four of my buildings have been torn down, “ he responds, “ and I’ve been asked to defend them. I don’t. A building refers to its time, to the things it was responding to, the people, the place. It’s either useful or it’s not. And sometimes they’re not.”
With all due respect to John Madin, the Central Library was part of the quest for post war modernism that, at the time, was speaking to the public’s urge then to see a dramatic break with the past. It no longer passes the Frank Gehry tests. It does not resonate with today’s people and the place we are now calling Birmingham. Arguably, it never did. In spite of international awareness of the building it remains the case that the building has never received a single architectural award since its completion, locally, nationally or internationally. It’s also not useful. The physical condition is poor and its inadequacies means it cannot offer a contemporary library service for the 21st century.
Breaking with the past need not be so painful when we see life like Frank Gehry.
The case for demolishing the Library and creating a sweeping new boulevard between Symphony Hall and the Council House as well as building a new Library next to the Repertory Theatre does speak for today’s people.
The plans respond to what we know of ourselves now and what we think we can be.
In fifty years we will hope our successors will be enjoying what we plan to build. But if they don’t, then we should bow our heads and agree – a building is either useful or it’s not.
And sometimes they’re not.
