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New Birmingham library plans

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ellbrown said:
Unless you are looking for it, would be a bit hard to see this
Click to expand...
I locked the screen of my iPad, turned it on its side and I could read it in your nice clear photo.
I still think the scroll looks like off-the-shelf stuff and the top of it just seems chopped off to suit the building.
 
You can see it on the left, if you look in my photos such as this one

.

Although I don't usually see it when I walk past or from the bus.


It's easier to see this



and this



from a distance in Centenary Square.

Big large readable letters
 
Why do they not put the plans before the public before they decide on the final design ? Judging by the reactions here and elsewhere its about 70% against and 30% for this building. Its difficult to not to feel let down "again" if I am really honest.

I like the scroll effect but the basic boxes concept is surely limited in creativity isnt it ? How did we get from a lovely old building to 70s-concrete block to 2013-boxes. There seems to be no cross connection to anything in Brum old or new - may be it is arabic perhaps - but even that is probably an insult to arabian design. May be I've missed something. I even feel a simple basic rectangular block with these windows would have looked better.

I apologise for my negativity here folks - I just have to let it out occassionally :) ... ahh thats better.
Im sure it will be great inside tho.
 
Hi all
First time on here and being an ex Brummie I returned to Birmingham a couple of weeks ago to visit family and stayed in a hotel up Broad street (Hilton at Hampton).
I use a wheelchair and so travelling down Broad street for the first time and trying to avoid the potholes and humps and bumps I came across this MONSTROSITY, and as some of you have said I could not read the wording at all (being colour blind), whoever designed the outside needs locking up, and the councillors who passed the plans need treating the same.

I wonder how long this building will last, my reckoning is no more than 30 years before being bulldozed.
 
Stephen0002002 said:
Why do they not put the plans before the public before they decide on the final design ? Judging by the reactions here and elsewhere its about 70% against and 30% for this building. Its difficult to not to feel let down "again" if I am really honest.

I like the scroll effect but the basic boxes concept is surely limited in creativity isnt it ? How did we get from a lovely old building to 70s-concrete block to 2013-boxes. There seems to be no cross connection to anything in Brum old or new - may be it is arabic perhaps - but even that is probably an insult to arabian design. May be I've missed something. I even feel a simple basic rectangular block with these windows would have looked better.

I apologise for my negativity here folks - I just have to let it out occassionally :) ... ahh thats better.
Im sure it will be great inside tho.
Click to expand...
The design is loosely based with a Brum theme, check out the gallery ironwork in Highbury Hall second picture down..
https://www.birminghamconservationtrust.org/current/highbury-estate/
:loyal:
 
It must also be loosely based on a building in America which has very similar scrollwork..this building is rated in the top 25 ugliest in the world.
 
I'm open to your thoughts I really want to like it.
Cant say I am "proud" of it ... which is what we should be I guess.
And btw - 10/10 for sticking to your guns.
 
When new buildings of radical design went up in other eras, doubtless similar pros and cons were voiced. I think it's healthy to try out new things, experiment with new design etc. But each time I look at the new library and I think about how it works with the other buildings I still have doubts. Obviously it's very different and, although there are other styles I'd much prefer, I then start thinking about how boring it would be if buildings were just replicated in design. For me a new building is about getting the balance right between introducing new styles, blending with the older buildings and demonstrating good design of the period (and having a life way into the future). I do wonder if I'll ever see that balance with this building. Viv.
 
It looks amazing on the skyline!

It looks good from the bus / car on Suffolk Street Queensway / Paradise Circus Queensway and Broad Street.

You can admire it waiting for the bus on Broad Street (opposite).
 
think you all know my feelings about the new library so no need to repeat but just to add you can see it from the lozells road..
 
derek ive had to walk past it a few times and have to admit i find it far too imposing and quite scary and i dont scare easily lol

lyn
 
This was the last shot I took - although was of the digger for the pavement roadworks, not the library and REP!

 
I'm interested to see how that progresses too. I think it's a promising feature. I also think the internal features will be interesting. So when it's open to the public, be good to see some photos from anyone visiting. Viv.
 
I went inside the studio theatre at the new library the other night to hear the creator of Inspector Banks, Peter Robinson, speak. I was satisfied with the comfort of the seats but it is a pity they were not all the same shade of red. Were they fitted by someone who is colour blind? I think it will take quite a long time to get used to the outside. On leaving, I looked back at the building, Baskerville House and the Rep. What a pity the new library and Rep couldn't have been built in the style of Baskerville House which is a delight to look at. I know that Baskerville House was intended to be much larger when it was planned and a war prevented its completion. The area is a mix of different styles with no cohesion. What a shame. batmadviv
 
The area outside is now open to the public. So pics from today.





I've no idea what this mobile crane was doing here



 
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