It calls to mind the protests when news broke of the planned demolition of Gateshead's Trinity Square car park. An impressive example of the Brutalist style, it became an iconic cultural and architectural landmark, partly because it was from its roof that Michael Caine threw an enemy to his death in the 1970s gangster film 'Get Carter'. The protests came to nothing, and the carpark, with its adjacent shops and community centre is no more.
Oh, this is such a pity. It is beautiful with the structure that appears from the street as if floating… how many car parks out there can be called beautiful? The adaptive reuse should be the first thing on the agenda, not demolition. This is so sad.
Nooooooooooo. I love/d this car park, admire/d it every time I pass/ed by! I now have to think about why I love/d it so much. And why knowing it's going makes me sad.
Not having your understanding of architecture, I have a couple questions.
RE: the use of this structure for future electric car parking. My understanding is the the density of batteries make EVs much heavier per square inch. And I've read that older parking garages May not be structurally able to withstand a full garage of EVs? Am i mistaken?
Re: the building of dense living units to replace the garage. At least here in urban US, dense living is seen as one if the tools to fight high rents and homelessness. Are these issues in your community?
I hear you on preservation and the "profit motive," but could there be practical reasons for this demolition?
It calls to mind the protests when news broke of the planned demolition of Gateshead's Trinity Square car park. An impressive example of the Brutalist style, it became an iconic cultural and architectural landmark, partly because it was from its roof that Michael Caine threw an enemy to his death in the 1970s gangster film 'Get Carter'. The protests came to nothing, and the carpark, with its adjacent shops and community centre is no more.
Oh, this is such a pity. It is beautiful with the structure that appears from the street as if floating… how many car parks out there can be called beautiful? The adaptive reuse should be the first thing on the agenda, not demolition. This is so sad.
Nooooooooooo. I love/d this car park, admire/d it every time I pass/ed by! I now have to think about why I love/d it so much. And why knowing it's going makes me sad.
This car park is definitely amongst the best of the period’s architecture.
Not having your understanding of architecture, I have a couple questions.
RE: the use of this structure for future electric car parking. My understanding is the the density of batteries make EVs much heavier per square inch. And I've read that older parking garages May not be structurally able to withstand a full garage of EVs? Am i mistaken?
Re: the building of dense living units to replace the garage. At least here in urban US, dense living is seen as one if the tools to fight high rents and homelessness. Are these issues in your community?
I hear you on preservation and the "profit motive," but could there be practical reasons for this demolition?
Great piece Andrew.
Great post. We will live to regret knocking them down for the current wave of bland temporary buildings.
The new Birmingham library is, however, also very much of its era. Bling and superficially ecofriendly.
A great overview — thanks Andrew!