Kevin McCloud of Channel 4′s ‘Grand Designs’ joins Biran Gambles, BCC Assistant Director of Culture, to give his views on the Library of Birmingham plans – ahead of Grand Designs Live which takes place at Birmingahm’s NEC this weekend.
One of Britain’s best-known urban thinkers has admitted he’s a big fan of Birmingham’s new library, because it’s true to the city’s industrial and architectural heritage.
Kevin McCloud was in town ahead of his Grand Designs Live show at the NEC this weekend (8-10th October 2010), and took time out to visit the Library of Birmingham site, in Centenary Square.
The new £193 million building has been designed by Francine Houben, the founder and creative director of the Dutch practice, Delft-based Mecanoo.
“I like her, and her work, and it will be very interesting to see how the building eventually sits alongside Baskerville House, and The REP,” said Kevin.
“When the old library is demolished, we will be able to see – for the first time in decades – the long view, from Victoria Square, past the wonderful Town Hall, towards the memorial, and on to the new library.
“We’ll see a dialogue of classical language, in architectural terms, leading up the hill, which I think will catch the eye, and we’ll also be able to judge the quality of the public realm surrounding the new library, which as always, will be absolutely critical.
““When I I was first shown the design of the new building, and the construction site, from the 25th floor of nearby Alpha Tower, the first thing I thought was: ’Goodness me, that is big‘.
”To me, Francine has used the scale, and the vernacular, which I have always associated with Birmingham, of heroic, solid and well-crafted buildings. Birmingham is a great and powerful symbol of where we came from. The Industrial Revolution began here, it isn’t Stockholm, or Paris, or Chicago, for that matter.
“You don’t become a great international city by simply saying that you are one. You need to be true to your history, your origins and your roots, and the new library is certainly in keeping with everything that is Birmingham.”
The most controversial element of the Mecanoo library is the metal filigree, which will form its focal point, in homage to Birmingham’s manufacturing traditions.
“If Francine is brilliant, and I think she is, then she will make the trellis work. Let’s wait to see if it works, and if it shimmers as she believes. If it does, it will be fantastic,” said Kevin.
“Some cities are on life support, some have been frozen in aspic – of which Venice is the most obvious example – but some are dynamic, and they are constantly evolving.
“Birmingham – like its new library – has character. and drive, and a strong sense of place, and I think people should welcome those qualities.”
For further information on the Library of Birmingham, visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/library ofbirmingham
To book tickets for Grand Designs Live, visit www.granddesignslive.com
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