What Leo thinks of brutalism

It is so pathetic to see trendoids obsessed with everything from the 1950s, scampering around trying to save so-called New Brutalist buildings while structures of genuine architectural and historic value moulder away.,

One never hears a peep out of them when a developer slaps up a retail complex and parking combo, and yet the hue and cry over mediocre examples such as 10 Murray Street retards one of the few new developments that will enhance rather than scar this city.

Up in Launceston we’ve seen a rush to save Henty House, a hideous building resembling a cement cooling tower.

The term New Brutalism was coined in the early 1950s by British architects Peter and Alison Smithson, whose Economist building in St James’ in London was the first example of the style I encountered.

It’s both inappropriate to its site and transcendently ugly; an alien in a historic precinct. It has come to be seen as a horrible mistake whose end can’t come soon enough.

Brutalist buildings, on an aesthetic par with Soviet-era architecture, now seem failed attempts to create a brave new socialist world in cement.

Tom:

There’s been interesting heritage developments in Launceston reported by The Examiner.

Two negative heritage issues in 3 days – one concerning the permanant registration of Henty House and the other concerning the possible deregistration of the Boland Street Cottages.

The Boland Street cottages one is interesting in that The Examiner refused to publish any comments sent in after 11.30am. I sent one in which was not published. This story lights the litmus paper in Lonnie. The story disappeared quickly from the on-line front pages. This begs the question “Why”? My answer is that the paper did not want to offend big business in town.

Now, this attitude really lights my litmus paper!!! My comments included … could we be told the whole story and not just parts.

TT has very fine heritage commentators and I didn’t know if this might be worth an article. The Tasmanian Heritage Council is under fire in both articles. I agree with the permanant registration of Henty House – pro-development bureaucrats want to be able to demolish it … but there is a lot, lot more to the Boland Street Cottages 14-year saga.