Birmingham Architecture

Taking a stroll through Birmingham, from the busy bars of Broad Street across the Inner Ring Road to the central shopping district, there is a wealth of architecture on offer. There is plenty of multi-story Georgian office blocks, which are worth looking carefully at, but I'd like to concentrate on a few other prominent buildings.

First up there is the 1974 Central Library, by architect John Madin. It occupies appropriate place atop the Paradise Circus Queensway island through which the Inner Ring Road blazes past. I couldn't resist sharing this with you because it epitomises most people's impression of Birmingham, and the detested brutalist architecture of the period. Prince Charles once famously remarked it was "looking more like a place for burning books, than keeping them"! Although he is most certainly correct on this score, there has actually been a great interest in listing this building and protecting it for future generations. Its not so bad I suppose.

On emerging from the concrete ziggurat nightmare of Central Library, one is greeted by the pleasant sight of Chamberlain Square (whose namesake regular readers will be familiar with). I was struck at my last visit by the newly installed Gothic Spire arising from a curious pool of water. It is a monument to Joseph Chamberlain, but I cannot quite work out what it is. I guess it's an example of religious architecture stripped of its religious significance. It provides a centrepiece to the tiered amphitheatre like area, which serves as a nice place for relaxation upon its steps with a big screen making it popular for sporting events (my favourite being Wimbledon on a sunny day)! I even enjoy the odd religious preacher taking up challenge from an unwelcoming audience.

The background of the last photo is the west side of the Council House building, but actually houses the splendid Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The Council House is best viewed around the corner in Victoria Square (which also contains the Town Hall, similarly built in the classical style but resembling the Greek Parthenon. It is actually a concert venue, and I haven't included it because I find it dull). As you can see, its quite grand. The architect was Yeoville Thomason.

From Victoria Square there are lots of streets leading to different parts of Birmingham Centre, with various shops and arcades. I like Colmore Row which leads to St Philips Anglican Cathedral (architect Thomas Archer). This was built originally as a parish church in the Baroque style in 1715. Although I have never been inside, it looks nice enough from the outside. It has to be walked past by countless shoppers but the doors seem never to be open. It gained cathedral status in 1905, and is the 3rd smallest cathedral in England.

The Great Western Arcade is a nice cutting, leading from Colmore Row to Temple Row, which I always enjoy walking through. It was built in 1875 by W. H. Ward of Stone (Staffordshire). I keep looking at a Sherlock Holmes reproduction magnifying glass and pipe in one of the posh shop windows, but remind myself that a career in Medicine simply cannot justify buying this. My ancestor Arthur Conan wrote the Sherlock Holmes books based on his own experience as a Medical Student (cf Mr Watson) following the lead of an excellent professor in Medicine. I can very well understand that Medicine is indeed a detective's game!

A short walk North towards St. Chad's Cathedral and we come to a whole host of red brick and terracotta buildings. The first is the Methodist Central Hall (left) on Corporation Street, built in 1903 by architects Ewan Harper and James A. Harper. It has a prominent tower which was once used by an intoxicated Brum to commit suicide. Opposire this are the Birmingham Victoria Law Courts (right), in a similar style. These were designed by Webb & Bell, whom I have mentioned previously.

I hope this whistle-stop tour of my City Centre will help to dispel the myth that Birmingham is ugly. Even if it is, a bit.