GLASGOW ARCHITECTURE
BAD DESIGN
Glasgow also has its fair share of uglier buildings, be that buildings that have poorly aged or new developments that lack any sort of character. While wandering about Glasgow I took pictures of many buildings I would describe as poorly designed. These are a few that stick out to me. While not maybe the worst offenders I think they are good examples that help get my point across. The kind of buildings I think ruin an otherwise architecturally beautiful city.
There is this block of modern buildings around the end of Sauchiehall street that I feel like is just an absolute eyesore. The main problem I have with this is the giant Cineworld building, opened in 2001, that towers above the other buildings in the area. I think the Cineworld has aged poorly since it has opened with its attempt at a flowing modern design on the roof and its large, curved windows on the sides. It feels reminiscent of that early 2000s time, but I feel like it doesn’t fit in even now never mind in 20 or 30 year’s time. It is insane to me that this was allowed to be built. Who thought this was a good idea? This is a small city. It’s maybe a 15-minute drive out of town to get to a retail park with a cinema. Why did we ever need a giant tall cinema in the heart of the city?
Beside it sits another similarly uninspired building, a large Premier Inn that was redeveloped in 2012. This used to be St Andrews House, a large concrete construction used for office space. Although that was hardly a delight to look at, I can’t help but feel like this soulless modern redesign isn’t much of an improvement. I feel that both buildings show what is wrong with a lot of modern large-scale constructions. Relying on cheap looking cladding to make up the facade instead of well-designed buildings made with quality materials.
While some people probably looked at this upgrade and thought, wow at how modern and current we’ve made this big building, I think it will suffer the same problem in another 40 year’s time. When we’ve moved onto the next cheap and fast architectural trend this building will look out of place once again.
Another building I hate is the Dental School on Sauchiehall Street. On Renfrew Street the building has an appealing art deco facade however unfortunately an extension was added in 1970 that does not even remotely fit the style. It’s like night and day. The complete opposite. A lifeless extension to an otherwise lovely building, and this is the side most people see. As with a lot of buildings at the time this building has a brutalist look to it and I don’t think it works in this situation. It’s brutalism at its worst and the kind of thing that gives it a bad name. Function over form but with no real thought around it. Budget over aesthetics. It just looks like two rectangles planted on top of each other. I don’t think there are any visually interesting elements to the design. Fifty years on it looks poorly aged compared to the sandstone buildings surrounding it and I imagine that will only get worse. Quite often buildings seem to pop up as quick solutions to problems as opposed to long term solutions. It wouldn’t surprise me to see this building get a revamp like the Premier Inn.
This last one I’d like to point out is a new development along the river. I pass it every day on the bus to and from the art school as I travel over the bridge. I notice it every time I pass it and I really don’t think I like it. It’s not that it is ugly, but I think it is just average. It’s nothing special. Just a rectangle mesh of windows and beams that is far too big compared to its surroundings. Like the Premier Inn building in the centre, I think this building suffers from being too big. Glasgow’s great architecture is all relatively low to the ground. We don’t have tall skyscrapers that would perhaps hide buildings like these. This leads to them sticking out like a sore thumb. Beside it there are other developments being started which I’m sure will have the same style. Maybe this will help. Maybe this is what the city centre will be in 50 year’s time and maybe I’ve just got to get used to it. I suppose we do have a lack of affordable housing so I hope something like this would at least help with this, but I’m not sure it will.
Obviously, there are more buildings, but these are the few that annoy me the most as I feel like it is difficult to avoid them when I’m in the city centre. Generally, I do feel like as more time passes, the uglier places become. Once elegant buildings replaced by sheets of glass or big cubes that lack the heart and character of the city they inhabit. Buildings should be designed to fit in with the space they inhabit without being too much of an eyesore or departure from the setting. This links in well with my previous blog and the idea of a locations ‘style’ or identity even. Glasgow looks completely different to London, Paris, and New York to name a few. Different locations design and make things differently, or at least they used to.
As we see more Premier Inn/Cineworld monstrosities pop up around the world it makes me sad to think we might lose this. You could see those types of buildings anywhere and it almost makes me think everything might look the same in the future. Buildings used to give a real sense of feeling and a sense of character when you looked at them. Glasgow has a great style and so do so many other unique places. This is something I feel is becoming progressively lost these days. I’m not against new architecture and it works in many cases. New York for example has buildings from all different eras in range of styles, and they work together for the most part. The modern buildings we seem to build here often seem lazy in comparison. As someone who loves to visit a city and stare up at the buildings, it makes me sad to think of the future.
So, I guess that is the conclusion of today’s blog/rant. A criticism not only of these few buildings, but around the current approach to designing them as a whole. Instead of continuing to complain about every building built in Glasgow from the 70s onwards I’ll just show a few more photos...