Spectacle and the end of Brave New Brutalism in Stourbridge?

It is a feature of social failure in the physical built environment that it smells of urine. Walkways in Thamesmead, underpasses in Birmingham and stairwells in Stourbridge's multi-story car park all have the whiff of ammonia in my memory. In the case of Stourbridge, the Multi-storey accompanied the ringroad, the baths and a new shopping centre and library, all fitting traffic engineers models of utility, but as in so many areas, with sub-optimal social outcomes....   it, errrr, stank.
Now by the coup-de-grace of Tesco, a symbolic blowing-up/down of the multi-storey fits within a modern spectacle of demolition. Whilst 90-tonne machines with giant munchers could quickly have dealt with the demolition with less disruption, the drama of explosives is preferred as something more than popular entertainment. A quickening of the spirit perhaps, an engagement with destruction. Just as in classical Rome, executions at the Tarpeian Rock were reserved for traitors, so to for reviled examples of 1960s and 70s dystopias, their end is a public event. There is an order, a ritual, that is followed, which generally ends with the congregation (for that is the word) being anointed with choking concrete dust (and I wonder at what risk to their health). But who is it that has decided that this demolition sui generis is reserved for failed urban structures, and does it really help communities bounce back?

Brutalism Stourbridge style, a photo by DavidSankey on Flickr.

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Below is a mooch round Stourbridge at Yule 2011...

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Click  here  for  a  map  with  links

Stourbridge drift (derive) Yule 2011, a set on Flickr.

A mooch round Stourbridge, where I lived in the 1970s, underlined its continued decline over the last thirty years. The thriving bits appeared to be the Job Centre+ and the Canal basin, opened by Direct Action. And yet this was a genteel well-healed town fuelled by 17th-century industrialism with the Earl of Dudley sponsoring research into smelting iron from coal 

Landscape of Religious Tolerance in the UK

The landscape of religious tolerance... may be mapped in space and time. In the UK there have been step changes to which religious groups were tolerated at different points in time, and the creation of a visible religious presence, permanent landmark buildings and graveyards, etc, may be traced and mapped from those dates. One such date is the "Act of Toleration" 1689, when the condition of accepting a foreign king (William) after the Glorious Revolution ousted his Catholic predecessor, was the toleration of protestant sects other than the Established Church of England. From that very year, Friends (Quaker) Meeting Houses appear, as in Stourbridge

Friends Meeting House Stourbridge, built 1689 http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_sankey/6749891977/

Friends Meeting House, Stourbridge, built 1689  http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_sankey/6749889403

Old Quaker burial grounds had no headstones or permanent marks, and so may appear just as playing fields in a modern city, as at Vallance gardens in the East End of London

Similarly, it is not until the late 18th-century, and association with violent revolution has wained after the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, that Catholic Chapels start to be built as open buildings for townsfolk, and then mostly not until the first years of the 20th-century, when they often have an outward appearance similar to Non-Conformist Chapels

 Old Catholic Chapel in Ennis

Old Velho Cemetery, Mile End, London. Opened 1657

Amongst the oldest non-Christian religious community to establish a presence on the landscape were the Jews. The Old Velho cemetery in Mile End, London, was opened the year that they were officially allowed to settle in Britain 1657. Here the gravestones are flat, as has been the custom from them until now, amongst the Sephardic Jews


 The first sizable Muslim community were Lascars, mainly Bengali sailors who settled around ports since the 18th century. Muslim worship was legalised by the Trinitarian Act of 1812, but places of worship were mostly ad hoc premises, rooms in peoples houses, etc. It was not until the sacrifice of young men in World War 1 that a cemetery was opened with a specific Muslim identity at Horsell Common

Horsell Common Cemetery

 Shah Jahan Mosque was built in 1889

The cemetery was built near the Shah Jahan Mosque, the oldest purpose-built mosque in the UK, constructed in 1889. It was built by Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, born of Jewish Parents in Pest, Hungary, studied in Maddrasahs in Istanbul, who established an institute that awarded degrees from the University of the Punjab -- all during the age of the British Empire.

There has been an explosion of landscape changes in this age of tolerance towards many, if not all, faiths.

Buddhist Peace Pagoda - now a landmark on the Thames

The Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order as part of the 1984 Greater London Council (GLC) Peace Year, built a Pagoda that is now a landmark on the Thames at Battersea. And Former Beatle George Harrison donated a historic country house and gardens to Hare Krishna   

   

   

National Trust, Council for British Archaeology and Institute for Archaeology cautiously welcome UK Gov'ts National Planning Policy Framework.... for now

The National Trust and Council for British Archaeology have responded to the UK government's  "National Planning Policy Framework" - a small document that sweeps away a series of specific planning policies. The NT, in particular, campaigned vigorously against the original proposals, but have cautiously welcomed the amended "Framework". The following is the text of the National Trust  "Wordpress" statement , the CBA's Britarch statement and the IfA's response.   I suspect they think this is the best formulation that can be obtained from the present government, not that it represents a solid framework for future planning.

Planning for People tweetchat »

Government has listened to public concerns on planning

Well, the day has finally come. The Government has published its National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and we welcome improvements which have been made to the draft.

Here’s our Direct0r-General Dame Fiona Reynolds’ take on it in her own words:

“There are a number of important changes that have been made to the draft, responding to concerns that we and others raised.

These include:

• the primacy of the plan is confirmed, ensuring that development must be consistent with the plan
• a better definition of sustainable development, based on the 2005 sustainable development strategy
• the insertion of references to the use of brownfield land and theneed to promote town centres
• removal of the incendiary default ‘yes’ to development where there is no plan
• reference to the ‘intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside’, recognising the importance of countryside outside designated areas
• confirmation that existing plans will remain in force while the new NPPF is introduced, and that there will be a one-year transition for the preparation of new plans

“All these changes improve the document and give it a better tone and balance.

“Now the serious business of planning begins. The country needs huge effort at a local level to get plans in place that properly reflect the integration of social, economic and environmental goals, and protect places people value.

“The National Trust, along with many other organisations and people, will play our part and watch to see how it works in practice.

“Over 230,000 people signed our petition against the draft NPPF – a sign of the huge public concern it generated. Now we owe it to them and future generations to get good plans in place to deliver the improved ambitions set out in the new document.”

Download the final National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF – PDF; 1.29 MB) to read in more detail for yourself.

Anything to add? Please feel free to comment and share your concerns below and you can join the conversation with us about planning on Twitter (@nationaltrust) using the #planning4ppl hashtag.

Blog by Kate Joynes-Burgess, Social Media & Communities Manager

The Council for British Archaeology's Director, Dr Mike Heyworth said

We welcome the strengthening of the NPPF to reflect a more balanced approach to sustainable development and the importance of the Local Plan as the strategic envelope for neighbourhood planning. It remains to be seen, however, whether 12 months will be sufficient for local planning authorities to put their Plans in place and whether they will be sufficently robust. It is a measure of how far we have come in the last 25 years that there is a chapter for the historic environment in the highest level of national policy-making and that the natural and historic environment appear alongside each other in integrated policies.

We are also pleased that Historic Environment Records (HERs) retain a central place in the information base for planning. This is particularly critical in view of the way that some local heritage services, like those on Merseyside, in Sandwell, Middlesbrough, and Redcar & Cleveland, have recently declined to maintain the Historic Environment Records for their areas. The new policy makes it clear that this is a requirement of national policy as part of the evidence base for planning. The CBA will be pressing these authorities to justify how they can meet the NPPF’s requirements without an HER.

We greatly regret, however, the loss of the Government’s policy objective for planning in PPS5 and the draft NPPF to contribute to knowledge and understanding of our past by capturing evidence from the historic environment. While the new policies are designed to ensure that arcahaeological evidence is secured in a manner proportionate to the importance of heritage assets and the impact on them, it is nevertheless deeply disappointing to see this important principle is no longer explicit in the NPPF. The Government’s aim may be to secure the fabric of our history but knowledge and understanding of their heritage is equally important to local communities.

The CBA is optimistic about new opportunities to work with neighbourhood planning groups to provide advice, information and encouragement for creative local planning that respects and celebrates the heritage. We will be pressing CLG to support the Practitioner Guidance that is essential to underpin the high-level policies in the NPPF, including the importance of the knowledge-gain from archaeological investigation where heritage assets will be lost. Clear guidance to local authorities on the provision of Historic Environment Records will also be needed. Draft Guidance has been in existence for several months and the priority now must be to see this is issued formally with endorsement from the Government.

The Institute for Archaeology says IfA responds to the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

Submitted by Kathryn Whittington on Tuesday 27 March 2012

The Institute for Archaeologists (IfA) is pleased to see that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for England published today addresses a number of the concerns about the treatment of the historic environment raised by it with Government before, during and after the consultation process. They include

• recognition that the historic environment makes a positive contribution to society, the economy, our culture and our environment
• removal of the provision that the default answer to development should be ‘yes’
• support for Historic Environment Records (and, tacitly, for the dedicated expertise required to support them)
• clarity that policies in the Framework relating to decision-taking (including those requiring proper consideration of the impact of proposals on the historic environment) apply to Neighbourhood Development Orders as well as other decisions affecting the historic environment
• clear recognition that the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a heritage asset is a material consideration in determining the application
• rebalancing the NPPF so that it unambiguously reflects the supremacy of local plans and clearly acknowledges the environmental and social aspects of sustainable development
• transitional arrangements in Annex 1 to ensure that there is adequate local plan coverage

However, concerns remain, in particular

• the continued emphasis on economic growth without explicit recognition of the equal importance of environmental and social aspects of sustainable development
• the continued presence in paragraph 14 of the phrase ‘significantly and demonstrably’ in the presumption in favour of sustainable development unless the adverse effects of development significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits. Nonetheless, IfA welcomes the additional rider in paragraph 14 rebutting the presumption where ‘specific policies in the Framework indicate that development should be restricted’ and the implicit recognition that proposals which contravene such policies protecting the historic environment are unsustainable.

The Institute’s Chief Executive, Peter Hinton, said

‘It was essential that the NPPF carried forward the principles of PPS5 to achieve Government’s twin objectives of conserving the historic environment in a sustainable manner and of ensuring wide public benefit from expert investigations of those elements affected by development. While the NPPF may not contain all the provisions we consider necessary to achieve that end, it provides timely support for the historic environment at a time when local authority archaeology and heritage services continue to be under severe pressure. IfA has campaigned hard to ensure that the NPPF has not brought the end of developer-funded archaeology. What we need now is a firm response from Government to those local authorities that mistakenly believe that they can comply with the framework without securing the services of professional historic environment advisors.’

Tim Howard, IfA Policy Advisor, said

‘To support the historic environment chapter of the Framework, a Practice Guide must strongly reinforce the importance of archaeological standards and accredited expertise. It must ensure appropriate protection in practice of both designated and undesignated heritage assets proportionate to their significance. Our draft Standard and guidance for archaeological advice by historic environment services fulfils a similar aim and sets out what is required for the management of archaeology under the Framework.’

IfA will continue to lobby for improvements to the Framework including Government endorsement of supporting guidance.

Catalonian/Catalunyan Historic Landscape Characterisation

The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia (Catalunya) has been set up by the regional government to comply with the European Landscape Convention, of which the United Kingdom, along with most of Europe, are also signatories.

PaHisCat is a pilot project on the evolution of landscape. It aims to decipher and diffuse traces of the past that are visible in four different landscapes in Catalonia. It also aims to provide guidelines on territorial, patrimonial and sectoral planning.

PaHisCat complements the results of landscape catalogues in Catalonia in terms of historical background and it has been developed with the Historic Landscape Research Group of the University of Lleida.

Landscape Observatory of Catalonia

London Landscape of Dickens

Old Curiosity Shop, Portsmouth Street, Westminster, London cc97_00915, a photo by English Heritage on Flickr.

Dickens trained nearby, as a clerk in the offices of Mr Molloy, 6, Symond's Inn. 

Dickens London is all around, and many of the places still exist (Lincoln's Inn, where Jarndyce vs Jarndyce court case was conducted).

For an interactive map of Dickens' London CLICK HERE 

The Museum of London has an exhibition of ...Dickens and London Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens in the first major UK exhibition for over 40 years.

PLEASE NOTE entry to Dickens and London is by timed ticket only. We strongly advise that you pre-book your ticket and arrive early to avoid disappointment.

"The best celebration of Dickens' legacy." ***** The Independent

"The Museum of London’s new exhibition will enthrall." londonist.com

"Great work by the Museum of London on their Dickens and London show. Fine festive value, well researched. A first rater." @mikeexon

Recreating the atmosphere of Victorian London through sound and projections, you'll be taken on a haunting journey to discover the city that inspired his writings.

Paintings, photographs, costume and objects illustrate themes that Dickens wove into his works, while rarely seen manuscripts including Bleak House and David Copperfield – written in the author’s own hand – offer clues to his creative genius.

During your visit you'll discover how Dickens' childhood experiences of London, working in a blacking factory while his father was locked away in a debtor's prison, were introduced into the stories he wrote. The great social questions of the 19th century, including wealth and poverty, prostitution, childhood mortality and philanthropy, are also examined, all of which set the scene for Dickens' greatest works.

Highlights of the exhibition include an audio-visual experience bringing to life the famous painting of Dickens' Dream at the desk and chair where he wrote his novels, and a specially commissioned film by one of the UK’s leading documentary filmmakers, William Raban, which explores the similarities between London after dark today and the night time city described by Dickens over 150 years ago.

Read more in our exhibition leaflet available online via Scribd here (external link) or plan your visit with our exhibition guide also available via Scribd here(external link).

Book tickets now (external link)
Ticket prices
* PLEASE NOTE once booking fees are added via Ticketmaster advance booking for a single adult is £8.75 (when printed at home) or £9 (when collecting at the Museum) and a single concession exhibition ticket is £6.75 (when printed at home) or £7 (when collecting at the Museum). To obtain the advance price for a single adult or concession ticket please call the Museum of London box office on 020 7001 9844.
Flexible family tickets
Pre-booking competition
Friends
Groups
Receive 1/3 off river travel with Thames Clippers
Offer valid between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Sunday and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or discount. This offer is not available online and is not redeemable on The O2 Express or Late Night Services. Offer valid until 10 Jun 2012.

Adult £8 (£7 advance booking*)
Child/concession £6 (£5 advance booking*)
Under 5s FREE
Friends FREE (book in advance on 020 7001 9844)
Art Fund members £4 (on presentation of a valid membership card)

Family of 3 (at least one adult and one child) £18 (£15 advance booking) 
Family of 4 (at least one adult and one child) £24 (£20 advance booking) 
Family of 5 (at least one adult and one child) £30 (£25 advance booking) 
Family of up to 6 (at least one adult and one child) £36 (£30 advance booking)
Suggested age 11+

Timed ticketing and booking fee apply. Advance rates available up to 24 hours prior to your visit. If you wish to purchase tickets less than 24 hours in advance of your visit please contact the Museum of London Box Office on 020 7001 9844 to check availability.

Be sure to buy your ticket from one of our accredited ticket merchants: Ticketmaster (primary agent), Time Out, Superbreak, Chancery Court Hotel. 

Pre-book for the Museum of London’s Dickens and London exhibition via Ticketmaster and be in with a chance to win a unique London experience for 2 people!
Find out more about this competition

Friends of the Museum of London receive FREE entry to Dickens and London.
Click here to find out more about becoming a Friend of the Museum of London

Groups of 10 or more people will receive 20% off full-price adult admissionwhen booked in advance. Themed tours and curator talks for groups are also available, please contact 020 7001 9844 for more details.
Find out more about group visits to the Museum of London

Travel to the Museum of London by river with Thames Clippers, departing every 20 minutes from London Eye (Waterloo), London Bridge and all major London piers to Bankside Pier.

Simply show your Dickens and London ticket or confirmation email when purchasing your Thames Clippers single ticket to receive 1/3 off (usual price £5.50)

Royal River, Power Pageantry Exhibition... or Spectacle and the Appropriation of Landscape

Canaletto, Greenwich Hospital from the North Bank of the Thames, c 1750–2 National Maritime Museum, London

Guy Debord's "The Society of the Spectacle" dealt with the commodification of experience in the modern world. But clearly, Spectacle was innate in the application of power in the ancient world, Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. This exhibition documents have appropriated the landscape of the Thames to create a linear theatre of pageantry, combining security for the elite with maximum exposure, broadcasting in an age before broadcasts

"From London’s birth, royalty have looked to the Thames to display their power, patronage and pageantry to  a city and a people intimately and inextricably connected to the water."
Royal River explores the relationship between the monarch, the City and the people, as it was brought to life on the Thames – London’s greatest thoroughfare.

Don't miss

Taking in the palaces, processions, parties and promenades that made the London we know today, Royal River brings together paintings, manuscripts and rare and beautiful objects. Among the items are Handel’s autographed score for the Music for the Royal Fireworks, the magnificent stern carvings from the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert III and a remarkable collection of artworks by Canaletto.

Location

Tel: +44 (0)20 8858 4422 | Contact and enquiries

National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich
London SE10 9NF

Get here | road | tube & rail | cycle | bus | river

Discounted exhibitions and free entry to UK galleries Find out how...

£5 with National Art Pass (standard entry £10)

Open daily, 10am – 5pm (last admission 4.30pm)

see also Painted Hall/Chapel Old Naval College  for Free

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59272863@N08/sets/72157629262563036/ 

Queen's House and Observatory from Greenwich Uni, a photo by David_Sankey on Flickr.