Hound of Hecate

Do you see the cobbles on the streets? Everywhere you look, stone & rock. Can you imagine what it feels like to reach down with your bones & feel the living stones? The city is built on itself, all the cities that came before. Can you imagine how it feels to lie down on an ancient flagstone & feel the power of the rock buoying you up against the tug of the world? And that's where witchcraft begins. The stones have life, & I'm part of it. - adapted from Terry Pratchett

Monday, June 6, 2016

Spirit of Place: Yet Another Day in Paradise

Much as I -
Loved the central library;
Could see that it was an ugly nightmare of a building;
Have many happy memories of learning witchcraft there;
Think at least the ziggurat could have been retained;
Think it is a marvellous local landmark which will be sorely missed;
Wonder what the city council were smoking in the sixties that possessed them to build that next to the town hall;
Understand that the city council has always been embarrassed by it as an unfinished monument to their over-ambitious planning...
Think what you like, John Madin's architecture has really come into its own as a visually-effective demolition photo opportunity.
As it happens I have a very small piece of Central Library in my flat, and so can invoke the spirit of Birmingham any time I like by taking hold of it and saying the magic word 'Manzoni'. I must admit, now that vista is open, that it was a good idea.