Rebuilding Nottingham
Here's a couple of news reports that show the rebuilding of Nottingham city centre in the 1960s and 70s.
The first is a fascinating interview with the architect of the Victoria Centre, Arthur Swift, from 1962. Here the scale of his ambition and that of the council of the day is revealed in the huge model of the new city centre and in the grand sweep of his words. He's particularly obsessed with the recently published Buchanan report, Traffic in Towns, and presses home how the design was an attempt to put the report into practice on an epic scale. You can see the interview here.
There's also an interview with the designer of the centre's decorative clock from 1973. This ATV news report shows the unveiling of the water clock. Rowland Emett, maker of many whimsical kinetic sculptures, created something both fitting and at odds with the new shopping centre. Its ludicrous complexity echoed the extravagant design of the city's new megastructure, but stylistically the throwback Victoriana threw the chunky brutalism of the modern commercial architecture into sharp relief. You can watch the report here.
For some expert writing on Nottingham check out the brilliant Jones the Planner.
The first is a fascinating interview with the architect of the Victoria Centre, Arthur Swift, from 1962. Here the scale of his ambition and that of the council of the day is revealed in the huge model of the new city centre and in the grand sweep of his words. He's particularly obsessed with the recently published Buchanan report, Traffic in Towns, and presses home how the design was an attempt to put the report into practice on an epic scale. You can see the interview here.
There's also an interview with the designer of the centre's decorative clock from 1973. This ATV news report shows the unveiling of the water clock. Rowland Emett, maker of many whimsical kinetic sculptures, created something both fitting and at odds with the new shopping centre. Its ludicrous complexity echoed the extravagant design of the city's new megastructure, but stylistically the throwback Victoriana threw the chunky brutalism of the modern commercial architecture into sharp relief. You can watch the report here.
For some expert writing on Nottingham check out the brilliant Jones the Planner.
Great links - the Emett clock is much loved by the citizens of Nottingham - and probably the only truly great modern sculpture in the City. Annoyingly the current shopping centre owners have recently moved it from it's prime position in the centre to a less prominent area at the back.
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