Sitting in the office today waiting for documents to upload to the clients’ FTP site the computer monitior gores into sleep mode and displays images of dramatic landscapes on a loop, sunrise over fjords, sunrise over paddy fields, and something resembling a giant sequined boob tube that anyone who has been to Birmingham in the last ten years will recognise. Which reminded me of Hugh Pearman’s review of Future Systems’ Selfridges store in the Sunday Times in the April of 2003, and a line that has stayed with me: ‘Whether you regard the building as an exotic toadstool, a sequined boob tube or an alien spacecraft is immaterial. This is already the new Birmingham’.
Having explored the Bull Ring Centre in an earlier posts ‘Into the concrete jungle ‘ and ‘I see No ships’ some five years earlier this is an account of my first impression of the new Bull Ring on the opening night in December 2003. Approaching from the base of the Rotunda.as as per ten years earlier. Gone is the aroma of KFC, the cash point queue for Lloyd’s Bank and the constant wall of buses. Lower New Street and High Street are pedestrianised and the area has a feel of Konstablerwache in Frankfurt, which is quite fitting really with Birmingham being twinned with Frankfurt, and the pedestrianised street connecting Konstablerwache and Hauptewache being the location of the Birmingham Pub. No ‘Peek and Cloppenburg’ in this version though.
Heading off towards the Zielgallerie or is it the Bull Ring? with hoards of people rushing in all directions... bronze bull in front of shear glass façade must be the Bull Ring! The bronze bull is a major attraction with lots of people having their photographs taken sitting on top of it. The ‘Square’ anything but square, is populated by solid sculptural granite blocks, set into the artificial ground acting as benches. The bull ring incidentally has nothing to do with Bull fighting, its name is derived from a cast iron ring set in the ground outside a butcher shop where cattle were tethered before being converted into steaks. I guess the matador metaphor is more appealing.
On passing the bull, the street is lined with brand new designer shops and gently slopes down to the internal environment, where the external bustle is replaced with noise...like that of a school swimming gala, with high pitched voices bouncing off the hard surfaces...shopfronts, marble floors glass roof. High street brands proudly exhibited in a series of galleries surrounding a 3 storey void with wide bridges and massively overcrowded escalators: value engineering perhaps? transporting people down into the pit. A walk along the mall passes food outlets with street style seating outside, with glimpses through to the outside where St Martins sits in its new surroundings. Passing the interminable array of new shopfronts the letters LEGO stand out from all the usual high street shops, and a look inside reveals lego models on glass cases, wall to wall lego kits and the back wall, the back wall! Lego bricks and components in cylindrical cubbyholes set into the wall, pick up a bag and select the pieces you need, how cool is that?
At the end of the mall Selfridges forces its organic facade into the scene making all the other facades seem bland by comparison. The high gloss white free form shapes that up until now has only been visible in the books of Future Systems, or the many proposals that appear in the Architectural journals and remain proposals with the exception of the Lords Media Centre; is manifested for real. A walk inside, the aroma of raw fish, not the fish market but Yo! Sushi along with other food bars lined with occupied stools the place is absolutely buzzing! At the heart of the store is another Bull, this time made of jellybeans, probably in the location that I found the statue of Nelson years before, but in this new space city who can tell? A ride up the escalator through the pristine white free form void feels like a journey into the future, or is it a possible future illustrated in movies like Logan’s Run, but for now this feels fresh and exciting and a definite leap forward from the world outside. An orange pod dominates the the middle floor, and inside the most amazing bookshop, comprising the best collection of architecture books I have seen outside the RIBA, along with books on art, interior design, and ‘The Earth from the Air’ Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s most startling array of aerial photographs documenting man’s impact on the planet. At level 3 the retail floor morphs into a lobby that springs a dramatic bridge across the traffic far below to connect with a pretty ordinary car park. Next to the traffic is the newly restored Moor Street Station, previously a ruin concealed beneath high walls and office blocks, now proudly taking its place in the city again, complete with preserved a steam locomotive sitting alongside the platform. The lobby is lined with hundreds of pictures of people, hundreds making up a montage that instantly says to me what the city is about...its citizens.
Descending through a smaller jellybean shaped void criss-crossed by escalators, with trademark Future Systems lime green trim, in this case the brushes that line the treads.. On leaving the world of of the Future on the intermediate level of the mall shopfronts march along to a shear glass wall, and out into the night, a new street that forms a pedestrianised route back up the hill to Frankfurt, is lined with very busy restaurants, and a look down the hill, there is Nelson! his stature restored statue to its to its original position. At the edge of what is now called nelson square, a balustrade defines the perimeter of the sunken plaza, which looks as though an archaeological dig has unearthed the church as an 11th century artifact, which like Nelson has been newly restored and looks all the more dramatic against the sequined backdrop of Selfridges a building conceived as department store without windows has a positive relationship with multiple walkways penetrating the facade at different levels. The gently curving volume encompassing St Martins. gives a real sense of the layers that make up the city, the new proudly sitting next to the old in a place that has brought life back into the city.
The outdoor market has been displaced across Edgbaston Street, that runs along the southern edge of the scheme, although the continuum of new public squares and the central street that meander their way up the hill to the Rotunda connect the markets to the city more successfully than the previous version with its network of subways, beneath the traffic . Along Edgbaston Street, a new market hall and multi-storey car park on the South Side, and on the north side a confused jumble of brick, stone and glass facades try unsuccessfully to disguise that back of the retail units that have their frontage inside the mall, the result a four storey facade with absolutely no chance of fitting into the urban grain or addressing its context. In the build up to the opening of the New Bull Ring, there has been a lot of media attention on Selfridges and some ordinary people in the street passing less than complimentary comments on Central News, strange how nobody has been asked to comment on the rest of the scheme, I supposed clad in brick it is camouflaged and nobody has noticed it. At the end of Edgbaston Street, the fragments of the old Bull Ring Centre remain, the Midland Red bus station still sits beneath Smallbrook Queensway, although now a loading bay for the retail units of the new scheme. A spiral stair in a glass block tower makes the ascent to Smallbrook Queensway, and opposite the department store block of the Bull Ring Centre of 1964, newly refurbished and doing what it has been doing for the past 39 years, now branded as TK Maxx, crossing the road at high level, the same concrete bridge now with metal cladding, crashes into the new department store to balance out the Future as exhibited with Selfridges, n this case Debenhams, looking very much a product of the 1980’s. At the top of Smallbrook Queensway, retail units are suspended off huge steel trusses pinned into the base of the Rotunda, one can only guess it is to maximise retail space whilst avoiding the railway lines running beneath the street.
So for any wondering what the image on the windows screen saver is, ...the silver discs on a curving blue background...there you have it, it is a department store representing the future of Birmingham, inspired by a Paco Rabane sequined dress, or so I am told.
Having explored the Bull Ring Centre in an earlier posts ‘Into the concrete jungle ‘ and ‘I see No ships’ some five years earlier this is an account of my first impression of the new Bull Ring on the opening night in December 2003. Approaching from the base of the Rotunda.as as per ten years earlier. Gone is the aroma of KFC, the cash point queue for Lloyd’s Bank and the constant wall of buses. Lower New Street and High Street are pedestrianised and the area has a feel of Konstablerwache in Frankfurt, which is quite fitting really with Birmingham being twinned with Frankfurt, and the pedestrianised street connecting Konstablerwache and Hauptewache being the location of the Birmingham Pub. No ‘Peek and Cloppenburg’ in this version though.
Heading off towards the Zielgallerie or is it the Bull Ring? with hoards of people rushing in all directions... bronze bull in front of shear glass façade must be the Bull Ring! The bronze bull is a major attraction with lots of people having their photographs taken sitting on top of it. The ‘Square’ anything but square, is populated by solid sculptural granite blocks, set into the artificial ground acting as benches. The bull ring incidentally has nothing to do with Bull fighting, its name is derived from a cast iron ring set in the ground outside a butcher shop where cattle were tethered before being converted into steaks. I guess the matador metaphor is more appealing.
On passing the bull, the street is lined with brand new designer shops and gently slopes down to the internal environment, where the external bustle is replaced with noise...like that of a school swimming gala, with high pitched voices bouncing off the hard surfaces...shopfronts, marble floors glass roof. High street brands proudly exhibited in a series of galleries surrounding a 3 storey void with wide bridges and massively overcrowded escalators: value engineering perhaps? transporting people down into the pit. A walk along the mall passes food outlets with street style seating outside, with glimpses through to the outside where St Martins sits in its new surroundings. Passing the interminable array of new shopfronts the letters LEGO stand out from all the usual high street shops, and a look inside reveals lego models on glass cases, wall to wall lego kits and the back wall, the back wall! Lego bricks and components in cylindrical cubbyholes set into the wall, pick up a bag and select the pieces you need, how cool is that?
At the end of the mall Selfridges forces its organic facade into the scene making all the other facades seem bland by comparison. The high gloss white free form shapes that up until now has only been visible in the books of Future Systems, or the many proposals that appear in the Architectural journals and remain proposals with the exception of the Lords Media Centre; is manifested for real. A walk inside, the aroma of raw fish, not the fish market but Yo! Sushi along with other food bars lined with occupied stools the place is absolutely buzzing! At the heart of the store is another Bull, this time made of jellybeans, probably in the location that I found the statue of Nelson years before, but in this new space city who can tell? A ride up the escalator through the pristine white free form void feels like a journey into the future, or is it a possible future illustrated in movies like Logan’s Run, but for now this feels fresh and exciting and a definite leap forward from the world outside. An orange pod dominates the the middle floor, and inside the most amazing bookshop, comprising the best collection of architecture books I have seen outside the RIBA, along with books on art, interior design, and ‘The Earth from the Air’ Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s most startling array of aerial photographs documenting man’s impact on the planet. At level 3 the retail floor morphs into a lobby that springs a dramatic bridge across the traffic far below to connect with a pretty ordinary car park. Next to the traffic is the newly restored Moor Street Station, previously a ruin concealed beneath high walls and office blocks, now proudly taking its place in the city again, complete with preserved a steam locomotive sitting alongside the platform. The lobby is lined with hundreds of pictures of people, hundreds making up a montage that instantly says to me what the city is about...its citizens.
Descending through a smaller jellybean shaped void criss-crossed by escalators, with trademark Future Systems lime green trim, in this case the brushes that line the treads.. On leaving the world of of the Future on the intermediate level of the mall shopfronts march along to a shear glass wall, and out into the night, a new street that forms a pedestrianised route back up the hill to Frankfurt, is lined with very busy restaurants, and a look down the hill, there is Nelson! his stature restored statue to its to its original position. At the edge of what is now called nelson square, a balustrade defines the perimeter of the sunken plaza, which looks as though an archaeological dig has unearthed the church as an 11th century artifact, which like Nelson has been newly restored and looks all the more dramatic against the sequined backdrop of Selfridges a building conceived as department store without windows has a positive relationship with multiple walkways penetrating the facade at different levels. The gently curving volume encompassing St Martins. gives a real sense of the layers that make up the city, the new proudly sitting next to the old in a place that has brought life back into the city.
The outdoor market has been displaced across Edgbaston Street, that runs along the southern edge of the scheme, although the continuum of new public squares and the central street that meander their way up the hill to the Rotunda connect the markets to the city more successfully than the previous version with its network of subways, beneath the traffic . Along Edgbaston Street, a new market hall and multi-storey car park on the South Side, and on the north side a confused jumble of brick, stone and glass facades try unsuccessfully to disguise that back of the retail units that have their frontage inside the mall, the result a four storey facade with absolutely no chance of fitting into the urban grain or addressing its context. In the build up to the opening of the New Bull Ring, there has been a lot of media attention on Selfridges and some ordinary people in the street passing less than complimentary comments on Central News, strange how nobody has been asked to comment on the rest of the scheme, I supposed clad in brick it is camouflaged and nobody has noticed it. At the end of Edgbaston Street, the fragments of the old Bull Ring Centre remain, the Midland Red bus station still sits beneath Smallbrook Queensway, although now a loading bay for the retail units of the new scheme. A spiral stair in a glass block tower makes the ascent to Smallbrook Queensway, and opposite the department store block of the Bull Ring Centre of 1964, newly refurbished and doing what it has been doing for the past 39 years, now branded as TK Maxx, crossing the road at high level, the same concrete bridge now with metal cladding, crashes into the new department store to balance out the Future as exhibited with Selfridges, n this case Debenhams, looking very much a product of the 1980’s. At the top of Smallbrook Queensway, retail units are suspended off huge steel trusses pinned into the base of the Rotunda, one can only guess it is to maximise retail space whilst avoiding the railway lines running beneath the street.
So for any wondering what the image on the windows screen saver is, ...the silver discs on a curving blue background...there you have it, it is a department store representing the future of Birmingham, inspired by a Paco Rabane sequined dress, or so I am told.
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