No true ‘city of culture’ should dishonour the bold ideals of its postwar rebirth
Coventry is UK City of Culture 2021, a title that focuses consideration on its contribution to the cultural life of the nation: Nineteen Eighties two-tone music, the legend of Lady Godiva, and its position in the improvement of the bicycle and automotive industries. And, excessive on this listing, the undeniable fact that it was the pre-eminent instance of reconstruction after wartime bombing.
Among the most devastated cities, Coventry was additionally one of the most decided and considerate in its reconstruction. This was partly expressed by its new cathedral, which introduced collectively main artwork and structure, and linked movingly with the ruins of its predecessor. It was additionally expressed by the metropolis centre, rebuilt as a collection of human-scaled, pedestrian-friendly precincts. Here, too, the concept was for artwork and structure to work collectively.
The proposed redevelopment of much of the centre, by the London-based Shearer Property Group and Chapman Taylor architects, in a three way partnership with Coventry metropolis council, would obliterate a lot of this legacy. The designs present little sympathy for what would stay. Although it guarantees an “authentic sense of place”, and a purported however extraordinarily obscure resemblance to the pre-war historic cloth of the metropolis, it’s generic, could-be-anywhere stuff, not essentially totally different from developments “global architects and masterplanners” Chapman Taylor may design wherever in the world.
Coventry’s “culture” and sense of place, the issues that make it totally different from different cities, should certainly embody the courageous ideals of its postwar renewal. As heritage campaigners rightly level out, it could actually take a very long time for the worth of architectural types to be appreciated, by which period it’s too late for the buildings which have been demolished. It occurred with Victorian structure, derided for many years, and it’s taking place now with mid-century modernism.
This is to not say the whole lot about postwar Coventry should be sacrosanct. No one, taking a look at it now, may deny that it will profit from some regeneration. It has to reply, like metropolis centres all over the place, to the recession of retail and no matter challenges the post-pandemic world may carry. Some concepts behind the authentic plans, resembling a dedication to place automotive parks on as many roof-tops as potential, might have outlived no matter usefulness they as soon as had.
But the start line for any regeneration should be an appreciation of the work of the postwar rebuilders. This would imply a severe try and be taught from their intentions and draw inspiration from the finest of their work. It would imply celebrating William Mitchell’s remarkable relief sculpture, quite than consigning it to a so-far unspecified “appropriate place”. It may imply bringing the finest out of the present buildings of the Bull Yard, quite than changing them, as is at the moment proposed, with a weak imitation of London’s Covent Garden market.
Chapman Taylor’s view, expressed in a video on its website, is that the postwar work is basically nugatory and should get replaced with variegated buildings and avenue patterns that existed earlier than the second world struggle. But it’s delusional to suppose that this misplaced Coventry may come again, and there may be little in the designs to recommend that it will. With their hostility to what’s truly there, they create an pointless battle between heritage and regeneration.
So the Twentieth Century Society is insisting that certain features be retained, whereas the council and builders chafe at what they see as pernickety obstructions to the march of progress. An avoidable zero-sum recreation is about up.
For Coventry will be renewed, at the similar time as the previous 80 years of its historical past – ever since its bombing in 1940 – will be revered. All it takes is a bit of clever and delicate design.
