gavin stamp
“Piloti,” as he’s known in Private Eye, has been a thorn in the side of many a misunderstood modernist architect for many of these long postwar years, not to mention their paymasters and the callous, care-less, eponymous Executive of John Betjeman’s poem.
Stamp’s breathless rants against the above; his attempts to expose their hearts of uPVC and MDF; the delirious and swooned nature of his outrage, quite endears him to me. This is his book that symbolises his life’s work – a realisation that whatever the merits of an outmoded victorian parochial pile of civic pride, replaced with a curtain wall of glass, that which has gone ain’t coming back, at least not with the previous level of workmanship and quality of materials – it’s the loss that offends him most I think. Does he realise the cost of building a large structure in 2′x4′ blocks of individually cut and then shaped-on-site craigleith sandstone? Probably not – but nice try. We’ll need a super-recession to bring back traditional skills again.
If you’re thinking of building, I suggest a country plot with turf-covered shipping containers on stilts with solar power, rainwater collection and straw or paper bale insulation – a marvellous way to create a living space for much less than a concrete box complete with marketing suite and that beautifully engineered uPVC front door – the one the police/criminal can smash through with one light blow in the right place. Have a look at this guy here.
And as a pander to those who like it brutalist – one from Anderston taken today whilst tracked by various security guards and their cctv pimps (they either think you’re lost/lost your marbles or it’s a bombing recce).
Er, and your problem with the bombing recce is… right. Got to preserve the past, no matter how nasty it actually is up close… Gavin! Assistance please! Oh – you’ve turned inside out…
