As any student of architecture in Birmingham I have been exposed to the work of John Madin, a visionary architect with huge ambition whose work has been much maligned by various groups in Birmingham. I don't want to be sycophantic and I acknowledge that some of his work may not be incredibly exciting or even that good, but some of the stuff is just so powerful and was part of such grand ideas of what the new motorised city in the post-war world should be that he has to rank as one of my favourite architects. Wes Jones says in "El Segundo" that
"the architect should approach each work as evidence of a particular understanding of the world, as evidence of the architect's belief that this understanding is the most appropriate...work [architecture] should be offered as an example of the way things should be, not as proof of its own uniqueness. The architect should stand behind the work...and any signature that the work develops through its own consistency should be emblematic of its goodness proven in each example, rather than simply its difference, or its designers fame."
Madin's work displays his understanding of the Birmingham in which he operated, Britain's Motor-City. His buildings are often composed of simple but powerful geometric forms and are, for all their brutalism, fairly modest buildings that don't exhibit the attributes of the shout out "look at me" architecture that is currently par for the course in Birmingham. Madin has attracted a bad reputation amongst some who either don't like the brutal forms of his work or don't like what his architecture represents; Birmingham's post-war concrete redevelopment. But others love Madin's buildings and as one by one they are demolished there is a growing concern that Birmingham will eradicate that past like it has done before, a past which was striving to to create a new utopia. No matter how misguided those intentions and actions might have been atleast it was an applaudable occupation and a life well spent.
Glenn Howells paid this tribute to him in the Birmingham Post
"Glenn Howells, of Birmingham-based Glenn Howells Architects, said Mr Madin was to be admired as much for his output as his architectural prowess. He said: “He was probably the most important mid-20th century architect that the city had in that he brought international examples and experience to bear in the city. "He is probably best known for the major buildings he left behind, but some of the most interesting work he did was in residential development, like the Calthorpe Estate buildings. “He was quite prolific. His output was huge over many decades.”
An e-book portfolio of his work can be found here
A classic film showing John at the height of his career abd demonstrating the bold ambition of a post-war architect
and here is a video of John in his later years talking about his library and the threat of demolision
No comments:
Post a Comment