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| Scotland's modernist buildings die another death as Inverkip's vast chimney falls | Scotland's modernist buildings die another death as Inverkip's vast chimney falls |
| (2 months later) | |
| If any residents on the Firth of Clyde consider retiring to bed early on Sunday night, they may find that their slumber is disturbed by an apparently tectonic upheaval. | If any residents on the Firth of Clyde consider retiring to bed early on Sunday night, they may find that their slumber is disturbed by an apparently tectonic upheaval. |
| A few enthusiastic witnesses will peer through the gloaming at 10pm to watch the demolition of Inverkip Power Station's colossal stack, a structure which, until that moment, enjoys the distinction of being the tallest freestanding building in Scotland. | A few enthusiastic witnesses will peer through the gloaming at 10pm to watch the demolition of Inverkip Power Station's colossal stack, a structure which, until that moment, enjoys the distinction of being the tallest freestanding building in Scotland. |
| This magisterial grey column rises 236m above sea level – a similar height to Arthur's Seat. Darkening skies may obscure the spectacle but the impact of 1.4 million falling bricks and 20,000 tonnes of concrete will likely be felt beyond the immediate locality. | This magisterial grey column rises 236m above sea level – a similar height to Arthur's Seat. Darkening skies may obscure the spectacle but the impact of 1.4 million falling bricks and 20,000 tonnes of concrete will likely be felt beyond the immediate locality. |
| The collapse of this vast totem – higher than Canary Wharf and rather more conspicuous – marks the end of another landmark in Scottish modernist architecture. | The collapse of this vast totem – higher than Canary Wharf and rather more conspicuous – marks the end of another landmark in Scottish modernist architecture. |
| It is a characteristic of our time that buildings erected amid the white heat of mid-twentieth century urbanisation and industrialisation are being quietly and incrementally lost. | It is a characteristic of our time that buildings erected amid the white heat of mid-twentieth century urbanisation and industrialisation are being quietly and incrementally lost. |
| Something of the parlous state of our modernist heritage lies behind the 'Building Scotland, 1945-1985' exhibition which has recently opened at the Glasgow City Heritage Trust. It features a range of buildings, from the familiar to the obscure, providing what its curators call 'a visual record' of postwar construction and renewal. | Something of the parlous state of our modernist heritage lies behind the 'Building Scotland, 1945-1985' exhibition which has recently opened at the Glasgow City Heritage Trust. It features a range of buildings, from the familiar to the obscure, providing what its curators call 'a visual record' of postwar construction and renewal. |
| A visual record is, in many cases, all that remains. Photographs will be the lasting testament to Inverkip, one of the last works by Scotland's Sir Robert Matthew, whose RMJM partnership constructed several power stations. | A visual record is, in many cases, all that remains. Photographs will be the lasting testament to Inverkip, one of the last works by Scotland's Sir Robert Matthew, whose RMJM partnership constructed several power stations. |
| In architectural terms, Inverkip was a concrete and glass tribute to Giles Gilbert Scott's Bankside Power Station. Unlike its southern progenitor, however, it has enjoyed none of the popular love shown to what we now call Tate Modern. | In architectural terms, Inverkip was a concrete and glass tribute to Giles Gilbert Scott's Bankside Power Station. Unlike its southern progenitor, however, it has enjoyed none of the popular love shown to what we now call Tate Modern. |
| The same might be said of another Matthew classic: Cockenzie power station which eked out its last watt in March this year in deference to EU pollution targets. Permissions are now in place for Scottish Power to convert Cockenzie to a new CCGT gas plant, a move that would result in a partial demolition of the building, including its distinctive twin chimneys. | The same might be said of another Matthew classic: Cockenzie power station which eked out its last watt in March this year in deference to EU pollution targets. Permissions are now in place for Scottish Power to convert Cockenzie to a new CCGT gas plant, a move that would result in a partial demolition of the building, including its distinctive twin chimneys. |
| These towering stacks are a familiar sight to anyone looking east from the centre of Edinburgh, a landscape-scale marker of the ambivalent legacies left by the central belt's carbon economy. Some locals will doubtless be happy to see them gone. For others, however, they stand sentinel over the communities whose labour mined the East Lothian coal seam and who remain unapologetic about the appearance of their industry. | These towering stacks are a familiar sight to anyone looking east from the centre of Edinburgh, a landscape-scale marker of the ambivalent legacies left by the central belt's carbon economy. Some locals will doubtless be happy to see them gone. For others, however, they stand sentinel over the communities whose labour mined the East Lothian coal seam and who remain unapologetic about the appearance of their industry. |
| Prospect magazine included Cockenzie in its list of the 100 best modern Scottish buildings but, in the absence of a statutory listing, Historic Scotland did not raise any concerns at the 2011 CCGT enquiry. This left the field clear for Scottish Natural Heritage who deemed the original stacks 'visually intrusive', an opinion that carried heft with the Public Reporter who made their demolition a condition of the CCGT planning consent. | Prospect magazine included Cockenzie in its list of the 100 best modern Scottish buildings but, in the absence of a statutory listing, Historic Scotland did not raise any concerns at the 2011 CCGT enquiry. This left the field clear for Scottish Natural Heritage who deemed the original stacks 'visually intrusive', an opinion that carried heft with the Public Reporter who made their demolition a condition of the CCGT planning consent. |
| None of this, of course, is very surprising. The position of SNH in this case is arguably aligned with a more widespread feeling that the Modern Movement is what compromises the view. This line comes with a ready supply of powerful clichés – blight, eyesore, carbuncle – around which contemporary planners have learned to tread warily. | None of this, of course, is very surprising. The position of SNH in this case is arguably aligned with a more widespread feeling that the Modern Movement is what compromises the view. This line comes with a ready supply of powerful clichés – blight, eyesore, carbuncle – around which contemporary planners have learned to tread warily. |
| While professionals in architecture and urban conservation often show considerable enthusiasm for these buildings, a groundswell of popular affection is as yet a distant prospect. And in the meantime, there is less and less left to love. | While professionals in architecture and urban conservation often show considerable enthusiasm for these buildings, a groundswell of popular affection is as yet a distant prospect. And in the meantime, there is less and less left to love. |
| Alongside Cockenzie, the Building Scotland exhibition also features the stark forms of Monktonhall Colliery designed by the Austrian Bauhaus-era architect Egon Riss. As a Jewish émigré to Britain, Riss brought to bear the influence of European modernists – his circle included the painter Paul Klee – which he first applied to the design of a modern classic: a tiny bookcase called the Isokon Donkey. You'll find the original in the V&A Museum. | Alongside Cockenzie, the Building Scotland exhibition also features the stark forms of Monktonhall Colliery designed by the Austrian Bauhaus-era architect Egon Riss. As a Jewish émigré to Britain, Riss brought to bear the influence of European modernists – his circle included the painter Paul Klee – which he first applied to the design of a modern classic: a tiny bookcase called the Isokon Donkey. You'll find the original in the V&A Museum. |
| In later life Riss took a position at the National Coal Board in Scotland for which he designed unadorned pit head towers, not just at Monktonhall but at Bilston Glen, Kinneil, Rothes and Seafield. | In later life Riss took a position at the National Coal Board in Scotland for which he designed unadorned pit head towers, not just at Monktonhall but at Bilston Glen, Kinneil, Rothes and Seafield. |
| Last month, the architectural critic Owen Hatherley was in Fife on the trail of Scottish-inflected modernism. For Riss, however, the visit was twenty years too late. | Last month, the architectural critic Owen Hatherley was in Fife on the trail of Scottish-inflected modernism. For Riss, however, the visit was twenty years too late. |
| That no representative example of his work was spared is, for Hatherley, political. There is a sense, he says, that the buildings 'looked too modern'; that had they been preserved they might have complicated 'the ongoing effort to deindustrialise the look of Fife, to pretend that those are all nice fishing villages rather than depressed industrial towns'. | That no representative example of his work was spared is, for Hatherley, political. There is a sense, he says, that the buildings 'looked too modern'; that had they been preserved they might have complicated 'the ongoing effort to deindustrialise the look of Fife, to pretend that those are all nice fishing villages rather than depressed industrial towns'. |
| Our cities, too, often appear ill at ease with their post-war design. My colleague Richard J Williams memorably described Edinburgh as having a 'collective nervous breakdown' at the Basil Spence-led development of George Square in the 1960s. | Our cities, too, often appear ill at ease with their post-war design. My colleague Richard J Williams memorably described Edinburgh as having a 'collective nervous breakdown' at the Basil Spence-led development of George Square in the 1960s. |
| And if a recent row about the relentlessly austere Argyle House is anything to go by, the passing of the years has not brought serenity. Euan Leitch, until recently the Assistant Director of the Cockburn Association, points out that 'all Edinburgh's aggregate panel buildings have either been demolished, have consent for demolition, or consent for re-cladding'. He recalls only two exceptions, one of which is the unlisted and often unloved Argyle House. | And if a recent row about the relentlessly austere Argyle House is anything to go by, the passing of the years has not brought serenity. Euan Leitch, until recently the Assistant Director of the Cockburn Association, points out that 'all Edinburgh's aggregate panel buildings have either been demolished, have consent for demolition, or consent for re-cladding'. He recalls only two exceptions, one of which is the unlisted and often unloved Argyle House. |
| Leitch describes the Scottish Provident building on St Andrew Square – B-listed and Brutalist – as 'a more polite example' of its kind but even this may be dismantled by a developer. If Edinburgh City Council approve this application, the building will be taken apart and re-erected as a mere façade – a breach of its architectural 'integrity' that would likely compromise the grounds for its listing in the first place. | Leitch describes the Scottish Provident building on St Andrew Square – B-listed and Brutalist – as 'a more polite example' of its kind but even this may be dismantled by a developer. If Edinburgh City Council approve this application, the building will be taken apart and re-erected as a mere façade – a breach of its architectural 'integrity' that would likely compromise the grounds for its listing in the first place. |
| But there are, perhaps, some slow stirrings of popular interest, not least further up the Firth of Clyde from Inverkip. St Peter's Seminary at Cardross topped the Prospect 100 list and is one of the most famous examples of Scottish vernacular modernism. Having existed in a state of dereliction for most its life, a partnership between the public arts practice NVA, Scottish universities and the local community, hopes to see the A-listed building return to pedagogic use. | But there are, perhaps, some slow stirrings of popular interest, not least further up the Firth of Clyde from Inverkip. St Peter's Seminary at Cardross topped the Prospect 100 list and is one of the most famous examples of Scottish vernacular modernism. Having existed in a state of dereliction for most its life, a partnership between the public arts practice NVA, Scottish universities and the local community, hopes to see the A-listed building return to pedagogic use. |
| After the initial effort to make the site safe, the aim is to return the sanctuary to a useable condition though leaving the rest of St Peter's as a charismatic ruin. NVA's intelligent approach is less strict conservation than a creative engagement with decay. | After the initial effort to make the site safe, the aim is to return the sanctuary to a useable condition though leaving the rest of St Peter's as a charismatic ruin. NVA's intelligent approach is less strict conservation than a creative engagement with decay. |
| But it is hard not to see this promising example as an analogue for our relationship with Scottish modernism more generally: by the time the style gains recognition, we find ourselves adjusting to its loss. | But it is hard not to see this promising example as an analogue for our relationship with Scottish modernism more generally: by the time the style gains recognition, we find ourselves adjusting to its loss. |
| ° This article has been corrected to say the date of the demolition of Inverkip's stack is Sunday, not Saturday as originally stated. | ° This article has been corrected to say the date of the demolition of Inverkip's stack is Sunday, not Saturday as originally stated. |
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