Was Britain's postwar rebuilding the height of midcentury chic or the concrete embodiment of Crap Towns? John Grindrod decided to find out how blitzed, slum-ridden and crumbling 'austerity Britain' became, in a few short years, a space-age world of concrete, steel and glass.
On his journey he visits the sleepy Norfolk birthplace of Brutalism, the once-Blitzed city centre of Plymouth, the futuristic New Town of Cumbernauld, Sheffield's innovative streets in the sky, the foundations of the BT tower, and the brave 1950s experiments in the Gorbals. Along the way he meets New Town pioneers, tower block builders, Barbican architects, old retainers of Coventry Cathedral, proud prefab dwellers and sixties town planners: people who lived through a time of phenomenal change and excitement.
What he finds is a story of dazzling space-age optimism, ingenuity and helipads — so many helipads — tempered by protests, deadly collapses and scandals that shook the government. Concretopia is an accessible and eye-opening history of an aspect of Britain often ignored, insulted and misunderstood. It will change the way you look at ArndaleCentres, tower blocks and concrete forever.
Additional information
Author
John Grindrod
ISBN - 10
1906964904
ISBN - 13
9781906964900
Pages
352
Binding
Hardcover
Released Date
11/12/2013
Publisher
Old Street Publishing
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.
Be the first to review “Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain” Cancel reply
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.