From across the Atlantic, the BBC News reached out to our own Wayne Turett for comment on the proposed destruction of an important example of sixties architecture – a style that some do not appreciate fifty years later. The city council in Carlisle, England is considering tearing down its Civic Centre for the development of a shopping and entertainment district.
Among the unique features of the period building were East African olive wood, Brazilian rose wood, Japanese silk wallpaper and Finnish lampshades. The exterior sports 37,000 sq ft of French and Italian mosaic tiles. It was a “grand civic and engineering statement”, says John Kelsall from the Carlisle and District Civic Trust.
New York architect Wayne Turett says: “The point is not whether you like the Carlisle civic centre – that kind of personal decision is better left for the colour of your kitchen walls – but that demolishing a building should not be considered lightly.”
Wayne feels similarly about the disrepair of the New York City Worlds Fair architectural icons seen in Flushing. “I was just a grade school kid when I first saw those building,” says Wayne. “They inspired my interest in architecture and design. Like much of sixties architecture, it just may not match today’s aesthetic tastes, but it is a style that marks an important part of the evolution in modern design.”
Interesting Factoid: When Wayne was nine years old, he played the accordion at the New York World’s Fair. It was a long walk from the parking lot to the concert venue, so Wayne transported his accordion in his red wagon. Cute, uh?
Click here for BBC article.
*Images courtesy of BBC News.
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