BIRMINGHAM CIVIC CENTRE COMPETITION
In an open competition in which designs were invited for a new civic centre for the City of Birmingham, Mr. H. V. Lanchester, the assessor, has awarded first place to M. Maximilian Romanoff and Mme. Ziza Duertein-Romanoff, of Paris. Eight supplementary premiums were also given, while in addition the designs of three competitors were “highly commended. ” Ninety-one schemes were submitted.
The “Programme. ”
The “programme” was a complicated one. The new buildings to be provided comprised a City Hall, Mansion House, Municipal and Public Offices, a Natural History Museum, and a Public Library. The arrangement of these buildings around a civic centre must have presented a fascinating problem to the competitors. And quite as fascinating, but even more complex, must have been the problem of planning the roads so that the traffic facilities at the centre of the city should be as perfect as possible. The conditions made it clear that candidates were not required to re-plan an area more than that included within a 900-foot radius from the existing War Memorial, which was to be, in a sense, the pivot of the scheme. This restriction made matters very much easier for the competitors, and did not in the least prejudice the chances of obtaining a workable scheme. For if the inter-communication of the roads in the central part of the city is conveniently arranged, such a lay-out can quite logically be permitted to stand, no matter what developments may subsequently take place outside the central area. It will then merely be a question of joining new roads to the existing nucleus. Although, however, the area to be dealt with was limited, the difficulties in the way of a successful treatment of the area were perhaps aggravated by the fact that the competitors were allowed, if anything, too free a hand to re-mould the City of Birmingham to their heart’s desire. It seemed altogether too good to be true that it could be possible to make such wholesale demolitions in a very populous area of a great city, and competitors were left in doubt whether it was really the intention of the Corporation to proceed with the scheme placed first, or whether the competition was merely instituted with the object of exploring in a highly imaginative manner the possibilities of the site. This latter object is, of course, a legitimate one, and the most successful competitors were those who realised that a too rigid regard for economy, a desire to save the ratepayers’ money,
would not be counted for righteousness on this occasion.
The Winning Design.
The winning design seems almost a miracle of neatness and simplicity, and, as so often happens in architectural competitions, the ideal solution which by its freshness and apparent inevitability captivates, and rightly captivates, the mind of the assessor is only achieved by ignoring one of the essential conditions, or at any rate an important recommendation, set forth in the printed statement of the architectural programme which was supplied to the entrants. In this particular instance the War Memorial will be the bone of contention. Not that the competitors will have a legitimate grievance against the assessor with regard to this point. It was stated in the conditions that the Hall of Memory is the centre of the area to be developed, but obviously this does not mean that the Memorial should necessarily be situated upon the main axis of the civic square. M. Romanoff, with very great boldness and originality, has “sidetracked” the Memorial by placing it in the extreme corner of the Civic Place, in Suffolk Street, which has been suitably broadened to receive both the Memorial and some gardens adjacent to it. The enormous advantage of this treatment is that it has enabled M. Romanoff to make a perfect alignment of the principal roads. The arrangement is so admirable that the other competitors must now be feeling thoroughly annoyed that they did not think of it themselves. Broad Street is now made to diverge on either side of the new City Hall, and the two new thoroughfares thus created continue until they merge into Fleet Street and Great Charles Street. Thus the main traffic route from south-west to north-east is secured. Again, the traffic routes at right angles to this are fully provided for. Summer Hill is taken across the civic square to Suffolk Street, while elsewhere it converges to Summer Row, thus providing a double route for traffic going in this direction. To the southeast, Cambridge Street crosses Broad Street at the rear of the new City Hall, and proceeds in a southeasterly direction, a new road being created for this purpose. The disposition of the public buildings themselves is also admirable. The City Hall is given an island site, while its back elevation closes the vista of Broad Street, its front faces the civic square, and is flanked on either side by the Library and the Museum respectively, which form an enclosure entirely free from vehicular traffic. Opposite the BIRMINGHAM CIVIC CENTRE COMPETITION: FIRST PREMIATED DESIGN (£1, 000).
Maximilian Romanoff and Ziza Duertein-Romanoff (Paris).
In an open competition in which designs were invited for a new civic centre for the City of Birmingham, Mr. H. V. Lanchester, the assessor, has awarded first place to M. Maximilian Romanoff and Mme. Ziza Duertein-Romanoff, of Paris. Eight supplementary premiums were also given, while in addition the designs of three competitors were “highly commended. ” Ninety-one schemes were submitted.
The “Programme. ”
The “programme” was a complicated one. The new buildings to be provided comprised a City Hall, Mansion House, Municipal and Public Offices, a Natural History Museum, and a Public Library. The arrangement of these buildings around a civic centre must have presented a fascinating problem to the competitors. And quite as fascinating, but even more complex, must have been the problem of planning the roads so that the traffic facilities at the centre of the city should be as perfect as possible. The conditions made it clear that candidates were not required to re-plan an area more than that included within a 900-foot radius from the existing War Memorial, which was to be, in a sense, the pivot of the scheme. This restriction made matters very much easier for the competitors, and did not in the least prejudice the chances of obtaining a workable scheme. For if the inter-communication of the roads in the central part of the city is conveniently arranged, such a lay-out can quite logically be permitted to stand, no matter what developments may subsequently take place outside the central area. It will then merely be a question of joining new roads to the existing nucleus. Although, however, the area to be dealt with was limited, the difficulties in the way of a successful treatment of the area were perhaps aggravated by the fact that the competitors were allowed, if anything, too free a hand to re-mould the City of Birmingham to their heart’s desire. It seemed altogether too good to be true that it could be possible to make such wholesale demolitions in a very populous area of a great city, and competitors were left in doubt whether it was really the intention of the Corporation to proceed with the scheme placed first, or whether the competition was merely instituted with the object of exploring in a highly imaginative manner the possibilities of the site. This latter object is, of course, a legitimate one, and the most successful competitors were those who realised that a too rigid regard for economy, a desire to save the ratepayers’ money,
would not be counted for righteousness on this occasion.
The Winning Design.
The winning design seems almost a miracle of neatness and simplicity, and, as so often happens in architectural competitions, the ideal solution which by its freshness and apparent inevitability captivates, and rightly captivates, the mind of the assessor is only achieved by ignoring one of the essential conditions, or at any rate an important recommendation, set forth in the printed statement of the architectural programme which was supplied to the entrants. In this particular instance the War Memorial will be the bone of contention. Not that the competitors will have a legitimate grievance against the assessor with regard to this point. It was stated in the conditions that the Hall of Memory is the centre of the area to be developed, but obviously this does not mean that the Memorial should necessarily be situated upon the main axis of the civic square. M. Romanoff, with very great boldness and originality, has “sidetracked” the Memorial by placing it in the extreme corner of the Civic Place, in Suffolk Street, which has been suitably broadened to receive both the Memorial and some gardens adjacent to it. The enormous advantage of this treatment is that it has enabled M. Romanoff to make a perfect alignment of the principal roads. The arrangement is so admirable that the other competitors must now be feeling thoroughly annoyed that they did not think of it themselves. Broad Street is now made to diverge on either side of the new City Hall, and the two new thoroughfares thus created continue until they merge into Fleet Street and Great Charles Street. Thus the main traffic route from south-west to north-east is secured. Again, the traffic routes at right angles to this are fully provided for. Summer Hill is taken across the civic square to Suffolk Street, while elsewhere it converges to Summer Row, thus providing a double route for traffic going in this direction. To the southeast, Cambridge Street crosses Broad Street at the rear of the new City Hall, and proceeds in a southeasterly direction, a new road being created for this purpose. The disposition of the public buildings themselves is also admirable. The City Hall is given an island site, while its back elevation closes the vista of Broad Street, its front faces the civic square, and is flanked on either side by the Library and the Museum respectively, which form an enclosure entirely free from vehicular traffic. Opposite the BIRMINGHAM CIVIC CENTRE COMPETITION: FIRST PREMIATED DESIGN (£1, 000).
Maximilian Romanoff and Ziza Duertein-Romanoff (Paris).