City Hall are the Public and Municipal Offices. The only serious omission seems to be that the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House has either been entirely forgotten or else it has been relegated to a position where it is exceedingly difficult to find it. This building, however, could be placed with perfect propriety to the rear of the City Hall and contiguous with it. There can be no doubt whatsoever that M. Romanoff has produced a scheme which is far and away the best submitted. There is no proxime accessit in this case.
Other Designs.
The first supplementary premium was given to Messrs, G. Niedermann and K. Hippenmeier, of Zurich, whose scheme is to be commended on the ground that they have made a special effort to incorporate the old Town Hall into the civic centre. The civic square itself rather suffers from the fact that, with the exception of the Memorial, it has no climax. The Council House which closes the vista on the north-east side is not even axial with the central line of the square, which is symmetrical in all other respects, while the twin square buildings to the south-west of the place have no dominant to unify them, and if one of them is the City Hall, as appears likely, the other exactly equal to it both in size and formal status must detract from the dignity of this latter building. Moreover, the open space in front of these two square buildings appears on plan to be actually larger than that enclosed between the public buildings, with the result that we are not quite certain where the main civic square is to be found. While the communications
between south-west and north-east are good, those in the transverse direction are poor, the important route from Summer Row to New Street being provided with no alternative, while Suffolk Street is terminated by a thoroughfare at right angles to itself. The second supplementary premium was awarded to Mr. L. M. Austin, of Heston, Middlesex, who has produced a scheme similar in some respects to the one last mentioned. The old Town Hall is brought into the civic centre. The road inter-communication is good. Mr. Austin is almost the only competitor who has specialised in “round points, ” which features of town planning appear to be going out of favour with the experts. The disposition of the public buildings in this scheme is not altogether satisfactory, inasmuch as the City Hall is made to balance the Library, while the Mansion House has to have a vis-a-vis created for it in the shape of a Municipal Chapel not mentioned in the conditions. The Civic Place, however, has a fine scale. The third supplementary premium was won by Messrs. Adams, Thompson & Fry, who have produced an attractive scheme in which the City Hall is placed north of the main square. The position of the War Memorial obviously created a difficulty, for it is here placed at the extreme corner of the square. In order to secure the requisite balance, a duplicate has been introduced opposite it. This seems a council of despair, for if erected such a monument would deprive the original one of its legitimate status. The traffic routes, although not symmetrical on plan, would work well in practice. An especially good feature is the new shopping street running east to west just behind the Mansion House. Mr. E. Prentice BIRMINGHAM CIVIC CENTRE COMPETITION: FIRST PREMIATED DESIGN.
Maximilian Romanoff and Ziza Duertein-Romanoff (Paris).
Other Designs.
The first supplementary premium was given to Messrs, G. Niedermann and K. Hippenmeier, of Zurich, whose scheme is to be commended on the ground that they have made a special effort to incorporate the old Town Hall into the civic centre. The civic square itself rather suffers from the fact that, with the exception of the Memorial, it has no climax. The Council House which closes the vista on the north-east side is not even axial with the central line of the square, which is symmetrical in all other respects, while the twin square buildings to the south-west of the place have no dominant to unify them, and if one of them is the City Hall, as appears likely, the other exactly equal to it both in size and formal status must detract from the dignity of this latter building. Moreover, the open space in front of these two square buildings appears on plan to be actually larger than that enclosed between the public buildings, with the result that we are not quite certain where the main civic square is to be found. While the communications
between south-west and north-east are good, those in the transverse direction are poor, the important route from Summer Row to New Street being provided with no alternative, while Suffolk Street is terminated by a thoroughfare at right angles to itself. The second supplementary premium was awarded to Mr. L. M. Austin, of Heston, Middlesex, who has produced a scheme similar in some respects to the one last mentioned. The old Town Hall is brought into the civic centre. The road inter-communication is good. Mr. Austin is almost the only competitor who has specialised in “round points, ” which features of town planning appear to be going out of favour with the experts. The disposition of the public buildings in this scheme is not altogether satisfactory, inasmuch as the City Hall is made to balance the Library, while the Mansion House has to have a vis-a-vis created for it in the shape of a Municipal Chapel not mentioned in the conditions. The Civic Place, however, has a fine scale. The third supplementary premium was won by Messrs. Adams, Thompson & Fry, who have produced an attractive scheme in which the City Hall is placed north of the main square. The position of the War Memorial obviously created a difficulty, for it is here placed at the extreme corner of the square. In order to secure the requisite balance, a duplicate has been introduced opposite it. This seems a council of despair, for if erected such a monument would deprive the original one of its legitimate status. The traffic routes, although not symmetrical on plan, would work well in practice. An especially good feature is the new shopping street running east to west just behind the Mansion House. Mr. E. Prentice BIRMINGHAM CIVIC CENTRE COMPETITION: FIRST PREMIATED DESIGN.
Maximilian Romanoff and Ziza Duertein-Romanoff (Paris).