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[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
Twenty years on, the carbuncles are still controversial. But they have their champions now as well as their detractors, and many of the buildings have come through their early trials well. True, some have never worked – for instance, Portsmouth's Tricorn Centre is being demolished – but others are in good shape, and are being spruced up, even extended.
If naivety and arrogance can be blamed for some of the failures, then experience has provided some solutions. Technology has improved, and the fabric of the buildings can now be made cosy and leak-proof. Many practical problems have been solved by fairly simple adaptations – in Hunstanton School, for example, where glass walls had made classrooms too hot in summer and toocold in winter, black panels were added. Similarly, crime can be tackled with better security. The key to much of this is money, of course, and it's no coincidence that many of the buildings that work best are well resourced. However, intelligent management can also work wonders – Trellick Tower has been transformed by a fairly modest investment in CCTV and a concierge.
Some of the public buildings are also benefiting from a makeover. The Hayward Gallery on the South Bank has always been stunning inside, and a great place to see art, but it has suffered from run-down surroundings. Now, as well as a general clean-up, it's getting a glass pavilion – a bit of 21st-century pampering to encourage visitors to loiter and enjoy the views. And the National Theatre has been a popular place to meet ever since the management found the right mix of bars, restaurants and bookshops to go with the exhibitions and performing musicians.
This commercial success has yet to be reproduced in many of the complexes. And perhaps that's where the city-within-a-city idea falls down. Centres of activity, even tiny ones, tend to do best when they develop organically, not when an architect imposes a 'vision'. But give it time, and more of that experience and ingenuity, and we might yet see a belated flowering of the brutalist dream. Especially if someone invents a way of removing stains from the breton brut.
The brutalist dream | The road to hell | Paradise regained? | Find out more
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