黑洞社区

Whoever said the icon was dead? In the centre of Birmingham, Mecanoo鈥檚 design for the 拢193m Central Library has been unveiled and it is a bold architectural statement. This glowing stack of boxes, wrapped in a filigree iron cladding, demands the attention as the latest in a line of regenerative hubs in the Midlands city. Make Architects鈥� Cube development is in mid-construction, Foreign Office Architects鈥� revamp of Birmingham New Street station is soon to break ground, and now the self-styled 鈥渓argest lending library in Europe鈥� is set to complete the trio of design-led buildings going forward in Birmingham. And with 拢6bn of 鈥渞ecession proof鈥� investment promised by the city council, could it be that while the rest of the UK鈥檚 development programme slows to a halt, Birmingham is about to become the dynamic centre of the UK鈥檚 building industry?

It would not be unfair to say that Mecanoo鈥檚 success in the 2008 competition was a shock. Pitted against such well-known UK firms as Foster + Partners, Wilkinson Eyre and Foreign Office Architects, the little-known Dutch firm was considered an outside bet. But its surprise appointment was merely the latest twist in the city鈥檚 seven-year struggle to build a new library. Richard Rogers was appointed in 2002 to design a building in the Eastside area of the city, but budgetary issues and council disagreements led to his design being scrapped. A second competition in 2007 for a site in the central Centenary Square yielded entries from David Adjaye, Glenn Howells and Ken Shuttleworth, but that too led to nothing. Only last year did the council finally find an architect for the library, which will be built on the Centenary Square site between the Birmingham Rep and Baskerville House.

Mecanoo鈥檚 appointment may have been a surprise 鈥� prior to the competition interview, Francine Houben, its director, had spent just three days in Birmingham 鈥� but the adventurous nature of its designs was not, given the practice鈥檚 history of designing buildings such as the Delft library in the Netherlands. Houben shies away from the i-word. 鈥淧lease don鈥檛 call it an icon,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his is nothing to do with my ego. It鈥檚 all about Birmingham.鈥� If New Street is Birmingham鈥檚 gateway, and Brindleyplace its office, then the Central Library is its living room.

Centenary Square is broadly the central point in a loose, pedestrianised path 鈥� a 鈥渞ed ribbon鈥� is how Houben describes it 鈥� from Birmingham New Street to Brindleyplace, the canal-side commercial quarter on the eastern edge of the city centre. At the library鈥檚 launch, Clive Dutton, the city鈥檚 head of regeneration and planning, offered to take 黑洞社区 on a quick tour of that ribbon. First stop is Brindleyplace. The opening last month of Eleven Brindleyplace, Glenn Howells鈥� commercial scheme, marks the final piece in the 拢450m puzzle that, after a 15-year development period, has changed the face of Birmingham. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the end of an era,鈥� says Dutton. 鈥淏ut the completion of Brindleyplace means that our attention can move to the Centenary Square.鈥�

Although its quaintly landscaped plazas are pleasant enough in a corporate sort of way, Brindleyplace is not studded with architectural gems. The only notable features are a Costa coffee booth designed by CZWG and an aquarium designed by Foster + Partners 鈥� though this is notable for all the wrong reasons. (鈥淣ot one of his best, is it?鈥� says Dutton, as we gaze at its grey panels and garish lettering.) What Brindleyplace does do is provide decent commercial space, thereby bringing people and investment into the city centre. The next stage of Birmingham鈥檚 regeneration 鈥� the 拢6bn pledged to such projects as the greenlit 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future programme, Edgbaston Hospital and New Street Station 鈥� was dependent on Brindleyplace鈥檚 success.

Please don鈥檛 call the library an icon. This is nothing to do with my ego. It鈥檚 all about Birmingham

Francine Houben, Mecanoo

Houben鈥檚 ribbon leads back from Brindleyplace through the International Conference Centre to Centenary Square, where the new library will be built alongside Baskerville House, a listed thirties building. Originally there were concerns that the scale of the library would overwhelm its neighbour. Will there be trouble with the planners? 鈥淲ell, I鈥檓 the head of planning,鈥� Dutton says, 鈥渟o, no.鈥�

The one thing standing in the way of a through passage all the way to New Street station is the monolithic hulk of the 1974 Birmingham Library, a structure that still divides opinion among locals. The council wants to get rid of it as the sale of the land to Argent is dependent on its demolition. However, Hazel Blears, the communities secretary, may decide to list it, in which case the council could be obliged to refurbish it.

Dutton says such a move would be too expensive, costing as much as 拢150m, but adds that the Mecanoo library would go ahead 鈥渨hatever happens to the old library鈥�.

It may be then that Mecanoo鈥檚 red ribbon will be blemished by the old library, but it fits into the character of this architecturally unusual city. Gazing across the skyline, you see a panoply of incongruous buildings, from the bulbous mass of Future Systems鈥� Selfridges to the postmodern glitz of Ian Simpson鈥檚 Beetham Tower. Although both Houben and Dutton deny that Mecanoo鈥檚 library will be 鈥渋conic鈥� 鈥� the head of planning and regeneration describes it as an 鈥渋ncident鈥� building, whatever that means 鈥� it is yet another building type in a city that is already a cocktail of post-war design fashions. My walking tour concludes at New Street, the much maligned sixties railway hub on which Mace has been appointed to carry out a 拢600m redevelopment. This incoherent collection of forms is about to receive an architecturally uplifting upgrade. A bit like the city itself, in fact.