In response to Louise Schweitzer’s letter (The Argus, April 1), in which she regrets as lack of imagination the non-development of egotistical monolithic architectural schemes in Brighton and Hove, may I indicate that her vision of heaven is my idea of hell.
Does her enthusiasm include Frank Gehry’s towers intended for the King Alfred site, a design that closely resembles in style a drawing produced by a small child? The Gehry towers were not my idea of high art, still less high architecture.
Such a building would now be very expensive to construct and, with somewhat untried technology, would require continuous monitoring to ensure it could withstand powerful off-shore winds.
With extreme conditions worldwide becoming more frequent, a tornado-strength wind would, with convoluted surfaces, result in uneven forces attacking specific points of the building with greater power than at any one point of a building of conventional construction.
Buildings in an urban environment can be innovative, but should integrate with the architectural environment, not adversely effecting the surroundings.
The Gehry design was out of sympathy with its surroundings, resulting in a form of architectural bullying, appearing as a tumour on the skyline.
Louise Schweitzer fears we are losing our architectural imagination. I hope instead of trying to inflict the actuality of her imagination upon us, she just looks at buildings and imagines that they are like she would like them to be. Then we can all be happy.
Alfred Thomsett, Ridgeside Avenue, Brighton
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