The campaigns to save Hove's Carnegie Library and the King Alfred are similar. Much-loved local amenities have been derided by some members of Brighton and Hove City Council who decided it was impractical to maintain them.

In neither case is this true. As a former reader in architecture at Brighton University, who has written extensively on such Modernists as Le Corbusier, I can say Hove Library is a design gem.

Such magnificent spaces and lighting should have meant its preservation as a library was always uppermost. To install a lift was never a problem.

Similarly, the King Alfred is in sound structural condition. Three years ago, it had a refit of the pool and was given a 25-year life. Money has been spent on the fitness centre and £50,000 has recently been spent on the fire alarm system.

Some cosmetic improvements are desirable, such as replacing ceiling panels and repainting the red windows, but I can safely say the majority of users would rather keep our present centre than be deprived for five years.

The bowling facility should be re-instated.

Both Hove Library and the King Alfred are small-scale, user-friendly facilities which serve the community admirably and inexpensively.

The town of Hove was designed on those Greek principles of balance, rhythm, harmony and economy of means developed in the 5th Century BC. Adapted in such neo-classical terraces as Adelaide Crescent, Brunswick Square and Brunswick Terrace, these are so sound we never tire of them.

We have to live with architecture for a long time but modern architectural fashions change rapidly and some would argue Frank Gehry's concepts are already pass and would be all the more so by the time his towers were built.

Architectural thinking is moving away from "starchitects" and from "that wow factor" (as urged by Andrew Goodall for his Marina proposal - The Argus, August 16).

The cult of celebrity produces buildings which are self-promotional and do not serve cities' complex needs.

Frank Gehry is renowned for his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and his Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

These tasks and locations suit his style but it does not follow that his approach is appropriate for flats in the unique context of Hove, which is comparable in imagination and grandeur to Bath or Cheltenham.

-Dr Geoffrey H Baker, Hove