"A voyage of discovery": Hugh Pearman reviews A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain for the Sunday Times
Hugh Pearman praises Owen Hatherley's A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain once more, this time for the Sunday Times.
Owen Hatherley, a young chap with a love of old modernism in his heart, is an architectural commentator with an eye to the state of the nation. What we build, of course, tells us about ourselves, and here he eviscerates Blairite Britain through its buildings. The way our cities have turned out during the early years of the 21st century—it's all down to Blairism, he argues: that brittle, superficial look, all terracotta panelling and pale wood and glass, all those Identikit buy-to-let blocks in Leeds and Manchester and, well, everywhere, really. He doesn't have a good word to say for any of it much. He's angry, yes, but with enough self-deprecation and wit to make it well worth the ride ...
Placing Hatherley in the footsteps of JB Priestley and Ian Nairn, Pearman draws parallels between their critiques of the 'state of the nation', English Journey and Outrage, written in 1934 and 1959 respectively, and Hatherley's assault on 'regeneration'. In particular, Pearman appreciates Hatherley's interest in the British provinces:
Hatherley's great merit is that he gets out of the capital. He is an indefatigable walker and utterly fascinated by the provinces ... British provincial cities are closed books to most architecture critics, whose attention is generally focused on London and overseas. So his travels around the country take on something of the nature of a voyage of discovery. This is a different kind of Heritage Britain, the kind that the tourists don't usually get to see. As it happens, this is also the real Britain, and Hatherley is the most informed, opinionated and acerbic guide you could wish for.
The online review behind the Times paywall is illustrated by a selection of images of 'New Ruins' taken by Joel Anderson.
Visit the Sunday Times to read the full review behind the paywall.
