The importance of the replacement in justifying the loss.

Yesterday I spent most of the day in Solihull, giving a talk to the 'Embroiderers Guild'. Wherever I go and talk about my work, there are always people who can relate to it and it brings home the far reaching consequences of regeneration on post-industrial cities all over the country. The discussions are not always negative and although within my practice I always try to remain neutral and position myself as an observer, it has to be noted that I am also a resident within an area of major intervention within a regeneration programme and as a resident the changes have touched my own life in both negative and positive ways.
One of the things that occurred to me last night after talking to people from the Birmingham and Solihull area was the importance of what replaces demolished homes. It seems clear that if there were a universally agreed solution as to what type of housing replaced the terraces for example, as a community we may well have viewed the necessity of demolition in a different light.
As of this paragraph I speak from personal opinion and with the understanding that I have no real archictectural or strategic knowledge to support my opinion! However, this is how I feel. With my Artist's head on I think this is just beautiful......


....BUT I don't live in one, I have lived in one in the past but when it came to buying a home I chose a functional twenty year old modern box. To me it is the equivalent of what a terraced home was when it was first built but time adds beauty.

So during the last regeneration we got these(above)!!!!! But I actually think I prefer them to these(below)!!!!!! Perhaps that's just because I associate the modern apartment with everything I feel is negative about regeneration. Demolishing communities in order to squeeze in more housing units and make more money for the developer, not benefiting the original community in any way, shape or form.

So if I'm honest what I really want is based on a very subjective opinion of what I like to live in. Which is....something cheap, square, functional, no-frills, a family size, with a garden, low maintenance. Well time will tell but this development between Botteslow Street and Lichfield Street is looking promising to me.....I know, I know, there is nothing architecturally brilliant in them and the front doors look like the doors to my old 'Halls of Residence' but hey, purely with my low income, family resident hat on....they fit the bill.

Whether they'll be affordable(or even available to buy) I've yet to find out.