Architecture

Birmingham grew out of dozens of small villages, towns and farmsteads during the Industrial Revolution. The need for 'a quick fix' to house the many industrial workers that flocked to the city from other areas lead to many fine Victorian streets and back- to-backs, some of which were later to become inner city slums. Many of the older black and white timber buildings can still be seen today like 'The Old Crown' public house in Digbeth, the 'Stone' public house in Northfield and Stratford House in Sparkbrook. 

Many Georgian, Tudor, Edwardian and Elizabethan buildings still survive dotted around the city, for instance Bournbrook Hall, Bournville, Selly Manor (a Tudor manor house), Minworth Greaves (a medieval hall), the 15th Century "Saracen's Head" and "The Old Grammar" School" in Kings Norton, The Old Town Hall Handsworth, built in 1460 and is one of the best examples of an early 'cruck timber frame construction, Soho House Museum Handsworth, built in 1766, The Old Birmingham Workhouse in Lichfield street (which was founded 1734) and the 29m metre high Perrots Folly Ladywood which was built in 1758 by John Perrot and is said to have been an inspiration to Tolkien. 

The Victorian era saw an extensive building programme right across the city and nearby towns, the fine examples of Victorian housing can still be seen in Harborne, Handsworth, Moseley and Bournville, with many red brick churches and public buildings like the Birmingham Law Courts, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham Botanical Gardens and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts. New Street and Corporation Street in the city centre have retained many of their fine Victorian buildings which provides an insight into how the city would have once looked. 

Birmingham's industrial importance in World War Two lead to some of the heaviest bombing raids during the Battle of Britain, this claimed many lives and many beautiful buildings too, however the destruction that took place in post war Birmingham was also extensive, dozens of fine Victorian buildings like the intricate glass roofed Birmingham New Street station, and the old Central Library were destroyed in the 1950s and 1960s. These planning decisions were to have a profound effect on the image of Birmingham in subsequent decades, with the mix of concrete ring roads, shopping malls and tower blocks often referred to as a 'concrete jungle' or a city with no soul. The largest high-rise estate in Britain was constructed at Castle Vale with over 30 huge tower blocks in one small estate. Birmingham has since learnt from its mistakes and with one of the largest demolition and renovation programmes of tower blocks anywhere in Europe, new committees have been set up to guide planning and construction of new buildings, squares and parks. 

Birmingham's grade I listed Town Hall closed its doors to the public in 1996, on safety grounds. The City Council have initiated a �31 million refurbishment which will see the Town Hall brought back to its original glory with its record-breaking 6,000-pipe organ still in place. The redbrick Victoria Law Courts in Corporation Street, built in 1887, are also grade I listed. 

Many grade II listed buildings also remain in the city, for instance the empty, recently- listed Grand Hotel on Colmore Row and the popular 200ft-high Rotunda, a circular tower block at the South end of New Street. St. Philip's Cathedral, built as a parish church, is in the heart of the city, and has glass by Edward Burne-Jones. More modern architecture is represented in the city by the award winning Future Systems' Selfridges building which is a wave like structure covered in thousands of reflective discs. Brindleyplace and Millennium Point are also examples of how fine modern architecture is replacing the much derided concrete of days gone by. Many new projects are planned for the city, including a new Library of Birmingham in the developing Eastside, and Arena Central on Broad Street.

Architecture | Economy | Government | Culture | Classical Music | Modern Music | Sport | Transport