Paradise Place

By Stuart Whipps

Birmingham has never been afraid of knocking itself
to pieces, but for a big chunk of my life the imposing
sculptural form of Birmingham Central Library, sitting
high on a natural ridge at the civic heart of the city, was
a constant presence. It was as much a point of orientation
as a building. Then again, an earlier generation would
probably have said exactly the same thing about the
Victorian library that stood there before it. In Birmingham,
buildings rarely survive long enough for the people
who use them to persuade anybody else that they’re
worth keeping.

Birmingham Central Library was demolished in 2016,
little more than 40 years after it opened. It spent less
time in the city than I have, but on my journeys through
the city centre I’m still often surprised at its absence.