SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Excellent 5 part BBC Programme fronted by Meades, a good bloke.Sorry if already covered, it's from 2007

More output from the quirky (this might not be giving him enough respect) and *think up your own adjective in this space, although I am with J on this one* Jonathan Meades in the eloquently-titled 'Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness : Concrete Poetry by.....', currently showing on BBC4. Second and final episode tonight. First episode is here....http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... de_1/There are some familiar sights for you SLers from thirteen minutes on. Some good angles of one or two of our city's iconic buildings, although the Corn Exchange is tagged with the moniker 'Victorian Monstrosity'. We can however rest assured that this is not the opinion of the worthy JM.

Oooh ace, I love Jonathan Meades, will get this watched. Nice to see Brutalism getting its due respect as well

Jogon wrote: Excellent 5 part BBC Programme fronted by Meades, a good bloke.Sorry if already covered, it's from 2007.http://youtu.be/4vMh8JAKYAQTo add excitement, what and where is the spooky Monument at 0.30 to 0.56?     Is it Lawnswood Cemetery? Loads of spooky stuff up there.

Hi chrismyes it is. Ethel by the door gets me. As with many of these things, I didn't appreciate Mr Meades first time around, but have grown to appreciate.

Thanks for posing this link Jogon. After reading this thread, I watched this at stupid o'clock in the morning today when I could not sleep. Apart from whiling away the small hours (nearly fell asleep several times today at work as a result) I found it very interesting. It cast our Cuthbert in a whole new light. I shall view the buildings therein with a new eye. Couldn't bring myself to watch the "Brutalist" episode right afterwards but bookmarked for another sleepless night sometime. Cheers.

I watched both episodes last night and they were fantastic - the parallels between Cuthbert Brodrick's work and the great brutalist pieces in Leeds like the buildings up at the University and the YEP building would never have occurred to me, but now that JM's pointed it out it's fascinating. I wonder if one day people will lament the passing of the likes of the International Pool in the same way they do Brodrick's Oriental Baths. I suspect the Oriental Baths were made a bit better mind you... The YEP is next I suppose. Would have liked a cast list for all those retro-space-age 'concrete monstrosities' shown in the programme     

dsco wrote: I watched both episodes last night and they were fantastic - the parallels between Cuthbert Brodrick's work and the great brutalist pieces in Leeds like the buildings up at the University and the YEP building would never have occurred to me, but now that JM's pointed it out it's fascinating. I wonder if one day people will lament the passing of the likes of the International Pool in the same way they do Brodrick's Oriental Baths. I suspect the Oriental Baths were made a bit better mind you... The YEP is next I suppose. Would have liked a cast list for all those retro-space-age 'concrete monstrosities' shown in the programme      Make the most, there's a demolition notice lodged for the YEP. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... -1-6328192

I think the YEP building is much maligned, certainly a lot more thought went into it than City House and the old Norwich Union building in City Sq. It certainly had the wow factor when I was 6 or 7 years old.    

You can pretty much guarantee that whatever they put in its place will be bland and ubiquitous by comparison.