Revealing the Institutional Order of Birmingham as a Framework for Civic Life : An Interpretation of Paradise Circus and Associated Institutions between 1779-1980

Dring, Michael (2024) Revealing the Institutional Order of Birmingham as a Framework for Civic Life : An Interpretation of Paradise Circus and Associated Institutions between 1779-1980. Doctoral thesis, Birmingham City University.

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Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the interpretation of the architectural and urban topography of Birmingham through the study of literary and intellectual institutions. The study is temporally bounded by the foundation of Birmingham Library (1779) and the building of Central Library (1974) as part of Paradise Circus (1980). Presented in three parts and beginning with John Madin’s now demolished modernist complex, the thesis explores the historically constituted and continually negotiated topography of Birmingham towards an understanding of implicit and explicit institutional order as the stratified horizon for praxis (Carl, 2012: 67). Questions of continuity, progress and freedom resonate throughout the work with implications for contemporary architectural and urban theory and practice, in doing so offering a framework for civic life.

The hermeneutic position of this research offers a counter to the technological orientation and topographical amnesia of the modernist city. In contrast to conventional historical research which defers to the intention and authority of the author of the work (of art, architecture, literature) in question (Parcell, 1993: 250), and methods of scientific analysis where a work is treated as a silent, neutral object, hermeneutics calls for more subtle and comprehensive modes of historical and humanistic understanding (Palmer, 1969: 8). This is particularly valuable in the study of architecture and urban topography where history and design are both engaged in the act of interpretation. Vesely’s (2004: 52) reciprocal unity between topology, orientation, and physiognomy as a sequence of relationships and dependencies offers a way of thinking about architecture beyond abstract notions of space, style or its technological and instrumental nature. Together, these orientate the research in finding the right question to ask (Gadamer, 1975: 312), informing the tools employed in its making.

The research has been ordered by the study of historical documents and the architectural and urban topography of the city itself. Part 1 presents the historiographical context of twentieth century works and discussions around continuity and progress through the study of Cedric Price’s unbuilt project for BMI/HQ and John Madin’s now-demolished Paradise Circus. Beginning with the foundation of Birmingham Library (1779), Part 2 explores the topography of modernity from which those projects emerged, discussing the basis for an architectural and social culture that did not always conform to accepted convention or practice. Together, these parts lead the interpretive work of Part 3. Original drawings, photographs and the ‘map of institutional continuity’ accompany the presentation of extensive archival works throughout the thesis, some uncatalogued and seen here for the first time.

Drawing extensively on the fields of politics, philosophy, technology, and religion, and intensively on practices of architecture, art, landscape, and planning, the thesis contributes new insights into the architectural and urban topography of Birmingham, revealing the implicit and explicit institutional order of the city.

As the thesis presents, the implicit yet intensive order of the first library embodied dialogue (logos) at a time of much national and international dispute, with the naming of the site of Paradise establishing an ontological orientation to the fast-growing city. The long-term project for the Town Hall and subsequent Birmingham and Midland Institute and later conjoined Free Reference Library represented a more explicit yet contingent and open form of city-building, signifying ideas of democratic representation and civic participation. The parallel study of Price and Madin’s works articulates differing attitudes to continuity and progress, where the latter made ground for civic life, acknowledging the traditions as well as the expanding territory of the city embodied in the ring road.

The thesis poses important questions about the ways in which institutions accommodate change whilst providing continuity with the given, historical conditions of urbis and a concern for freedom as the ‘natural conditions common-to-all’ (physis) (Carl, 2012: 67). Such questions have been given greater urgency in the context of declining state support and intervention, changes to the ownership and governance of public space and buildings, and global movements for social, spatial, and environmental justice. The thesis also offers opportunities for the creative interpretation of the archive in an approach which seeks not to reconstruct conditions, but to situate meaning within tradition.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Dates:	Date Event 4 August 2024 Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords:	architecture, urban design, urbanism, architectural history, institution, modernism, modernity, Birmingham, infrastructure, civic,
Subjects:	CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-01 - architecture CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-04 - planning (urban, rural and regional) CAH20 - historical, philosophical and religious studies > CAH20-01 - history and archaeology > CAH20-01-02 - history of art, architecture and design
Divisions:	Doctoral Research College > Doctoral Theses Collection Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of Architecture
Depositing User:	Louise Muldowney
Date Deposited:	03 Apr 2025 15:02
Last Modified:	03 Apr 2025 15:02
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16287

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