jonestheplanner.co.uk
Jones the planner: Stockport, Cheshire
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2015/05/stockport-cheshire.html
An ancient market town. The old view – Hillgate. The view everybody knows – Wellington Road. The 1840s and the 1970s. The spectacular and the banal. Stockport Station – the dispiriting welcome. The Mersey: could be a more spectacular farewell. A heritage and community success story. Is not really doing it. The Merseyway Centre opens up. Bridging Stockport – continuing the tradition. A street in the sky (and a nice old department store below). Form, grid and tessellation. Plugged in to the old fabric.
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Jones the planner: Bristol Fashion
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2013/07/bristol-fashion.html
Unremittingly bad - petrol junky Bristol. Park St, on the must-see townscape list. Bristol Byzantine. This should be a cue for an Amsterdam School. Where City bankers catch their taxi. Welcome to. phft! That's better, Welcome to Bristol. The bombed out City Centre - a ghost of its past. Very good: where the castle used to be. This was a regional bank you know (Corn Street). Urbane: St Nicholas Markets. Vincent Harris certainly got around. If only Raddisson really did disappear. Stay in your box. Somethin...
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Jones the planner: Bradford Impresses
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2015/04/bradford-impresses.html
Bradford impresses. Here, unexpectedly and nestling in the most glorious countryside, is one of the grandest and most distinctive of English cities, a city of fine honey coloured sandstone buildings, thrilling views and exciting juxtapositions. This may not be the usual take on a city coruscated for economic decline and social problems, one of Gavin Stamp’s ‘Lost Cities’ willfully vandalised by planning, but prepare to be surprised. Bradford: good at corners and chimneys – Kirkgate. Fun on North Parade.
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Jones the planner: Naples Funiculi, Funicula
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2013/06/naples-funiculi-funicula.html
Naples Funiculi, Funicula. Cities alien to one another can share similar circumstances. On the street where we lived, scooter eye view. Archaeology comes to life at the Museo. Nottingham alabaster has pride of place in Capodimonte. One hell of an explosion. Next to San Carlo which is open 24/7, raggazi playing football in it at midnight. Now that is inconceivable in England. A direct line from the power dressing of the Gesu. To the justice of the 1946 republic. Circumvesuviana station makes no compromises.
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Jones the planner: Big City Brum
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2012/12/big-city-brum.html
Birmingham is Britain’s second city in a statistical sense – its largest local authority with a population of over a million. But it doesn’t feel like Britain’s second city. How can it compare to the shock of Glasgow’s scale, grandeur and architectural invention or to Manchester’s style and pizzazz? Mk 4 Birmingham - City of London outsourcing (Snow Hill Queensway). Mk 2 - civic gospel (Margaret St). Mk 3 - forward (Birmingham Ballroom). Mk3 - backward (Charles St Queensway). 8211; ‘at the Bull Rin...
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Jones the planner: High Speed 2 Nowhere
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2013/04/high-speed-2-nowhere_21.html
High Speed 2 Nowhere. Bend an ear and listen to my version.". So I am not romantic about railways, but I do think they would be a good idea if run as a public service, as does everyone on the left/green spectrum. St Pancras - made in Nottingham (the bricks). However HS2 is not a good idea; in fact it is a catastrophically bad idea and a fatal distraction from what really needs to be done to improve our railway system. I have always been suspicious of grands projets. Toton Marshalling yard - the site of t...
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Jones the planner: New Book – Out Now! Towns in Britain by Jones the Planner
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2014/06/book-launch-towns-in-britain-by-jones.html
New Book – Out Now! Towns in Britain by Jones the Planner. Now available in all good bookshops . 8211; happy sending out copies post free. Five Leaves Bookshop, 14a Long Row, Nottingham, NG1 2DH, 0115 8373097. Waterstones – varies at local stores, so ask. Get in touch with Adrian or Chris who are happy to take part in talks or discussions about towns, architecture, planning and urban history related themes or issues. Example of spreads – Introduction. Example of spreads – Coventry. 23 June 2014 at 10:08.
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Jones the planner: Sheffield: This is Hardcore
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2014/08/sheffield-this-is-hardcore.html
Sheffield: This is Hardcore. Sheffield is heroic. It’s like a boxer struggling back to his feet after a series of knock-down blows; down but not out. Sheffield is masculine, raw and powerful. But it is Pittsburg, not Detroit, still optimistic that its past, improbable, greatness can be rekindled. And it is often wrong-headed about how to do this. Takes your breath away. An ungracious but entertaining city centre. Georgian townscape plunging down the Don Valley. A post war pub. Arundel Gate welcomes you.
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Jones the planner: Manchester Metropolis
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2015/03/manchester-metropolis.html
The Alchemist’s Elements, Hans Tisdall. Mancunian Way barriers, literal, psychological and metaphorical. Fifty shades of private bus livery. Nice trams - shame about the street kit. Is this Piccadilly Gardens, mate? Not competing with Sheffield, never mind Barcelona. This is not working – Piccadilly Gardens. Poor attention to detail. Those New York loft apartments as imagined by Tony Wilson. Creativity without Media City. Impressive townscape – The Northern Quarter. Infinitely preferable to Salford Quays.
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Jones the planner: Wakefield, West Riding
http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/2014/09/wakefield-west-riding.html
Wakefield, West Riding. There is a lot to like about Wakefield and a lot to admire, but a visit there will also make you despair about the impotence of planning and architecture in the face of the unbridled power of over-mighty business to dictate the future of our cities. The Hepworth Gallery and thoughtful renovation such as Crown Court may give you hope but by the malls of the recently-built Trinity Walk shopping centre you sit down and weep. A smart new station. Well planned but poor finish. It is a ...
