DESTRUCTION OF 1970’S BUILDINGS—SOUTHWARK TOWERS.

DESTRUCTION OF 1970’S BUILDINGS—SOUTHWARK. The Shard has replaced Southwark Towers, a 25 story tower built in 1976. I said here that: “It seems strange that buildings that were built only fifty years ago are now threatened by the wrecking ball but technological change—think of electrical requirements, for example—has been enormous.” Southwark Towers came down after only 32 years. Technological change was indeed a factor. This wikipedia article notes that: “Despite a modern-looking and lavish reception area, the building and its decorations became outdated. Lifts in the building were slow and struggled to cope with traffic during peak hours.” But taste changes as well as technology. The building seems to have been unpopular. This blog post says that Southwark Towers was “an unhappy reminder of how dowdy the Borough used to be”. An editorial in the Financial Times (July 7-8) called it “a monstrous carbuncle on the face of the city”.