Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Ugliness and Judgement: On Architecture in the Public Eye by Timothy Hyde
Ugly but entertaining truths about architectural controversies over the last three centuries

THE CONSEQUENCES of some buildings being considered “ugly” and the social impact of such aesthetic judgement over three centuries in Britain are explored in this engaging study by Timothy Hyde.

En route, Hyde considers architectural controversies in London surrounding the gothic revival Houses of Parliament, the brutalist concrete of the South Bank and the historicist novelty of No 1 Poultry.

They became embroiled in art, science, religion, political economy and government, with architects as diverse as Christopher Wren, John Soane, James Stirling and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe summoned by would-be august tribunals of aesthetic judgement in Parliament, the courts and public inquiries.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
tanner
Meet the Cartoonist / 18 July 2025
18 July 2025

Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet

MB
Album reviews / 23 June 2025
23 June 2025

New releases from Hannah Rose Platt, Kemp Harris, and Spear Of Destiny

Cartoons: (L to R) Citizen Chicane and Songi
Culture / 23 December 2024
23 December 2024
(L to R) the book cover; Labour Party election poster 1945;
Books / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
MICHAL BONCZA recommends a compact volume that charts the art of propagating ideas across the 20th century
Similar stories
church
Books / 4 July 2025
4 July 2025

HENRY BELL notes the curious confluence of belief, rebuilding and cheap materials that gave rise to an extraordinary number of modernist churches in post-war Scotland

MISUNDERSTOOD BRUTALIST GENIUS: Gordon Benson and Alan Forsy
Books / 27 November 2024
27 November 2024
Despite its anti-socialist bias, JOHN GREEN recommends a new survey of British architecture that seeks to educate and provoke
Smallbrook Ringway, in 1965
Britain / 12 September 2024
12 September 2024
COMFORT FOR THE MANY: Our vote (not that we have one) goes t
Opinion / 20 August 2024
20 August 2024
While applauding the emphasis on re-use, ROBERT GROVER examines the elitist bias of the prize towards south-east England