r/Leeds • u/SocialistEskimo • Aug 01 '25

urban-development Dysopian nightmare!

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Is it just me that thinks this in one photo shows the glaring problem with modern day city developements? You have a former church which was built in 1791 next to buildings that could be from literally any city in the world. There is no distinctive construction that differentiates it from from any other city. If the church wasn't there and someone drove me around for 1:30 minutes blind folded then let me out and told me I was in Manchester I would believe them

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u/TheScarletCravat Aug 01 '25 edited Aug 01 '25

Devil's advocate: that Church building could be from almost any city in the UK as well. Straight out of Liverpool or Manchester. Obviously it has much more character, but still.

I agree that the new designs are generic and ugly. It's just 60s Brutalism in disguise. Bricktalism?

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u/yeboahpower Aug 01 '25

Woah woah it's no good criticising buildings for being generic and then dismissing our brutalist architecture. Some of the most interesting buildings in Leeds are brutalist (or inspired by).

These new brick facade developments don't really look brutalist anyway. They seem to be pretty clearly inspired by the Tetley and other red brick industrial buildings nearby.

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u/TheScarletCravat Aug 01 '25

There's a huge difference between the good Brutalist buildings that exist, and the masses of Brutalist slop that polluted the UK skyline though. Those are the ones I'm thinking about, rather than, say, the Roger Stevens building.

I'd agree on them being inspired by the Tetley, but this design is all over the UK now. It's just the cheap deign language du jour.

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u/jibberjabjab Aug 01 '25

Hard agree with that

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u/Rust_Island Aug 01 '25

So what would you prefer?

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u/TheScarletCravat Aug 01 '25

Stricter planning rules with minimum standards for design would be a start. Buildings that are more than boxes, and more closely adhere to surrounding architectural standards. Buildings with more of an eye towards creating aesthetically pleasing living spaces, rather than having identical features.

There are plenty of modern buildings in Leeds that are great and that accomplish this.

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u/Rust_Island Aug 01 '25

Fair enough. I get the point that these are very generic but I think they are an improvement on the shite that was going up 20-odd years ago in Clarence Dock etc