# Birmingham photo timelapse over 45 years



## moon (Mar 18, 2010)

In the 1960s and 70s research chemist and amateur photographer Derek Fairbrother made over 20 photographic time-lapse sequences showing the demolition of old buildings and their replacement by new buildings and road systems in Birmingham city centre.

The video sequence can be seen here


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## beesonthewhatnow (Mar 18, 2010)

Wow, they got rid of some really stunning buildings for the ugly shit that is the library


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## selamlar (Mar 18, 2010)

Yup.  Good bit of it was bomb damaged from the war, but the rest was just good old neo-Brutalism and bad city planning.  Looks like the library is def. going, to be replaced with god knows what.  I can hardly wait.


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## dylans (Mar 18, 2010)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> Wow, they got rid of some really stunning buildings for the ugly shit that is the library



The library is going soon thank god. There are some lovely buildings in the city centre. The art gallery is magic and the council house. 

I am originally from Birmingham and I had an idea to make a time lapse of the redevelopment of  Birmingham during the 90s. Unfortunately I was out of the country throught the nineties and couldnt do it but it would have been awesome to have taken weekly photos of the massive construction project


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## skyscraper101 (Mar 18, 2010)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> Wow, they got rid of some really stunning buildings for the ugly shit that is the library



Indeed.


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## mincepie (Mar 18, 2010)

It's almost quite sad. I'm not old enough, but I suspect that a lot of cities are like this. I remember studying Leicester at  school for my GCSE/A-Levels, Leicester has a sort of 'big trunk road thing' through the middle, a bit like the North Circular  - this was built in the 60's I think - They just demolished there way through anything that came in it's path at the time.

Was seen as progress at the time. Now my understanding is that you end up with communities separated by a massive noisy dirty road.


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## g force (Mar 18, 2010)

Yep...Brum city centre is getting more generic by the year though sadly. Thankfully most of the red bricks remain untouched and the Council House is just awesome.


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## editor (Mar 18, 2010)

That's amazing and a bit depressing too. 

*sticks up on blog


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## beesonthewhatnow (Mar 18, 2010)

dylans said:


> The library is going soon thank god



Much as I think the library is pig ugly, I want it to stay. We knock down far too much stuff, we should always leave things from each generation, no matter how much we hate them at the time.


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## beesonthewhatnow (Mar 18, 2010)

The mad thing about the video in the OP is that I recognised the monument thingy, but assumed it must have been moved to it's current home, so different is the view now.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 18, 2010)

Thats so sad. It looked great and now it just looks shit. 
((((those two fab buildings in the background))))


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## johnnymarrsbars (Mar 22, 2010)

i quite like that library...but i quite like 60s modernist/brutalist stuff. 

but demolishing those beautiful buildings to make way for it is pretty sad


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## selamlar (Mar 22, 2010)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> The mad thing about the video in the OP is that I recognised the monument thingy, but assumed it must have been moved to it's current home, so different is the view now.



I'm not sure that it was moved, but the steps up to the library def. change the view of it you get.  Assuming we are talking about the statue in Chamberlain Square.


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## beesonthewhatnow (Mar 22, 2010)

selamlar said:


> I'm not sure that it was moved



It wasn't, that was my point...


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