Sixties architecture...

Architecture from the 1960s and 1970s is deeply out of fashion at the moment. We hate the brutalism of all that decaying, grey concrete and the windswept, litter strewn plazas between the buildings. We are sweeping a lot of it away and I sometimes wonder if that's a good thing. I have no problems with the failed housing developments of Hulme being levelled. And, although, the Arndale Centre in Manchester is successful, I wouldn't mind if it was taken down.

But there are some buildings that I think that should be preserved. Manchester University is moving out of the old UMIST campus and concentrating on developing the Oxford Road campus. They are spending £100s of millions on it. This will be putting the UMIST Campus under threat or, at least, its future is in doubt. It includes this building, the Renold Building, which, I think, is a very good example of the style and it would be a shame to lose it. I love the wall of glass and the curved roof.

You can get to see it as part of the www.manchestercurious.com festival on the Sunday if you fancy a guided wander around the campus.