Report comment

Please fill in the form to report an unsuitable comment. Please state which comment is of concern and why. It will be sent to our moderator for review.

Comment

There seems to be something wrong with your headline, which of course ought to read "Christ Church Spitalfields threatened by new nursery".

Nicholas Hawksmoor was one of the most important architects both in his own time and in terms of his relevance for our own architecture, now.

Whilst it is doubtful that this may mean anything to the present-day Bangladeshi residents of the area or to their children, it does seem surprising that the architect of this timbery little “school pavilion”, which looks so trivial alongside the troubled muscularity of the Master, seems not to understand much (or anything) about Hawksmoor's work, or how to design a building close to Christ Church Spitalfields - indeed, within its purlieu - that understands his architecture and addresses it correctly, i.e., with knowledge.

I’m not saying it would be impossible for a small new building to stand alongside Christ Church but this one (in terms of its position and the language and materials it uses), is completely inappropriate. I am unable to understand how it ever got approval in the first place. It has to go, and the sooner the better.

Your details

Cancel