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Old August 11th 06, 08:43 PM posted to uk.transport.london
Greg Hennessy Greg Hennessy is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jan 2005
Posts: 40
Default Gt Portland St tiles (was: Underground Stations and missing panels....)

On Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:00:49 +0100, Paul Corfield
wrote:


If it's not fit for purpose, it's 'niceness' is irrelevant. LT is there to
provide public transport, nothing else, it's assets are not there for the
benefit of train spotters, architecture wonks or unaccountable quangos who
don't have to pick up the tab for specious contradictory regulation.


So LU shouldn't do anything to reflect its heritage, its history and its
design excellence?


A straw man.

We (those LU employees who work there) should just be shoved in some
modern office equivalent of a battery hen shed should we?


There is absolutely no reason why you or any other public sector employee
should be provided with facilities which have higher operating costs than
equivalent ones elsewhere.

You are employed to serve the public, not the other way around.

If that means the public is better served by placing LU's back office staff
in Stockley Park rather than St James' then so be it.

If you don't like it, tough, work somewhere else.


All of the stations that are excellent examples of historical designs
should be flattened and replaced with mindless railway versions of a bus
shelter?


a.n other straw man.

I really do not understand your approach to building design and
preservation - does function always override form in your book?


When it comes to paying for it out of taxpayers money, most definitely.

'Form' has left London with a non standardised unmaintainable mess on the
underground.

Holding up long overdue refurbishment because EH consider 70-80 year old
tile work to be 'worthy' is wholly unacceptable.

Speaking as a representative of the local electorate, I'd prefer that
we have guidance from experts on what is a proper historic building
design and what is undistinguished.


Such 'advice' is only valid if the alleged experts guidance is objective.
In the case of the EH et al, it is not.


They aren't paid to be objective.


They should not be paid period if they are not.



greg
--
Müde lieg ich lieg in der Scheisse,
und niemand weiss, wie ich heisse.
Es gibt nur einen, der mich kennt,
und mich bei meinem Namen nennt.