Read The Restoration of Otto Laird for Free Online

surprised at the levels of support we’re receiving. As I told you yesterday, the situation is nowhere near as hopeless as you appear to think. Things have begun to change in the past few years. People are revising their views about postwar architecture. Did you get a chance to look at that link I sent you last month?’
    â€˜You mean to that ridiculous property programme? Yes, I did take a look.’
    Angelo seemed a little thrown by Otto’s tone and hesitated before continuing.
    â€˜I know that sort of thing isn’t really to your taste, but it can be a useful way to generate support in a situation like this.’
    â€˜I suppose it can,’ Otto replied, with little enthusiasm.
    â€˜Helps spread the message to a broader public, educates them about the value of twentieth-century architecture, you know the sort of thing.’
    â€˜I’d hardly call programmes of that sort educational,’ said Otto. ‘Vacuous morons, leaping about with paintbrushes, working out how many thousands they can add to the value of their investment. Those apartments weren’t built for their benefit,’ he added. ‘They were meant to improve the lives of the socially excluded.’
    â€˜And that’s exactly what Marlowe House has done,’ broke in Angelo. ‘Well, that’s what we’ll be trying to argue. If Taylor House, which is now largely privately owned, has received a listing, then surely Marlowe House – earlier, architecturally more significant and still serving the purpose for which it was designed – well, surely that deserves a listing, too.’
    â€˜It’s a nice argument,’ said Otto, ‘but there are some voices missing in all this.’
    â€˜And whose are those?’
    â€˜The residents. What do they think? From what I read in The Architectural Eye, they were pretty much unanimous in their condemnation. People hate living in Marlowe House, apparently. That’s why they want to knock the thing down.’
    The disappointment in Otto’s voice was clear.
    â€˜And ultimately, whatever the architectural merits of the building, whatever its place as a piece of post-war social history, if the people who actually live there regard it as a failure, then perhaps one should admit that it probably is a failure.’
    Angelo sought to pluck Otto free of his descending gloom. He had strong ideas of his own on the subject.
    â€˜You can’t blame yourself for the current condition of Marlowe House,’ he said. ‘ You’re not responsible for the direction British society has taken over the past thirty years. The lack of public investment, the crumbling social fabric, drugs, crime, everyone for themselves, the rampant materialism, turning our built heritage into a used-car lot.’
    Angelo was getting into his stride now. It was obvious he had spent time as Otto’s apprentice.
    â€˜If Marlowe House has become emblematic of the modern urban nightmare, then that’s the result of multiple social and economic factors – not the fact that it’s made of bloody concrete, whatever the authorities might say. Look at Taylor House, it’s becoming a popular place to live. Marlowe House is very similar, physically. The only difference is that it’s in a more deprived part of town. If it had been properly maintained by the authorities, and if society hadn’t long ago pulled the plug on the poor sods who live there, we wouldn’t have a fraction of the problems that exist there today. Don’t let the politicians try to push the blame for this onto you, Otto. It’s their failure – not yours.’
    Angelo paused to draw breath, while Otto considered his answer.
    â€˜You have a point,’ he conceded. ‘And I’m almost convinced … but I’d still like to know what the residents think.’
    Angelo paused. Should he say it now? Why not?
    â€˜There’s another reason I’ve