Birmingham: Architectural gem

October 8, 2023October 5, 2023 / mikeosbornphoto / 12 Comments

I recently visited Birmingham – the UK’s second city – on a quest to photograph some of its buildings.

And there’s a rich and varied seam of architecture to be found there. CONTINUE READING BELOW

Tap/click first image for gallery view

The vibrant city centre of Birmingham is a mix of building styles, from concrete leftovers of the 1960s and 70s to innovative recent additions including the Library of Birmingham.

Encased in an elegant gilded cage, this building was my first port of call and was truly impressive. Head upstairs to enjoy an elevated view over Birmingham city centre.

Another innovative must-see is the outlandishly tactile Selfridges building with its many voluptuous curves, while the silver-topped Grand Central complex also grabs the attention.

I took a bus ride to the University of Birmingham campus at Edgbaston, where I studied for a time.

Memories came cascading back, while the library I once inhabited has since been demolished and replaced with a sleek new gold-framed building.

Birmingham may have struggled with its reputation down the years, but my architectural tour showed there is a lot to see. Even if you’re not looking up at buildings like I did, it’s a city that has a lot to offer.

The Selfridges building inspires with its curves and textures

London: A fleeting return

August 14, 2022August 14, 2022 / mikeosbornphoto / 8 Comments

I lived in London for 16 years before heading north to Manchester. The first four years of this blog detailed places around the capital.

I found myself back in London recently on a very brief stopover. But long enough to ride the Elizabeth Line, the newest artery of London’s Tube network.

On the way I looked up and captured some new architecture above ground.

Have you been on the Elizabeth Line? Tell me what you thought in the comment section below.

Tap/click first image to see gallery

Manchester concrete

August 23, 2020August 23, 2020 / mikeosbornphoto / 2 Comments

The Mancunian Way is a monumental slab of concrete that takes traffic around Manchester. Bizarrely, I spent a hot summer’s morning beneath its might. READ MORE BELOW

Tap/click first image to see gallery

I went to the Cambridge Street Junction, a large island which sits underneath the bulk of the elevated highway. It’s lined with trees and has a series of pedestrian underpasses enabling people to walk from the area of Hulme towards Manchester city centre.

These tunnels, plastered in graffiti, aren’t long but remind me of visiting London’s Elephant and Castle subway back in 2014. They’ve since ceased to exist, while these passageways show no signs of going away.

Even on a bright sunny day, this place feels desolate and unloved. There were just a handful of people making use of this vital connection and a few smashed booze bottles littering the area. It has a dark mood that’s absorbing to photograph, though I’m glad it wasn’t a dark night…

This building, Manchester Metropolitan University’s School of Business, overlooks the concrete junction. With its sleek stripes of coloured glass, it’s a very modern contrast to the Mancunian Way, which was regarded as innovative and new back in 1967.

Towers of the east

December 13, 2015 / mikeosbornphoto / 15 Comments

When you stroll around the fashionable London districts of Hoxton and Shoreditch, you tend to look straight ahead to spot bijou little shops, high-class eateries – and hipsters sporting beards.

But this part of the city has more than its fair share of high-rise buildings, from very modern glass-clad affairs to the concrete bunkers from the 1960s. Futuristic or retro, these tall edifices are bursting with perspective. So if you pay a visit, take a few moments to stand still and look up.

Click first image to launch the gallery

Norwich nostalgia

March 15, 2015 / mikeosbornphoto / 15 Comments

It took just a two-hour train journey from London to be whisked back years. I lived in Norwich, an ancient and important city in eastern England, from 1992-9. It was both family home and the place where I studied at the University of East Anglia.

This time I was armed with my camera to see its crowning glory, the cathedral. My feet remembered where to go, from the pretty lanes including Elm Hill, and to lunch at an unchanged old haunt, The Waffle House. The banana milkshakes were still deliciously rich, and the same guy still works there.

The UEA’s campus, a bold cluster of concrete set beside a lake, couldn’t be more different from the ancient city centre. It felt nostalgically familiar, but the current students weren’t even born when I was one of them. Sometimes going back can be a bad idea, but this was a happy retread.