Modern architecture – you either love it or loathe it, but you rarely feel indifferent about it. There has been a brave new wave of modern buildings being designed around the country, everything from art galleries and London dentists to shops and contemporary homes.
The traditionalists argue that many of these buildings are a blot on the landscape and they prefer the classical styles of the older buildings. However, you cannot argue that many of the new buildings around are imaginative and creative to say the least.
Many of the examples of modern architecture are also built to be eco-friendly. They are designed to preserve heat and often to generate their own power by solar or other methods. It is hard to argue against the modern when they are specifically built to limit their impact on the environment.
The designs of some of the buildings today such as the Gherkin and the London Eye in London are already passing from being examples of modern architecture into classics. Many of those who criticised the design at the time are reluctantly conceding that there is inherent beauty in some of these buildings.
Love them or hate them, modern buildings, when designed well, add a rich cultural imprint on our cities and they have a rightful place in architecture just as much as the traditional buildings.