Your article says that Prince Charles (as he then was) called Portsmouth’s Tricorn Centre, one of the country’s first multi-use multistoreys, “a mildewed lump of elephant droppings” (Experts hope The Brutalist will revive interest in UK’s modernist buildings, 17 January). It was actually Catherine Gladdis who described the centre as “mildewed elephant droppings covered in drainpipes”. Charles quoted her in his book A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture – as did I in my 2009 book The Tricorn: The Life and Death of a Sixties Icon.
English Heritage refused to list it, reflecting its prejudice against commercial buildings – which may have been altered over time. The huge site’s been empty since 2004. More recently, Historic England refused to list the News Centre Portsmouth for the same reason.
If we are to break out of our wasteful habit of demolish/rebuild, and reuse and retrofit our standing buildings instead, maybe they need to up their game, and acknowledge 21st-century realities.
Celia Clark
Portsmouth
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