Herbert Manzoni

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Herbert Manzoni CBE MICE (1899 — November 18, 1972)[1] was a British architect and civil engineer known for holding the position of City Engineer and Surveyor of Birmingham from 1935 until 1963. This position put him in charge of all municipal works and his influence on the city, especially following World War II, completely changed the image of Birmingham.

Manzoni encouraged zoning of areas and redevelopment. He did not believe in the preservation of old buildings and saw their retention for sentimental purposes rather than valuable purposes. This was shown in his work which resulted in the loss of many major buildings such as the Birmingham Central Library and the original Bull Ring. Manzoni launched a city-wide slum clearance scheme, and replaced the housing with high density schemes consisting of tower blocks. He used the Town and Country Planning Act 1944, which he contributed to, to designate redevelopment areas in Birmingham.[2] The first of these redevelopment areas was the Duddeston and Nechells Redevelopment Area, which was approved in 1950. The first tower blocks to be built in the area were completed in 1954[3] and the entire scheme was completed in 1972.[2]

An urban motorway system was also launched by Manzoni. This had been advocated by William Haywood in his 1918 book, The Development of Birmingham.[2] Manzoni began planning an Inner Ring Road from 1943, and an Act of Parliament was passed in 1946 allowing construction to commence. The first section, Smallbrook Queensway, was not started until 1957 and was completed in 1960. The entire ring road was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1971.[2] Demolition of Masshouse Circus on the ring road began in March 2002 and further sections were demolished or demoted following it. The construction of the Inner Ring Road had resulted in the demolition of the Market Hall at the Bull Ring, the Central Library, Mason Science College and the Central Technical College.[2] A Middle Ring Road was constructed following this, cutting through the Jewellery Quarter,[4] and an Outer Ring Road was also designated. Following the demolition of parts of the Inner Ring Road, Birmingham City Centre is now considered to be the area within the Middle Ring Road.

In February 1960 Manzoni was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a position he served in for 21 months instead of the customary year-long tenure due to the untimely death of his predecessor Arthur Hartley.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Journal of Royal Society of Arts, version 121, 1987, George Bell, page 97
  2. ^ a b c d e Andy Foster [2005] (2007). Birmingham, 2nd edition, Pevsner Architectural Guides, Yale University Press, 197. ISBN 978-0-300-10731-9. 
  3. ^ Phil Jones - Urban Morphology Research Group (2002). Bigger is Better? Local authority housing and the strange attraction of high-rise, 1945-70. University of Birmingham. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  4. ^ Helen Elizabeth Meller (1997). Towns, Plans and Society in Modern Britain. Cambridge University Press, 81. ISBN 052157644X. 
  5. ^ Watson, Garth (1988). The Civils. Thomas Telford, p253. ISBN 0-727-70392-7.