About Tameside

A city needs to look forward. Cities are built from ideas as much as bricks and mortar. Can you believe the success of the car sticker “I love New York”. When that was written, NY was a dump. It had hit an all time low – look at it now. The I love New York phenomenon is quite incredible – but it was a great starting place for a new approach to the city. We should all of us want to leave the place better than we found it and that means creative design. The North West has very few signature buildings. These are structures that indicate its place in the world. Jodrell Bank is one such signature building in the North West. It is high tech, modern and has its place in the twentieth century. It is an iconic structure. It was Jodrell Bank that told the USA that the USSR had launched satellites in space.

You need to know that something on your horizon tells you that you are currently living in the 21st century. Every building around us should say something about our past and our future. I’m not fond of this idea of tidying out cities up. Why do we have to. I pass some graffiti everyday (relates to Vietnam), a political slogan from the 1960’s. I like it because every time I pass it makes me think of those times in history and wonder about the person who wrote it. I don’t want it removed that’s the ‘signature’ from that period in time. It’s nostalgic.

Urbis is such a building for the 21st century. It is making an impact – albeit good ...