1988: Are Our 'Common Spaces' in Crisis? | Visions of Britain | BBC Archive

"Shopping is our new religion - we're not consumed by guilt - we simply like to consume. By this architecture shall our generation be known, these are the cathedrals of our age."

Architectural critic and design writer, Jonathan Glancey proposes that our former sense of civic pride is crumbling into wilful neglect of public buildings and spaces, with a particular focus on shopping centres. Jonathan visits Gateshead's gargantuan new shopping and leisure complex, Metrocentre, to find out what the near future of our common spaces might look like, and what they say about us as a society.

How does modern design compare to Victorian architecture? How do "off the peg" modern buses compare to the bespoke Routemaster they have replaced? How do modern transport hubs compare to Frank Pick's turn-of-the-century designs for London Transport? Does the Homebase in Catford have the same impact as the Crystal Palace that inspired it? What does the rise of the D.I.Y. megastore mean for home design? What does it say about design in Britain when we outsource the design of our public toilets to a French company?

With contributions from Sir Terence Conran, Professor Derek Walker, Sir Hugh Casson and other major designers, architects and developers.

Clip taken from Visions of Britain: Common Spaces, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 4 December, 1988.

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