Letter: Visual appeal of the Hayward Gallery
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Following Jonathan Glancey's article on the Hayward Gallery ('Not so much a Sixties block, more a work of art', 24 February), I should like to add a sculptor's viewpoint to the argument against its demolition.
Nowhere else in London do we have such a robust space for showing three-dimensional work such as Richard Long's, Eduardo Chillida's, Mexican art, etc. The building itself is almost a sculpture, with its simple, powerful and expressive forms. It is certainly appreciated architecturally, not only by the under-25s but by those of us who have enjoyed exhibitions there over many years and are distressed by the possibility of its destruction, particularly as it is one of the finer examples of honest Sixties architecture.
It does show signs of neglect since, like any building, it requires maintenance and some visual improvements, but surely these and some adaptations to provide for storage and other requirements along the lines of the Guggenheim Museum in New York would be preferable to tearing it down.
I even like to approach the gallery on a high-level walkway, remote from vehicles. These could be jollier places if there were cafes, craft shops and sheltered seating areas. I hope the South Bank Board will think very seriously before it undertakes such an expensive step as demolishing 'our' Hayward Gallery.
Yours faithfully,
LUCY WYNNE TURNER
London, N1
25 February
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