Looking it up, apparently the new version was itself demolished in 2015 to make room for commercial spaces, which makes it even more sad.
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
77 points (94.3% liked)
Facepalm
3632 readers
1 users here now
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Well, in a post like this some additional info wouldn't have been out of place (winks at op):
- it's not national
- the building from the first panel burned down
- the building from the second panel opened in 1974, had nicely functional interior, but was deemed unsafe at least by 2011 due to the construction techniques used (there was pubic outcry both towards how ugly it was & later to preserve it, the latter endeavour obviously being unsuccessful bcs rubble)
- the new one opened in 2013 & it's better
wiki/Birmingham_Central_Library
Thank you for the info!
I'm sure the new one is probably better considering the construction of the previous was unsafe, but my first reaction was disgust because it looks like it's surrounded by barbed wire. Something just seems off about how they adorned it to me.
*fancy Barbie wire
(But I didn't get that impression, more just like an oriental vibe.)
Ok, maybe I can kinda see barbed wire effect a bit ... (but in my brainhole it's overshadowed by the shady functional purpose of it at).
Yeah I guess at the right angles, it could look really nice. I think at a distance, it gives me the effect the most, but up close it does look intricate and has an elegance to it. Thanks for the additional photos!