I know it has been a while. Sorry. But after having a photo published in The Guardian…

… and being included in the soon-to-be-published Brutal Bristol II, I thought it time to design a website to house a selection of photos of my favourite buildings from the last 100 years.

HERE'S THE WEBSITE

One of my key motivations for photographing modern buildings is to record them before they go. I was spurred on by the sad demolition of Birmingham Library in 2016 and my lack of foresight in photographing it from every angle possible.

So here is a little something about the first multiplex cinema in the UK which will probably be demolished soon…

“A whimsical Constructivist pyramid”.

(Owen Hatherley)

This iconic pyramid building, The Point, was the first multiplex cinema in the UK. Its stacked boxes with reflective windows, framed in red steel, stands out amongst the straight roads and flat buildings of Milton Keynes.1

Building it was a gamble, but a well-timed one. It opened in 1985 when going to the cinema was in decline due to the growth in home videos.2 If people could watch films at home, why go to a sticky fleapit which could only show one film at a time? So The Point had comfortable seats, stunning audio and multiple screens. Audiences loved it.

It was the busiest cinema in the UK for a while but by 2000 its fortunes were turning as the nearby Xscape opened with even more screens. In 2015 the cinema closed and it is currently used as a base for charities and community groups.

Historic England3 declined to list it and the first plans to demolish it were as long ago as 2012. The latest planning permission has been applied for to replace it with 487 flats in tower blocks of up to 21 storeys high.

Charity ReturnMK, who refer to The Point as the city’s Big Ben, hope to turn it into a place for education, work training and socialising - open to all.

The Point is on the 20th Century Society’s Buildings at Risk list. Richard Gray, Cinema Theatre Association casework chairman, said that it is “not only a stunning visual asset for Milton Keynes, but as Britain’s first American style multiplex, it’s a building of huge historical and architectural importance”.

I hope this unique and historical building is preserved. There are already more than enough flat boxes in Milton Keynes.

You can view more buildings under threat in the UK here:

UNDER THREAT... OR GONE

Photos taken 51 weeks ago (blimey, I am behind), on 26th March 2024 with my trusty Leica Q.