Cooling the towers

Just received good news from Channel 4's Big Art Project. Last year, they wanted nominations for the commissioning of some big public art project somewhere in Britain. Sheffield fanzine Go called for nominations for an artistic reinvention of the cooling towers which overshadow the M1 at the Tinsley Viaduct by Meadowhall.

It was the most popular nomination, and now it's on the final shortlist of six. They're filming tomorrow, Thursday 9th March, and want supporters of the project to assemble at the Meadowhall overspill carpark at 3pm.

I think it's a brilliant idea - the towers are the first or only glimpse of Sheffield for thousands of people a day, they're already a landmark, and with a bit of an imaginative overhaul they could become truly iconic.

As Go puts it:
Sheffield isn't a big city or a high rise city in the same way that Manchester or Birmingham are. It's a good place to be for different reasons. We don't need to ape those other cities. We have enough heritage and culture and ideas to forge our own identity. It's all here in front of us. If you want a city strategy, all you need to do is open your eyes.

Dead right. I've written plenty on the various regeneration projects run by Sheffield One and the like - there's been some improvements, but that's the attitude we needn if it's really going to matter.