Series 4 Plot
Eight personal reflections on the best modern British architecture.
Building Sights Series 4 aired on May 13th, 1996.
Series 4 Episodes
1. Canary Wharf
Jools Holland's love of panoramic views takes him to Britain's tallest tower, Canary Wharf in London. From a vantage point atop the 50-floor structure the musician and presenter looks out over the capital city.
2. The Worsley Medical Building
Damien Hirst, controversial winner of last year's Turner Prize, enjoys the juxtaposition of life and death at the Worsley Medical Building in Leeds where, as a student, he used to do anatomical drawings.
3. Hauer-King House
Architect Will Alsop visits an unconventional private house built with glass walls.
4. Humber Bridge
Poet Simon Armitage finds inspiration in the longest suspension bridge in the world. Opened in 1981, the Humber Bridge is 1.3 miles long and, he feels, is "one of the modern wonders of the world".
5. Wood Street Police Station
Cartoonist Posy Simmonds discovers a remarkable police station in Wood Street in the City of London.
6. Alton Estate
Architect Sir Richard Rogers praises Alton housing estate in Roehampton. Built in the 1950s by the London County Council, Alton was planned to be a modern Utopia.
7. Willis Corroon
Architect Zaha Hadid chooses the Willis Corroon building in the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, a high-tech seventies work by Sir Norman Foster.
8. Glyndebourne Opera House
Writer Germaine Greer chooses the Glyndebourne Opera House on the Sussex Downs. The building, which opened in 1994, was constructed in just 18 months and was designed by Michael Hopkins and Patty Hopkins.