A thought came to me whilst walking through Sheffield City Centre. Most of the 20th century buildings are being demolished or looking very tatty compared to the Victorian and 21st century ones. I know that there are exceptions such as the City Hall and Graves Art Gallery but they are in the minority.

Are we heading for a time when the most defining century in world history will not leave many buidings as a testament to it's existance? :confused:

Perhaps in a hundred years or so, the absence of 20th century buildings will be testament to an age where everything was done on the cheap to make a quick buck.

It's always been amazing to me how, after the end of WW2, most of the severely damaged cities in Europe such as Dresden, Berlin, Paris, St Petersberg etc were rebuilt as though nothing had happened to them.
However, here in the UK, cities like Sheffield, London, Coventry and Plymouth threw up the cheapest set of garbage that you could imagine and labelled it as the beginning of a new 'modern age'. Whereas, in reality, the country was virtually bankrupt and this 'Le Corbusier' attitude to architecture being simple and functional, as well as cheap to build, fitted the economic and social climate of the time in the respect that people were just happy to have anywhere to live, work and shop.
Of course what enabled these other countries in Europe (especially Germany) to rebuild their cities in all their former glory was an understanding that you had to provide economic stability to stop fascism rising again and plunging Europe into another costly war, so huge amounts of money was pumped into Germany enabling them to rebuild to the same architectural standards as before.

Not sure you're quite accurate there surg. Most of the rebuilding in Dresden for example was soviet-style modern concrete stuff (even uglier than anything ever built in Britain); and the UK got more Marshall Plan money than any other country.

Remember that modern architecture was a result of a considered, detailed, academically accepted philosophy of design, aesthetics and urban planning.

In many cases it has proved to be an idea which failed, but it wasn't simply a matter of economy. In some cases it has actually succeeded - there are some fascinating examples of modernist architecture around, although many of them are, admittedly, horrid.

I used to live very close to the Brunswick Centre near Russell Square in Bloomsbury, London. A more horrific place to live, work or shop (it is a mixed-use development) one couldn't imagine... and yet it's recently been refurbished and now looks completely fit for purpose, and quite elegant. And significantly upmarket - what used to be home to a cheap Safeway, a dodgy looking cobbler/shoe shop and other odd little units now has a Waitrose, a Carlito's Cafe and other very middle-class London establisments!