• AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    22 days ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The Twentieth Century Society, which champions outstanding examples of modern design, has applied for listed status for one KX100 box each in England, Scotland and Wales before they are removed next year.

    The featureless glass and steel booths, described as “utterly bland” and “boringly ugly” by the Guardian, were used from 1985 to replace thousands of the cherished red K2 and K6 boxes designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

    In a 2010 account of a history of telecommunications in the UK, BT said: “Popular opinion was that the square shape seemed clinical and that something softer and more rounded would be preferable.”

    It may be viewed as the ‘ugly duckling’ in comparison with the iconic red phone boxes, but with these three kiosks, we’ve identified the very best exemplars across the country that deserve their place in the history books.

    The Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, managed to convinced the then culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, to de-list the building in order to make the site cheaper to develop.

    But campaigners believe that at least one of the 45 remaining cooling towers, designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, the architect of Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral and Harlow town, should be preserved for posterity.


    The original article contains 682 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!