'Birmingham Banksy' joins fight to save Ringway Centre and makes 'for the rich' claim
An elusive artist plastered a powerful message across Birmingham city centre calling for the Ringway Centre to be saved from the bulldozers. Birmingham's own Banksy goes by the alias Neoliberalizard and is a graffiti artist and activist.
The iconic curved building, not far from New Street Station, dates back to the 1960s and is set to be replaced with three apartment blocks. Campaigners have slammed the move and are fighting to protect it as architectural heritage.
Despite losing a third legal bid to stop the demolition, campaigners are not giving up. Neoliberalizard joined the fight by plastering messages across the city centre that include: 'SOCIAL HOUSING NOT LUXURY FLATS', 'PEOPLE & PLANET BEFORE PROFIT' and 'RETROFIT DON'T DEMOLISH'.
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The bold black and white lettering was adorned on spaces last night, October 9, a day before a protest for housing and climate change was due to take place. Organised by Birmingham Fair Housing Campaign, the demonstration was marking World Homeless Day, where campaigners argue social housing is needed for the homeless more than 'luxury apartments'.
Neoliberalizard, who did not wish to show his face, said in a video posted by campaigners: "I am here tonight putting up some post ups on behalf of a campaign. Originally it was to save this building which is going to be unnecessarily demolished.
"But now it is to influence the council in order to ensure that, rather than it being completely demolished and turned into luxury apartments, it could be retrofitted and turned into social housing.
"That's something we desperately need in this city. I believe there are so many people who need social housing, not just in the city as a whole, but especially in city centre where there is so much homelessness.
"So we are going to hold a protest that also fits in with this message we need to turn this into social housing. To house the people who are homeless around here rather than turn it into more luxury accommodation for the rich."
Campaigners include The Save Smallbrook coalition, which is made up of Birmingham groups campaigning to retain the city's post-war heritage, including Brutiful Birmingham, the Modernists and Twentieth Century Society. Environmental and retrofit specialist Zero Carbon House and housing activists representing the Birmingham Fair Housing Campaign led the campaign.
The Ringway Centre opened in 1962 as a defining piece of brutalist architecture in Birmingham, once labelled one of the city's 'most important buildings'. The Save Smallbrook coalition said it was concerned about the environmental impact of demolishing the building and offered a counter-proposal to repurpose the Ringway Centre to create 450 homes.
Despite its third failed attempt to stop the demolition, the coalition claimed it would not give up. So far members have crowdfunded £13,780 of a £15,000 target to fund legal costs.
Developers Commercial Estates Group (CEG) said the new development would provide much-needed housing and enable "significant investment into Birmingham". It previously said: "Our proposals will transform the gateway to Southside - creating safer public places and drastically improving the connectivity with pedestrian links between New Street station, Digbeth and Smithfield.
"New public spaces will revitalise the area, attracting new visitors and boosting local businesses".
The protest was due to take place today, Thursday, October 10, from 4pm to 6.30pm at Smallbrook Ringway.