Wilberforce Celebrations 2006

The Wilberforce at the University of Hull is a fine example of Sixties archiecture, with a volume of concrete, pressed to look like wood, that rivals even the National Theatre. Utilitarian zeal confronts you everywhere you turn in this building, not a penny, it seems, was wasted anywhere, and this brutal sense of economy plays into the building's overriding aesthetic, which is one of bold starkness, constantly contrasting verticals and horizontals, and, yes, Andy, a profusion of sheer, sheer ugliness.