Sainsbury Centre shines out in UEA's concrete jungle

Any visitor to the University of East Anglia can't fail to be struck by the concreteness of the campus. Most of it was built in the early 1960s. The architect was Denys Lasdun, who also designed London's National Theatre. He intended that no building should be more than five minutes' walk from any other.


In 1978 the Sainsbury Centre (above), designed by Norman Foster, opened. More than 30 years on it still looks modern, whereas the concrete ziggurats (below) look shabby.


I am usually careful not to condemn modern architecture as ugly, as all the old buildings we encounter on the canals were new once. But here the concrete was cracked and stained.