In a recent Guardian article, sourced from Lloyd Alter, the managing editor of TreeHugger, seems to have hit a note that holds a strong resonance for many people. The feelings of regret and sorrow aroused from the loss of buildings from our own past memory or those we may have just read about or seen photographs of can feel like mourning an old friend.
 
The buildings listed in the article are worldwide and include Les Halles, Paris, Pennsylvania Station, The West Pier, Brighton, Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, The hutongs of Beijing, Orange County Government Centre, New York, The Larkin Building, Buffalo, Public Library, Cincinnati, Ohio, Mitchell Park Domes, Milwaukee and the Okura Hotel, Tokyo. The original Treehugger piece was more than just about buildings and included in this were rooms too like the three small rooms in the basement of the historic Windsor Arms hotel in Toronto, which were lost when it was gutted to build a much larger hotel/condo.
 
Buildings are lost due to natural disaster, war, the quest for modernisation and sometimes simple lack of money to maintain them or even just from plain greed. They have been lost despite laws, protests and conservationist bodies. Some of the buildings completely changed by an update or demolished will not be missed. Although many other well loved or iconic buildings are and their loss can be regarded by future generations as a huge mistake.
 
This feeling of loss has inspired over 600 people worldwide to contribute their own photographs and comments on Guardian Witness, Twitter #lostbuildings or Facebook. One being The Federal Coffee Palace in Australia. It was the largest and tallest building in Melbourne and a fine example of ornamental Victorian architecture. Demolished in 1972 for a bland tower block it is a worthy addition to the list of lost buildings. See the link below to add your own favourite.
 
Demolition is a decision not to be made lightly for environmental reasons because a building left insitu can save more in terms of carbon footprint terms than one demolished and rebuilt. However if a demolition is the decision made then it should be a priority to save as many materials as possible for reuse. The embodied energy of just one brick for example is high and so should not be wasted or just crushed. Old buildings too are often made of materials that are now rare such as tropical hardwood and they can contain items handcrafted to a high standard, not always found today.
 
Manchester Evening News has also revealed this week that more than a hundred heritage treasures are currently at risk of being lost forever. One of which is St John the Evangelist, a church in Hurst, Ashton-under-Lyne with finely carved woodwork by architect George Shaw and a roof in need of repair. These decisions, made every week, are whether a building is worth saving or not.
 
Interested to read more about buildings we have already lost? Then you may enjoy these two books:
 
Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of Twenty Lost Buildings from the Tower of Babel to the Twin Towers by James Crawford. Published by Old Street
 
Lost Buildings: Demolished, Destroyed, Imagined, Reborn by Jonathan Glancey. Published by Carlton Books Ltd.
 
One building mentioned, now considered by some to be a huge demolition mistake, is the Euston Arch. This tribute to the golden age of rail inspired, by ancient Greek architecture, was the neodoric entranceway to Euston station, demolished in 1961 to be replaced by a bland modern building. William Cooke in The Spectator rejoiced when fifty four years after its destruction parts were returned. They were salvaged from a murky river bed in east London and now stand outside the station. The pressure group, Euston Arch Trust is still campaigning to rebuild this London landmark. There is some support for the station to be redeveloped along with High Speed 2. Although there are objections form others that feel it was ugly and would block the very popular Euston Tap pub, now using the space inside and outside the old station lodge building.
 
Cooke argues we would all have a favourite building to nominate for resurrection, his being the Chiswick Empire, an ornate variety theatre on Turnham Green, built by the doyen of music-hall architects Frank Matcham - - obliterated, like so many others, to make way for a bleak tower block. It was demolished in 1959, one month after the last performance, to make way for a tower block.
 
Whether it is a good idea or not to reconstruct lost buildings will always provoke differing views. One view being that we often find ruins more alluring. A book that explores this theme is Ruins and Fragments: Tales of Loss and Rediscovery by Robert Harbison. Published by Reaction Books. This book explores the captivating hold these remains and broken pieces have over us.
 
Your own thoughts and feelings on lost buildings are welcomed below.