EDINBORING

SquareOne Opinion

by Dave Hynes

Edinburgh Castle has just been painted pink for the rest of 2008, with a proposed change to deep purple in 2009. Leith Walk will be turned into a blue and yellow Champs Elysee once the tram is finished. Plans to turn the Cowgate a light turquoise are being discussed at Holyrood today. Or maybe not.

I love Edinburgh, I really do. It’s a city that offers so much; culture, entertainment, the arts… battered mars bars. It has some beautiful buildings too, so beautiful in fact the city seems to sparkle with colours of every hue. Well, actually, no it doesn’t because unfortunately Edinburgh is almost uniformly grey. The use of granite may make Scottish buildings practically eternal, but I think the city is in dire need of a facelift.

The architecture of cities often reflects a civic personality and speaks a lot about its citizens and its history. Greyness may say a lot about Edinburgh; hard, proud, no- nonsense, intelligent- even beautiful. But it also says another thing . . . boring! What Edinburgh needs is an Antoni Gaudi to spruce up the place, someone with a vision that goes beyond the dour greyness of Edinburgh’s esteemed edifices. Where is Edinburgh’s imagination? Why do our buildings have to be so serious?

Give me black or give me white, but I’m afraid I’ve had enough of grey. A greyness which in the short winter days kinds of adds to the dourness of the season. Between George IV Bridge and the Royal Mile colour is so scarce it’s as though a grey sheet of architectural fog has descended. Edinburgh has surely one of the greatest cityscapes in the world; Princes St and South Bridge overlook a magnitude of beautiful architecture but my goodness aren’t they mostly grey.

Grey, grey, grey is what Edinburgh is today. Where is Edinburgh’s Pompidou Centre or its Sagrada Familia? Edinburgh’s cityscape needs imprecision and audacity, and most of all it needs humour. In some ways Holyrood Parliament has at least attempted to tickle our funny bone but it’s unfortunately the jokes is a bit s_t.

Colour is light-hearted and I would prefer another architectural catastrophe than a more traditional, sublimely built but dull grey monolith. What Edinburgh needs is a little imagination, and one that goes beyond the trams. We need a facelift, a make-over which looks towards Edinburgh’s future rather than taking pride in its past. We need colour, especially during winter. Edinburgh’s buildings should reflect the vibrancy of life in this city; they should stand out not so much for prestige but for daring and endeavour. Let’s have a bright ochre statue in George St, and a maroon pyramid on Charlotte Square. Let’s turn our theatres bright green and our libraries shining white.

Not everything in life is black and white. But sometimes it should be and in Edinburgh’s case, shades of grey are no compromise at all. Just add colour!

Got any good suggestions for where Edinburgh could do with a lick of paint. Fancy the castle painted like a rainbow during festival time? Should we renovate the Cowgate into deep crimson or how about an ocean blue for Holyrood Palace? Let the SquareOne News team know.

SquareOne - Scottish Cities In A Word

1 Glasgow - mental

2 Edinburgh - grey

3 Aberdeen - cold

4 Dundee - why?

5 Inverness - rural

Photo by absolutwade

CANNONBALL FUN

The Breeders, Glasgow ABC 8/4/08

by Kate Smail

SquareOne Entertainment

Girls with guitars get a bad press. Unfairly shunned by men who think they don't rock hard enough, and often side-lined by women who prefer a lead singer worth throwing their underwear at.

However, judging by the packed audience at the ABC in Glasgow last night, The Breeders are band that transcend stereotypes. Men and women in equal numbers crowded in to see the legendary rock outfit fronted by the inimitable Kim Deal, of Pixies fame, and her merry cast of oddballs.

Deal took to the stage wearing a man's jumper and no make-up, looking a lot like a wholesome mother earth type. That is, until she opened her mouth and a gravelly stream of expletives rolled out followed by a raucous, infectious laugh.

The set consisted mainly of tracks from their first new album in six years, Mountain Battles and keen not to disappoint, a few tracks from their most famous offering, Last Splash, were thrown in for good measure.

The crowd were a little restrained for the first few songs, especially by Glasgow standards, until the first few chords of No Aloha rang out. The mood changed, and a healthy exchange of banter between Deal and the audience ensued. It's not easy to win over a Glasgow crowd with wit, but Kim and her sister Kelly had the audience lapping it up with their dry humour and sharp one liners.

By the time Cannonball arrived their work was done. The venue was rocking, despite the fact that it was full of professionals in their thirties and forties, clearly reliving their misspent youth.

My only bugbear with an otherwise flawless set? Their new material is so much softer than The Breeders of yesteryear. Why is it as bands age that they feel the need to experiment with folk and country influences? Some of us still want to rock out. Even if we are old enough to know better.

FASHIONABLY SCOTTISH

By Caitlin Rattray

SquareOne Fashion

Just a few weeks ago, the catwalks at London Fashion Week were awash with fresh new Scottish talent, confirming that Scotland is bursting at the seams with talented young fashion designers.

What has sparked this surge in Scottish talent? With a little help from the Glasgow: Scotland With Style collective, young Scottish fashion designers have been given support to showcase their talents to the rest of the world.

With so much talent emerging from such a wee country, it seems the big beady eye of the international fashion industry is firmly focused on Scotland. So, here for your very fashionable education, is the first in our series of ones to watch in 2008.

Vidler Nixon

A duo comprised of Glasgow born Kerry Nixon and Australian Stefan Vidler, Vidler and Nixon have collaborated since a coincidental meeting in 2006.

They received a nomination for Scottish designer of the year at last year's Scottish Style awards and they are part of the Glasgow: Scotland with style collective. Combining masculine and feminine with a mix of tailored blazers teamed up with floaty, girly dresses and full skirts, Vidler and Nixon have created a collection with an air of innocence and sophistication.

The pair already have a host of fashion-savvy celebrity devotees including Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley. Unfortunately for the non-celebrities amongst us, Vidler and Nixon’s designs are only available between the pricey four walls of Harrods.

www.vidlerandnixon.com

A NIGHTMARE IN THE SUN

by Pere Fornes


SquareOne News


“Every morning an idiot gets up. He doesn’t know that his land is going to be grabbed.”


These are the words of the main accused in Spain’s most notorious corruption trial. Linked to the Urban Development Activity Act or so-called "land-grab" law, the problem is affecting hundreds of Scottish owners, and many others.


The act, enforced in the autonomous region of Valencia, allows authorities to take land from homeowners if a rural area is designated as being necessary for a building project. They can also charge owners to pay for the supposed benefit to the area that development brings. If the owners refuse, more land can be taken without recourse as there is no appeals process.


The law was originally designed to thwart speculators cashing in on cheap land prices by purchasing unwanted scrub-land and selling it for vast profits when the land was needed for public buildings. But now, the measures are being abused by developers who, in league with corrupt politicians routinely declare land surrounding holiday villas as being required for development.


Glenn and Jean Marshall, originally from Glasgow, live in a housing development called El Pinar in Alcossebre, on the east coast of Spain: “We bought this house at the end of August in 2003. We are retired and we decided to stay here all year” explains Glenn.


Soon after they arrived CIVISA, a Valencian construction company that owns some plots in the same area organised a meeting: “We became aware of what CIVISA calls a “re-urbanisation”. They were planning to build 800 apartments and we were supposed to pay for the cost of the redevelopment” said Glenn.


Glenn explained that CIVISA divided El Pinar into distinct development areas and although their plot was not in the undeveloped section, they were expected to contribute to the building project. He said: “Eight hundred apartments were going to be built. We were supposed to pay for that. They warned us that those who could not afford to pay would be expropriated.” For the moment, CIVISA´s project is on-hold, but Glenn Marshall believes their problems are not over: “I know that I’ll have to fight because CIVISA has invested a lot of money here.”


The Marshall’s case is only one of the thousands happening in Spain. The neighbours’ association to which they belong joined AUN, a group of small associations fighting against this problem. In 2003 AUN made a formal complaint to the European Parliament which resulted in three fact-finding missions and a series of recommendations to the Spanish government that they must change the law. This resulted in new measures being introduced that have not helped. In fact, the problem seems to be spreading with land-grab problems reported in other parts of Spain.


Labour MEP Michael Cashman, who has been deeply involved in trying to solve the problem, said: “The increase in petitions we are receiving from other parts of Spain - Madrid, Murcia, Andalucía, suggests that other regions are falling into the same traps encountered in Valencia."


Last year, the European Commission referred Spain to the European Court of Justice. That body is yet to act but it seems that if appropriate legal modifications are not made, a legal penalty will be enforced.


Find out more about the problem here: thisismoney.co.uk