BT have announced a series of solutions to save the iconic red telephone boxes by asking council to either sponsor a phone box at a cost of £500 per annum with telephone equipment maintained in house or buy the box without equipment for £1.
Okay, so the Red telephone boxes with the Red Routemaster London bus is a British Icon but do we really care about keeping red metal boxes on out streets for aesthetic purposes? Especially when you consider that once bought the council will no doubt fail to maintain them correctly and they will become stinking, rusting relics of Empire (pretty much like the whole country to be honest but that is another matter!)
PS Have you heard that when the Red boxes were introduced they were described as a blight on the landscape? That is quite funny but I suppose it proves the theory that after 20-30 years of continuous public service anything becomes a love cultural icon. They use this argument frequently regarding Architecture that is 'hated' by the local population.
Save 'em, far more aesthetically pleasing than the boxes BT use now, could even be quite interesting to watch them degrade naturally! An organic process.
Nothing says "romance" like a kidnapped injured woman!
Architecture that is 'hated' by the local population.
Cough*BeethamTower*Cough... Time will tell!
I say leave em. They are an iconic image of Britain, and are a damn sight more aesthetically pleasing and easy to spot than more anonymous glass phone boxes on our streets. I doubt that in the modern age of mobile telephony that they make ANY money.
I also like Als suggestion- If only to see American tourists getting stuck inside due to rusty hinges . One of my enduring memories of my ONLY trip to londonium!
Only kidding, if it was properly planned and foliage grown with it over time then it could look very cool and Drowned World-escque. It would take a few years to do but the end results would be rather cool.
"A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the advice." Bill Cosby
