Green v Holden
Do you prefer Leslie Green stations or Charles Holden ones? It’s a sort of Beatles or Rolling Stones question. One of our members who is an expert in such matters, takes up the discussion…
A guest post by Gareth Edwards, editor of London Reconnections.
Green or Holden? It’s a tricky question. It’s hard to dispute that in strictly design terms Holden’s stations are superior, but I genuinely believe that Green deserves more praise than Holden for his work, which I know isn’t a popular view.
I’m happy to admit that this probably sounds a bit silly, but I’ll try and explain:
Holden’s work on the Underground is amazing, and it deserves all the credit it gets, but the truth is that Holden had a relatively easy time of it.
OF COURSE Holden’s stations are great. OF COURSE they represent an excellent example of the Arts and Crafts movement’s principle that real things should be designed well. OF COURSE they did because Holden had the time, the luxury and – most importantly – the senior management support from the legendary Frank Pick that allowed him to make them that way. Yes he had plenty of issues, but fundamentally he was gifted a working environment in which he had a pretty easy path to success.
Green, by contrast, had the exact opposite situation. In Charles Tyson Yerkes, the epitome of the American “Railway Robber Baron”, Green found himself working for a man who wanted high art at low cost, who was pushing stations and lines forward at speeds that gave little regard to what was actually practical from an architect’s perspective, and who had no problem with sacking anyone who he felt wasn’t meeting his needs. People can be sniffy about Green’s stations all they want, but to produce anything close to quality architecture under those circumstances is an incredible testament to his ability.
Holden produced beautiful stations because of his boss’ goals. Green produced beautiful stations DESPITE his boss’ goals.
There’s almost something class-based about it I suppose (isn’t there always in Britain?). Holden’s stations, much as I love them, often leave me feeling slightly out of place. Unconsciously, I think Holden and Pick created distinctly “middle-class” stations – even in areas that resoundingly weren’t. I don’t mean that in a negative way, just that they feel like stations designed to gently, but politely, teach one to be a better person, but which gained the luxury to do so through a position of privilege of which they’re not innately aware.
Green’s stations, on the other hand, feel like “working class” spaces (despite Green himself not being so). Stations that look good almost despite themselves – because the man on the spot doing them had pride in his work and maximized what he had at his disposal. Not perfect, and not to be fussed over, but something a man could be proud of nonetheless.
If I stand in a Holden station and close my eyes, I hear the sound of architecture lectures, if I do the same in a Green station, I hear the sound of football crowds. Green’s stations feel like they worked hard at an inner city comprehensive to get to University, Holden’s feel like their parents could afford extra maths tuition on the side, just to make sure.
That’s why Holloway Road will always be my favourite station I suspect. Holden’s stations will always be more beautiful, that I know for sure, but somehow Green made his stations just feel like…
…well, like me.
Surely you are setting up a false dichotomy. Obviously both were outstanding designers of underground stations. Holden was not ‘Arts & Crafts’ – he was decidedly modernist with hints of Art Deco. Basically he was far more daring and farsighted than green irresopective of whatever ‘corporate support’ he received – you can’t deny genius.
Thanks, Chris, you were very quick, your comment came in while I was doing an edit. Of course Holden was not A&C, but rather following its principles, I think Gareth is saying.
A fair point Chris.
You’re absolutely correct in that Holden himself wasn’t “Arts & Crafts” – as you say, his personal design style ran decidedly modernist with a touch of Art Deco. Indeed Green himself was also an Art Deco man when the opportunity presented (such as at the now-lost Knightsbridge) , probably thanks to his years spent in Paris.
Frank Pick, however, was decidedly Arts & Crafts, and ultimately Holden’s stations represented Pick’s take on what a station should be as much as they did Holden’s. That’s why I tend to feel they stand as excellent examples of the Arts & Crafts ethos – in the same way that, say, Central London trolley-bus poles did despite the fact that I’m sure the contractor who made them wasn’t a paid up member of the Arts & Crafts movement.
As to denying genius – again I wouldn’t argue with you. Holden was a genius and that’s clear not just from his work on the Underground, but elsewhere as well (his work on War Cemetaries, for example, which I think is often underappreciated).
Ultimately, however, I just feel that a general assessment of the Underground’s stations should factor in more than just the ultimate result. To my mind, if you do that, then it is Green that emerges as the man more worthy of praise.
In its simplest terms, I suppose my argument is in part that Green gets more points for effort, and that’s enough to make up for the difference in visual design. But also that the circumstances in which each architect worked had a subtle effect on the environment of the stations themselves, and that the environment which feels more comfortable to me personally, is that of Green’s stations.
Holden – for Gants Hill alone