Our buildings are part of us - we have to look after them

THE Frankfurt Christmas market is in full swing celebrating 25 years of one litre beers and bratwurst.

- SAMANTHA LYSTER

The White Swan in Digbeth

Alongside the economic boost, the event is an opportunity to showcase our fantastic heritage architecture from the grandness of Victoria Square to the elegant buildings of Colmore Row.

If visitors were to venture beyond the city centre, they would find a wealth of heritage buildings scattered across its wards and neighbourhoods, including industrial, residential, commercial and civic structures.

Unfortunately, they would also see that too many are in disrepair, abandoned, and for the ones not awarded listed status, at risk of being bulldozed.

Yet Birmingham has just one conservation officer. It's an insane situation that is repeatedly raised by historical and architectural societies as being detrimental to our built heritage, which tells the story of Birmingham's rise from a market town to an economic powerhouse.

These buildings not only represent a timeline of our business and industrial might, which in itself has not faded as the city still contributes billions to the national GDP, but also hold treasured memories for many city residents, especially poignant if the reminiscing includes friends and family who have passed.

As the writer Alain De Botton points out in his book The Architecture of Happiness, buildings can become "emotional souvenirs of the moments and settings in which we came across them."