The Scotsman

David Hume Tower

One of Edinburgh's most contentious buildings has been proposed for an A-listing by Historic Scotland. The David Hume Tower, designed by Robert Matthew, is among a collection of Fifties and Sixties university buildings earmarked for preservation. The George Square Library, designed by Sir Basil Spence, has also been recommended for an A-listing, which would mean it must be preserved for future generations and could not be demolished. The proposal will reopen old wounds among conservationists who remember the battle to preserve the Georgian buildings that stood on the same spot. The arts impresario Richard Demarco, who was a friend of both Matthew and Spence, said the buildings were "the worst of modernism" and the notion of preserving them was "absurd". He said none of the buildings around George Square was a good example of modernist architecture and the design was discontinuous with the area. Mr Demarco said: "It is a windswept, uncaring, inhuman environment, and when I think of what had to be destroyed to build these totally pedestrian buildings I can't forgive them. They represent the failure of Fifties and Sixties architecture, and I can't believe they are going to be protected. They ruin the view of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat."