Stephen Bayley: does heritage hinder cultural progress?

Heritage is one of the great modern virtues, but we risk stultification when we obsess over preserving the past, says the design aficionado

Bull Ring Shopping Centre, Birmingham, 10th June 1964.
Bull Ring Shopping Centre, Birmingham, 10th June 1964.
(Image credit: © Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo)

It’s the sleazy ghost that haunts the corridors of our contemporary imaginations. But there’s nothing historic about heritage. It’s a modern invention, a palliative to the fretful psychomotor anxiety caused by heartless progress.

Heritage consciousness emerged when the prospect of the future suddenly became less attractive than the rear view of the past. Heritage is what happens when nostalgia puts on cultural clothes – and, remember, nostalgia was originally defined as a sickness, a sort of demonic possession.

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is a leading writer and commentator on design. He oversaw the creation of London’s Design Museum and was briefly creative director of the Millennium Dome. His books include Taste and Sex, Drink and Fast Cars. His next book is about how to design yourself.