West Pier, Brighton & Hove, England

Very sad to report, this is the last gasp of the once very beautiful West Pier. The finest of all Victorian piers it was neglected, vandalised, hit by weather, and finally subject to an arson attack (connected in some people's minds with the neighbouring Palace Pier's desire to be free from potential competition). In spite of galant efforts to restore the pier to its former glory, the picture shows what a forlorn hope this now is. You'd be starting from scratch with no guarantee that the project was viable. The West Pier Trust, which campaigned so bravely for its reinstatement, even after the arson attack left it as you see it now, seems to want to build a spectacular viewing spire at the site of the pier's former entrance. This has some merit, but I'd love to see a really exciting architect and engineer given a brief to design a new structure out to sea a bit that ran parallel to the beach. Maybe clubs, restaurants, viewing area, cinema -- whatever looks good and makes money. Something that really adds to the beauty of the city, which took such a knock for the loss of the West Pier and so many bad planning decisions that I cannot walk around the place without experiencing a doubling of my blood pressure.