In the classic 1971 British action film "Get Carter," Michael Caine plays a small-time criminal who avenges the death of his brother by tossing one of the gangsters responsible (played by Brian Mosely) off the top of a multistory car park in the gritty northeast England town of Gateshead. From what I learned last week, I'd guess there are more than a few Gateshead residents who wish Caine had tossed architect Owen Luder off the roof instead.

Luder designed the mammoth car park in question in the concrete-based architectural style known as "brutalism." It was completed in 1969 as a bold but misguided challenge in an ongoing game of one-upmanship between Gateshead and nearby Newcastle. To this day it dwarfs the rest of Gateshead (pop. 200,000), and is the borough's principal landmark, although many people have abhorred it from day one.

Over the years, large pieces of concrete have fallen off the building, exposing the steel reinforcing mesh beneath. In other areas water seepage has compromised the structure. Since 1995, the top floors have been off-limits, and it is expected that the mammoth eyesore will be demolished and Gateshead put out of its misery in the not-too-distant future.