Sainsbury Wing contractors find 1990 letter from donor

Passive-aggressive letter and Britishness

• Many see the donor’s hidden “told you so” letter as peak British / English passive aggression and find it very funny and oddly admirable.
• Some commenters describe it as “the most British thing” they’ve seen; others note that downvoting online can feel similarly passive-aggressive.

Which columns and what they look like

• Multiple commenters struggle to identify exactly which foyer columns were removed, sharing several reference photos and renders.
• Consensus forms that two of several ground‑floor foyer columns (not the more prominent upper-level ones) were the “false” ones.
• Several people are surprised by how visually clumsy and “cheap” the columns look; some say the donor was right to dislike them.

Architectural intent vs obstruction

• One side stresses that non‑structural columns can still have purpose: organizing space, evoking crypts or Egyptian tombs, reinforcing cultural iconography.
• Others counter that these particular columns mainly blocked views, confused navigation, and clashed with both the original National Gallery and their own surroundings.
• There is debate over “decorated sheds” vs “ducks” (from Learning from Las Vegas): some see the criticism as missing that conceptual context; others think the chosen “decoration” was simply bad.

Donor power and architect autonomy

• Some argue the donor, having paid millions, should have vetoed the columns rather than complain later.
• Others note that if you hire a star architect and micromanage, they may walk away and publicly distance themselves, so institutions often defer to the designer.

Wider architecture debates

• Discussion touches on Prince/King Charles’s longstanding opposition to modernist architecture and the “carbuncle” controversy around the National Gallery extension.
• A few suggest public resistance to new buildings stems from dislike of postwar aesthetics and user‑hostile design.
• There is side debate over whether the original gallery’s classical forms are noble tradition or just long‑standing kitsch.

Analogies, code comments, and hidden artifacts

• Commenters liken the letter to developers hiding apologetic or “please delete this later” comments in code.
• Others share stories of finding tiles, coins, marbles, beer cans, even razor blades and witch bottles hidden in walls or concrete, seeing it as either charming foresight or lazy trash.