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Jamie Mitchell is looking forward to some architecture TV with a bit more meat on its bones

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Architecture can make great TV. Buildings, multifaceted and often photogenic, are perfect for long, sweeping camera shots and attractive blue-sky reflections. Buildings often provoke strong reactions, too, even in those with only a passing interest in architecture. How often do hear someone say 'I hate that building' and, perhaps a little less often, 'I love that building'? Strong words for structures made of steel and glass and concrete.

I'm not much of a fan of Channel Four's Grand Designs. After 12 series the format - formulaic to begin with - has begun to feel tired and predictable: watching presenter Kevin McCloud's scepticism melt into admiration was great at first. But it begins to grate after a while. There's something else too: as a member of 'generation rent' it simply doesn't feel relevant to me: the prospect of spending an evening curled up on the couch I don't own, in the flat I don't own, watching smug couples creating their dream homes isn't one I particularly relish. I'd prefer to watch something that feels more relevant to the way I experience architecture.

Not everyone feels the same: the programme has been hugely popular. So much so that Channel Four has added another, almost identical format to its schedule, The Restoration Man, presented by architect George Clarke. When I tuned in last night a couple were in the process of turning an old military bunker into a B&B. It was, as George pointed, out a massive project. I went and had a bath instead.

This 'architecture porn' is all very well, but it tells us very little about architecture's role in society - how buildings have been shaped by the social, political and artistic mores of our age; how buildings have, in turn, influenced the way we live.

The Pompidou Centre in Paris designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano. Photo: Cate St.Hill

Thankfully, there's another kind of architecture TV. Beginning tonight on BBC FOUR, a new series called The Brits Who Built the Modern World examines the considerable influence of a generation of British architects, including Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Terry Farrell, whose buildings, including the Gherkin in London (Foster), the Pompidou Centre in Paris (Rogers with Renzo Piano)and the MI6 Building in London (Farrell) did much to change the world of architecture.

The first episode features of some these architects' most stunning recent work, such as London's new 'Cheesegrater' skyscraper, Spaceport America and the KK100 skyscraper in China (the tallest tower ever built by a British architect), before looking in detail at some of their most influential projects from the 1960s and 70s.

The Gherkin, designed by Norman Foster. Photo: Grant Smith

It's a facinating story. Foster, Rogers, Nicholas Grimshaw, Michael Hopkins and Terry Farrell were born within six years of each other in the 1930s; shaped by both the optimism of the post-war years and the counterculture of the Sixties, these pillars of today's establishment began their careers as outsiders and radicals. Rogers and his collaborators tell the story of one of the most influential buildings of the 20th century - the Pompidou Centre in Paris - the result of a contest he didn't want to enter and which no-one ever thought they would win. Part of BBC Four's Nation Builders season, the series runs for three episodes - perfect for anyone who'd like to learn more about architecture without going too deep.

Also on BBC FOUR, and beginning this Sunday evening at 9pm is Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry, a paean to brutalist architecture presented by the bizarrely engaging Jonathan Meades. Witty and erudite as always, Meades will argue that our heritage of brutalist buildings is every bit as culturally valuable as that which we inherited from the Victorian age. There's also a look at some of Brutalism's greatest hits including Habitat 67 in Montreal by Moshe Safdie, and Preston Bus Station by BDP.

Preston Bus Station by BDP

Fascinating stuff, indeed, and a welcome break, for me at least, from watching people create their dream homes.