More Comment – Page 375
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Opinion
Fool’s gold
How terribly droll for the Royal Scottish Academy to open up its press day on April I with some huge, well-viewed images by Terry Farrell. The cappa mounted photographs take up a whole wall, just for fun and include some sketches that the great man may have produced while running ...
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Opinion
Clever Rem stumped
Rem Koolhaas is notoriously obsessed with media coverage of his work, which is why a few weeks ago his office asked BD to fax a recent editorial to their Dutch headquarters.The editorial, which argued Rem was “too clever”, was duly faxed across and received with silence.But, according to BD’s moles, ...
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Opinion
The show of tomorrow
London has finally got a £100,000 show to celebrate Archigram, and host, the Design Museum, will have been well pleased with a glamorous launch show last week where luminaries spotted included model Marie Helvin and actress Eleanor Bron. Archigramites have been trying to put on a show for the past ...
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Opinion
Burying the past
It turns out the developers that demolished one side of the beautiful Spitalfields market on the edge of the City of London have suddenly developed a taste for heritage and history. Once a very large and bustling historic market complete with five-a-side football pitches, Spitalfields is now a much smaller ...
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Opinion
Chinese see red
London-based Weston Williamson is down to the final three for a new train station in Beijing. But the practice had some interesting feedback from the Chinese client on its original design. The station was originally a bright shade of Communist red, a colour the practice thought the client might appreciate, ...
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Opinion
Embracing the 'bulge'
Look out for references to architecture in John Prescott's next speech following his love-in with architecture's cream of the crop last week. After showing them around the modernist refurbishment at his Admiralty House HQ last week, Prescott sat down over a hearty dinner of beef pastries and talked about architecture. ...
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OpinionConstructive arguments
James Woudhuysen's new book is opinionated, clever and has hit a raw nerve with architects.
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Opinion
Holyrood and a question of trust
Never before has the role of the architect come under such intense public scrutiny as at the Holyrood inquiry over the past five months. The business and design practices of both RMJM and Enric Miralles' Barcelona firm have been picked over as though they were the subject of a ...
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OpinionBinding contracts
Detailed contracts and tight deadlines mean less time for creativity and more distrust between parties
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Opinion
Offending Arb
I was recently prosecuted for contravening the regulations of the RIBA and Arb. Quite right, too. I was guilty of such contravention and given a conditional discharge with £200 costs.This cost the RIBA and Arb a considerable sum for sending a barrister to Bedford, supported by an expensive central London ...
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Opinion
Gehry’s star pupil
When Frank Gehry makes a presentation for his next project, don’t be surprised if Hollywood movie star Brad Pitt pipes up. Fresh from his heroic role as Achilles in his latest film, Pitt is now believed to be serving an informal apprenticeship at Gehry’s Santa Monica office. Pitt’s work placement ...
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Opinion
Noisy celebrations
Young Architect of the Year, Austrian practice Querkraft got a lesson in British boozing after the awards ceremony last week. After the formal proceedings, architecture’s great and good decided to take the winners to a nearby pub to continue the celebrations. But, Querkraft partners Peter Sapp and Jacob Dunkl looked ...
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Opinion
The gates of history
A very interesting argument in favour of designing gated communities was this week put forward by architect John Thompson, who is working on a huge new scheme in Moscow. Thompson said he felt comfortable designing gated communities because, historically, all communities were gated. He argued that all towns and cities ...
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Opinion
Host with the most
SMC Gower Architects has to be applauded for thinking big. The practice recently sent out an invite for the launch of its new offices in Leeds with the proud boast that other invited guests included Tony Blair, George Bush, the Queen and, just to add a touch of glamour, supermodel ...
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Opinion
Basildon bonds
Basildon residents have taken umbrage with Terry Farrell after he pledged to prevent the “Basildonisation” of Edinburgh. It may have made a nice line for Edinburgh’s most famous architectural Sassenach just weeks into his reign as the city’s design tsar, but bridges already need building in Essex – or perhaps ...
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OpinionThe new revolutionaries
Aspiring Russian architects are increasingly frustrated with the state of design in Russia as the oligarchs call the shots and formal training is pushed aside. But there is hope, say José Esteves de Matos and Angus Morrogh-Ryan after a visit to Moscow
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Opinion
A lack of training
Your report "Design law at last" and leader (March 26) reported good news for all architects. All those who used their influence to amend the Planning Bill should be congratulated. It should be understood, however, that those working in the public sector have given their wholehearted support for ...
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Opinion
Poor precedents
One good thing that good design “at the heart of planning legislation” could bring is its equal opportunity in rural as well as urban areas. But let’s not get too excited; we might well view the new planning legislation with some foreboding. When not all architects agree on what constitutes ...