More Comment – Page 311
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Opinion
Excise urban trivia
I cannot agree with Cabe when it advocates that planners should be tougher about design quality with applicants for planning permission (News May 26).
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Opinion
Quality course
Gordon Murray does a grave disservice to the department of architecture at the University of Strathclyde (Letters April 28). Despite recent problematic management of the department (soon to be remedied by a new professorial appointment), it enjoyed an international reputation equal at least to that of the best European schools. ...
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Opinion
Don't play around
Will the Architecture Foundation's answer to the question "What would the capital look like if planning restrictions were removed?" (News June 2) include any assessment of the effect on air quality, water demand, sewage treatment and CO² emissions?
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Opinion
Join up, be heard
The government claims there aren't enough architects to execute its expanded building programme. Medium and large practices are struggling to recruit qualified staff while the profession includes an enormous number of very small practices battling to get work. My colleagues in small practices tell me they think there are too ...
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Opinion
Global is good
The forthcoming election for the next president of the RIBA has raised the interesting issue of how the RIBA is perceived overseas. One candidate appears to suggest that overseas membership is detrimental to the RIBA.
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OpinionIan Martin
I want something 'ard. And legacyable. Think on, I'll be back in an hour or so. I've got to sort out a diary entry..."
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Opinion
Is the listing system set for demolition?
Whatever your view is about the merits of RMJM’s Commonwealth Institute, the decision by Tessa Jowell to seek its demolition through a special act of parliament should not come as a total surprise.
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Opinion
Take our place at heart of invention
The soapbox I am standing on is made of Aerogel. It is strong enough to take my weight, yet so light it is easy to carry. This versatile material is used by Nasa to catch stardust, but it can be specified to create translucent building envelopes with a very low ...
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Opinion
PFI is killing school-building
News that the government's huge Building Schools for the Future programme is already experiencing difficulties (News May 26) should come as no surprise.
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Opinion
Joined-up writing
Paul Morrell makes some very important points (Soapbox May 26), not least when he asks: "Why aren't we more actively engaging and involving children in the development of the schools they will be using?"
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Opinion
Valley of death
I symphathise with Stephen Lawrence having his intellectual work for the Lower Lea Valley park unacknowledged by Stratford (News May 19). We spent three years on a masterplan for the valley for Newham, after winning a competition in 1999. While we were negotiating the next stage Edaw slipped in with ...
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Opinion
Traditional values
I found myself mentally wrestling with Charles Thomson's recent emphatic No Poundbury OK! (Letters May 5). Why does the profession behave as if modernism is written on tablets of stone, and why the need to reinvent the wheel each time before architectural desires are gratified?
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Opinion
Sub-standard
John Gummer's proposal to scrap the Building Regulations to encourage "innovation" in construction (News May 19) has a familiar ring.
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Opinion
Fighting chance
The new presidential triumvirate (Who will win your vote, May 26) sets Peter Phillips centre-stage, flanked by two candidates who sound as if they may have chosen their speech makers from ranks of government identikit androids. He sounds refreshingly apart, a bit like Jeremy Clarkson.
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Opinion
Fountain fair play
Mary Bowman of Gustafson Porter suggests my continued pursuit for the truth behind the flawed competition is because my design was not shortlisted (Letters May 19). I was, in fact, never a competitor! I also have yet to contact her company.However, it is my continued belief that any design ...
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Opinion
Clarification
Studio Egret West is the practice working with Edaw on the Holt Town Waterfront (News May 26), not Studio Egret as our abbreviated headline had it.
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Opinion
Better schools? Where the real challenge lies
A real opportunity for better schools or a cash cow for those who have until now seen little profit in the educational sector?
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Opinion
John Gummer's proposal to scrap the building regulations
John Gummer's proposal (BD 19 May) to scrap the building regulations raises two questions. What do we think their purpose is? If they were scrapped would other legislation soon take their place?