More Comment – Page 329
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Opinion
Life on Mars
Architect Georgi Petrov has drawn up plans for a small settlement with homes made from local materials, adequate parking and skylights. Doesn’t sound too sensational? Well, think again because the settlement is planned for the planet Mars.
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Opinion
Scouse trashing
A proposed new Mersey Ferries terminal in Liverpool is not getting a good reception from the locals. The building has already been dubbed the “pedal bin” by the local paper for its distinctive roof, while the Liverpool Echo recently ran a story carrying local reaction.
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Opinion
Ian Martin
Jim Stirling’s Number One Turkey was never eighties enough. It would definitely be enhanced by sticking a big mullet on it
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Opinion
Alsop’s gang makes a grab for power
It’s about time Will Alsop left behind his reputation as an enfant terrible. He will be 58 in December and the two don’t mix.
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Opinion
London shouldnt be some exotic zoo
Fashionable French architects seem to be as quaintly ridiculous as French rock stars. Dressed entirely in black, pouting and intense, they try hard to appear as if they have just come from discussing existentialism at the Deux Magots.
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Opinion
Concrete Boots
Kids on the caseKids say the funniest things. Boots has been speaking to architects who have had to consult children for new schools and a children’s theatre in London recently and found they are more perceptive than you might imagine. One child told an architect consulting on a school in ...
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Opinion
Ian Martin
We wish to create a united front , defying the establishment squares who laugh at our round shapes and spindly legs!
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Opinion
White male lineup is of BDs making
We are astonished in our office to see nine young white men lined up as your newest A-Team in architecture.
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Opinion
Recycling is key
Being a greener construction or civil engineering company isn’t just about building less energy-hungry buildings or using more energy-efficient construction processes. It’s also about using recycled materials in new products. While companies may have previously not had much incentive beyond notions of corporate responsibility to use such products, there ...
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Opinion
Cabe unpressured
www.cabe.org.ukI write in reference to last week’s item on Falconer Chester’s proposed tower on Skelhorne Street Liverpool (News July 29). I strongly contend the suggestion by Adam Hall that Cabe has been put under political pressure on this or any other scheme. Cabe judges schemes on their design merits alone. ...
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Opinion
Opera counterpoint
Simon Foxell in his piece Opera and Me (Culture July 15) refers to the value of opera — how it acts as a counterpoint, taking him from the everyday problems of practice, presumably into another world of fantasy and imagination. However, he does mention his feelings about the quality of ...
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Opinion
Community care
The use of the word “community” is presumptuous in the field of architecture and town planning, most topically with respect to John Prescott’s claim to be promoting “communities instead of soulless housing estates” at the proposed Thames Gateway.I have been trying to persuade my fellow architects to facilitate community in ...
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Opinion
Planners stoop low
The news that a tall couple (6ft and 6ft 10) have been refused permission to raise the roof of their Aberdeenshire home is a pathetic indictment of planning bureaucrats.I recently visited some old crofting cottages where the doors are closer to 5ft. If planners were still enforcing these outdated ergonomics ...
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Opinion
Cussing fussing
Reading BD’s back page on July 15, I was f@*%!ng unhappy about Ian Martin’s use of such a strong swear word printed in full. Were you?
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Opinion
Greenwashing won’t hide the facts
“Architectural greenwash”: that is the verdict of the head of the Building Research Establishment on the sustainability claims of the Greater London Authority as BD reveals this week that its headquarters is using 50% more energy than was intended.
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Opinion
An insult to Islamic tradition
Mickey Mouse mosques, Toon Town housing and town centre tarting need to be replaced with projects with a design quality that local communities can have pride in and encourages social interaction (News Analysis July 22). The mosque featured is a travesty of Islamic architecture. This “sitting duck” is a ...
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Opinion
A lost cause
Tessa Jowell’s refusal to delist the Commonwealth Institute building brings to the forefront the subject of the preservation of similar buildings representative of the considerable intellectual achievements of post-war construction.Tightly designed to a very specific brief and lightly constructed within a ridiculously low budget, the building has proved a commercial ...
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Opinion
Cold discomfort
I was saddened to read of Hopkins Architects’ reaction to our success in the British Antarctic Survey competition (News July 22). A review of the assessors’ report shows that our design won on both architectural and technical merit. The fact that we were the closest competitor to the budget, I ...
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Opinion
Store wars
Just in case readers are under the impression that John Lewis adheres to higher and more tasteful standards in architecture (News July 22), here is a photograph of a model of the Waitrose store that John Lewis proposes to build in the heart of the Marlow-on-Thames conservation area. Needless to ...
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Opinion
Remembering Lee
It is with great sadness that we learnt of Lee Harris’s death as a result of the London bombings on July 7 (News July 22). He had studied with unit 17 at the Bartlett, graduating in 2000, and was an exceptionally talented, modest and warm-hearted student. He had an amazing ...