More Comment – Page 352
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OpinionConcrete Boots
Comic inspirationThe headquarters of the Prince’s Foundation in London’s fashionable Hoxton is well stocked with books, but a closer look at the collection reveals some surprising titles. For example, the foundation is the last place one would expect to see graphic novels by controversial and often lewd comic-book artist Robert ...
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OpinionSuzi Towel
Come on, architects — let’s see more of you in Fatbusters T-shirts, fighting the flab for a healthier Culture
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Opinion
Teaching should be schools’ priority
When the news first broke that the Cambridge architecture school was in crisis, it seemed only a matter of time before the rest suffered a similar fate. Now other schools in the prestigious Russell Group are under pressure to improve their research performance, at the expense of their traditional emphasis ...
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Opinion
Fee hike hits the most vulnerable
Here we go again. The most vulnerable are the ones to suffer in the so-called drive to improve efficiency (“Crackdown on foreign architects”, News November 5).What is the justification for an almost 500% increase by Arb in the cost for getting non-EU part I and part II equivalent qualifications recognised?The ...
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Opinion
Go the extra mile
I believe the RIBA is being unnecessarily harsh on Arb (News November 5) with regards to the 500% increase in fees to recognise non-EU part I and II equivalent degrees.The new fee of £1,996 I am to pay merely covers the expense of one return flight to New ...
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Opinion
Fame drain
Our practice, along with 200 others, entered the Architecture Foundation’s design competition for its new headquarters. Like other small, “unknown” practices, we were encouraged to read that the AF “have no prejudices as to the fame or experience of the eventual winner”. But we were disappointed by the shortlist.Although there ...
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Opinion
Plenty of time
Poor old Christoph Egret. According to Zoë Blackler (News Analysis November 12), “at 45 he is running out of time to build his own independently authored body of work”. Let’s hope not. He is half the age of Anthony Swain (Soapbox October 22), who gave up climbing scaffolding last ...
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Opinion
Witness appeal
I read your article, “Waiting for disaster” (News analysis November 5), with interest, but some puzzlement. In answer to the question “Who are these expert witnesses?”, Bickerdike Allen’s history goes back to founding partner Bill Allen’s days as chief architect and head of physics at the Building Research Establishment (which ...
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Opinion
Classic clanger
Ian Martin may have been away last week, but one of his conceits seems to have found digital form, appearing in full colour on your front page (November 12).Some have suggested that the classicist tendency is no more than a cover for an absence of individual architectural vision, and the ...
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Opinion
In need of a leader
Kevin Rhowbotham is clearly annoyed by his treatment at the Architectural Association and its failure to renew his contract (News November 5).He talks of a terminal situation, but, perversely, it is crisis and internal conflict that keeps the AA alive. I would suggest that, more importantly, the AA ...
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Opinion
Wrong Trousers
We have been instructed by our esteemed client, Mr Fred Trousers, to take action against BD for misleading impersonation. The clear impression was given that Mr Trousers had written the cunningly conceived “inverted pyramid of piffle” on the back page of last week’s issue. This, together with the digitally enhanced ...
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Opinion
The fine line between influence and rip-off
As an undergraduate I was accused by some generous-minded peers of “ripping off” a building that had just appeared in the Architectural Review. My scheme undeniably bore a striking resemblance to its alleged model, and protestations that I had never set eyes on it before fell on deaf ears.
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Opinion
Egged on
Massimiliano Fuksas has reason to celebrate this week after winning the commission to regenerate Salford — his first project on British soil. How he plans to toast this success is anyone’s guess, but the world-famous architect does have a liking for an extremely expensive substance — caviar.Interviewed by BD this ...
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Opinion
Counting support
This week’s Arb board meeting took an amusing turn when chairman Humphrey Lloyd pointed to statistically dubious feedback on Arb’s annual report.He proudly pointed out that an impressive 11.8% of respondents found his foreword the most interesting section, with only a lowly 11.2% opting for the report of the ...
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Opinion
Fashion darlings
It’s official: DRMM has arrived in fashionable circles, having just made it on to Vogue magazine’s “must-know who, what, where, how and why of the moment list”. Alongside pictures of Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Kirsten Dunst, José Antonio Reyes and Sam Taylor Wood are Philip Marsh, Sadie Morgan and Alex ...
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Opinion
Disappearing act
Zaha Hadid may have been frustrated in the past when her competition winning designs didn’t see the light. But it was she who failed to materialise last Wednesday night when at the last minute she let the RIBA know she couldn’t personally deliver her long-scheduled Lutbetkin lecture at Portland Place. ...
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Opinion
Cowboy dreams
The fundraising for David Adjaye’s Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver is in full swing. An event last week, which raised $250,000 for the museum, included a game of chance where people purchased a can for $100 that contained a mystery prize. One of the prizes was a trip to ...
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Opinion
Penguin palace
What do you get if you take an igloo, a train, an airplane, a fishing trawler and a very cute-looking penguin. Well, according to Richard Rogers Partnership, a new research station for the British Antarctic Survey in Antarctica. Rogers’ shortlisted submission for the RIBA-run competition is a triumph of simple ...
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Opinion
Jacob Kinderegg
I am here to discuss the future of the extension I have designed, the ‘Radical Corkscrew’