More Comment – Page 365
-
Opinion
Prince Charming
Minister for housing and planning Keith Hill grins… and grins and grins. If prizes were won for grinning, Hill would win them all. Mild use of violence would probably only make his grin more inane. And now, having charmed audiences everywhere with his Mr Nice Guy with bonhomie to spare ...
-
Opinion
Ian Martin
The Future Systems Selfridges is 'OK outside, like a giant slug, but inside it's only an old people's clothes shop'
-
Opinion
Backyards available to good listeners
Most readers will guffaw at the suggestion that the British public's "not in my back yard" mentality is becoming a thing of the past. Surely there are too many militant local campaign groups and retired judges with little better to do than oppose architects' schemes.
-
OpinionDominique Perrault
To coincide with his first exhibit at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Frenchman will be in London this Monday to discuss his design for the New Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg
-
Opinion
Making density more palatable
Councillors' reservations about high-density development are not surprising. At the Civic Trust we are all too aware of our members' concern and the challenge facing suburban areas to accommodate higher residential numbers. One of the main concerns is losing facilities to give way to housing development. If we are to ...
-
OpinionMissing link
I can recognise Andrew Matthews' problems only too clearly (In Practice June 18). The bigger the job, the more people get in on the act. But I note that neither the acoustic consultant, the DDA access adviser nor the planning supervisor was present. After a big accident, we are often ...
-
Opinion
Blame the builders
My blood boiled when I read the article headed "Architects 'blithe' on safety" (News May 14).The National Audit Office criticised architects for "failing to design out safety risks". MP Edward Leigh supported this view as did other stakeholders.We are all fully aware of our responsibilities. However, I am regularly on ...
-
Opinion
The force is strong
The last sentence of your article on Ken Shuttleworth's Vortex (News June 11) reads: "The engineer also believes the distinctive shape works well to minimise wind loads." This rings a bell.The Vortex is a version of the hyperboloid of one sheet (albeit using different values for the equation) used in ...
-
Opinion
Tall order
Where can I buy one of the beautiful vases illustrated on the cover of BD June 11? It would look stunning on my dining-room table, though I’m not sure it will fit in the sink when in need of a clean.
-
Opinion
Out of the ordinary
I feel just about everybody has missed the point on Malcolm Fraser’s Bo’ness project (Works June 4; Letters June 11 and 18). To criticise it for not looking different or exciting enough is not particularly sensible, but to defend it on the basis of its “ordinary” aesthetic is just as ...
-
Opinion
In praise of men
One of the best things about being a female architect is working with lots of lovely men. I feel moved to say this in response to the experiences so regularly and aggressively related by Sarah Wigglesworth (In Practice June 4).Coming out of college without ever having seen a roll of ...
-
Opinion
Shiver me timbers
I like the look of Foreign Office Architects’ Korean book building: “One face of the screen is clad in timber, the other in wood” (Works June 18). Is this the meaning of juxtaposition?
-
Opinion
Biker bashing
For one reason or another Concrete Boots compared the new-look BD to a Harley Davidson rather than a Triumph, a few weeks ago. This didn't go down well with one or two most valued readers. William Murray of Wordsearch (which organised the London Architecture Biennale, see below) wrote in to ...
-
Opinion
Biennale bonanza
The London Architecture Biennale kicked off with real intent on Saturday. The intent seemed to be to puzzle and/or delight the public with juxtaposition.There inside the atmospheric post-industrial Farmiloes building — the centre of the Biennale — were a string of domestic garden sheds, while outside in the street, on ...
-
Opinion
Grrrls lack polish
Sad news regarding the Prada Meinhof Gang, the riot grrrl act that was due to play at the Architecture Rocks gig tonight. The band — whose leader is based at Reid Architects — has pulled out due to an “inexperienced keyboard player”. Hardly rock ’n’ roll. Gig report on those ...
-
Opinion
Wayne’s waxings
Fashion designer turned defender of quality housing design Wayne Hemingway gave us a little window on Wayne’s world this week. An earnest Hemingway told a national newspaper that British developers must stop ruining our built environment with housing that is about as welcoming as “Colditz”. A return to Victorian-style terracing ...
-
Opinion
MSPs’ sanctuary
Members of the Scottish Parliament who have presided over Holyrood, one of the most controversial building projects of all time, will at least be able to relax in front of the telly when it is built, but not without further discomfort. News that nearly 400 TVs will be fitted in ...
-
Opinion
Ian Martin
Contemporary art is rubbish. Or has been incinerated. Or is in the Tate Modern. Or all three...
-
Opinion
The big get bigger; the small hit the wall
What chance of Percy Thomas Partnership building anything like the Wales Millennium Centre again? Swallowed this week by Capita — the £1.1 billion-turnover call-centre-to-property business — the Cardiff practice is about to enter a business where numbers rather than innovation appear to hold sway.
-
OpinionAdam Caruso
Caruso St John is one of the nine British practices chosen to represent Britain at the Venice Architecture Biennale this autumn. Details of the exhibits were released this week