More Opinion – Page 326
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OpinionConcrete Boots
Winchester architect Robert Adams has a motto on the wall of his office that reads: “Thunk Bug”.
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Opinion
Ian Martin
Into the Vestibule of Rebirth is borne the seraphic figure of Mr Fred Trousers, Primus Excumbent Et Couchant
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OpinionA challenge to the silent majority
Thank you for Zoe Blackler’s interview of Humphrey Lloyd, which frames nicely most of the points at issue.
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Opinion
In Arb’s shadow
I was pleased to see that BD is following the fashionable trend of allowing printed images to bleed through the page and influence the reverse side. But was it intentional that Humphrey Lloyd’s ghostly image should appear from behind Dracula’s castle?I am beginning to think there is more to ...
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Opinion
Martin’s a treasure
Now my RIBA presidency is finally over, one of the few things I shall really miss is the regular leg pull that I received from Ian Martin over the past two years or so. In spite of his caustic satire he should be listed as a grade I national treasure. ...
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OpinionStop rationalising
I went to a lecture last night [August 24], one of the Architecture Foundation’s Summer Nights series. Jonathan Woolf of Woolf Architects began by dragging us through some of his influences and references: from Palladio through some obscure oil painters. Why? Why do architects do this? Is it because they ...
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Opinion
Celebrity culture
There has been extensive discussion recently on the subject of the over-dominance of “celebrity in architecture” (Letters August 12). Celebrity of course has its connotations, invariably negative (especially when considering current popular culture). But where great minds are at work, surely the faces behind the building are as recognisably important ...
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Opinion
Poplar landmark
It was with great interest that we saw the first images of the Hawkins Brown scheme for Poplar, east London (News August 12).
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Opinion
Why does Prescott ignore your talent?
Is John Prescott’s Communities Plan unravelling? Planning committee chairmen in several east London boroughs have admitted their colleagues will do almost anything to block Prescott-inspired plans in their areas.
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Opinion
It’s time to return to the new town
Why is it that, in spite of all the interest in urbanism and place-making, we are continuing to build so much of our housing in the form of commuter suburbs? Isn’t there room in the Sustainable Communities Plan for us to build a new town or two? Come to ...
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OpinionConcrete Boots
Zaha Hadid got some extremely rough treatment in the Daily Telegraph last week in a profile that was not so much a hatchet job as an axe murder.
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Opinion
The 60,000 contest is a losing battle
John Prescott is a house-proud sort of chap. His country home has a turret, and this week he showed his pride in his short summer’s lease at Number 10 while the Blairs take a holiday when he surprised a group of tourists and invited them on an impromptu tour.
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Opinion
Cheaper building is not the only goal
The announcement of a shortlist for the £60,000 house contest certainly demonstrates that an offer of assembled and permitted land is a powerful inducement for builders to offer cheaper houses, and it may identify useful innovations in materials and construction techniques. But are those really the questions we need to ...
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Opinion
French dressing is all part of the zoo
It is difficult to understand why Gavin Stamp thinks that London “shouldn't be some exotic zoo” (Soapbox August 5).
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Opinion
No a-gender
BD and the panel of judges should be congratulated on making the difficult decision to award the UK’s top graduates on the basis of merit and not gender or some other politically correct agenda (Class of 2005 July 29 and Letters August 5).
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Opinion
Ditch the slum
It is regrettable to see that the overused word “slum” still has currency (News Analysis August 5). Although the intentions behind the United Nations’ efforts to “improve slums” may be good, the word still evokes the practice of labelling an area as a “slum” as a reason for eradicating it ...
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Opinion
A bad repeat
It is stating the obvious to say that the whole point of demolishing a hideous building, such as Portsmouth’s Tricorn centre, is to enable a good architect to design a better building and avoid making the same mistake again.If it is replaced by something just as bad or worse (News ...
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Opinion
Wrong question
I have to take issue with the compiler of last week’s Architest. Question 4 itself is not correct so neither will be its answer.