More Opinion – Page 331
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Opinion
Nationalisation will help home
James O’Shaugnessey makes a number of valid points about the quality and size of British homes, and the inappropriate sanctity in which farmland is often held (Soapbox June 24). But his finger of blame appears to waver between the planners and (somewhat embarrassedly) housebuilders who can build and sell anything. ...
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Opinion
PII protraction
I am just one of those 27,000-odd architects trying to make a living out there, and what I see is the equivalent of arguing about angels dancing on pinheads. PII is to “provide protection to the general public” (our clients), and to provide a shell of protection to us, ...
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Opinion
Stop the pedantry
I fail to see what is wrong with a statutory regulator requiring proof of the insurance we are required to carry to protect our clients. Why so much publicity for a few self-important barrack-room lawyers stirring up trouble by refusing to comply, when they appear to have had PII all ...
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Opinion
In praise of Pei
I cannot understand why the RIBA doesn’t give the Gold Medal to IM Pei. His “Pyramid” in Paris is an absolute gem, as are many others of his — the brilliant Hong Kong skyscraper, the extension to Washington’s National Gallery, the Hancock Tower… the list goes on.Pei is not only ...
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Opinion
By George!
The photographs of St George’s Hall are stunning (Works June 24) and Gavin Stamp’s article is a welcome reminder of Liverpool’s world heritage architecture. Stamp might be interested to know that a classically trained group of Liverpool sculptors have, for several years, been attempting to reinstate the missing pediment ...
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Opinion
Lost in translation
The comparison Ellis Woodman made between the new City Lit building and the Palazzo del Té is interesting (Works June 17). Giulio Romano’s mannerism is derived from the struggle to make architectural sense of alterations to an existing building. You can almost feel that tension exploding from the very stones ...
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Opinion
Going public
Architecture Week presents a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of architecture, so it was disappointing to find some events in Liverpool woefully under-attended due to lack of promotion to the public. The only people I managed to have an engaging conversation with on a debate on tall buildings were ...
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Opinion
Olympic challenge
The International Olympic Committee has always recognised culture as an integral component of the Olympic movement. Those who see it purely in terms of sport sometimes forget this. Until 1948 there were Olympic medals for architecture, town planning, sculpture and other art forms.Interested in the connection between architects and the ...
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Opinion
London’s ripe for carbon testing
Cities now house half the world’s population. A century ago, it was one in seven. And the trend is set to continue, with the world’s major conurbations expanding at an unprecedented rate.
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Opinion
Soapbox: We need to get our houses in order
This week, Policy Exchange published a new report, Unaffordable Housing — Fables and Myths. It argues that, far from living in the kind of homes we aspire to, the British have some of the worst housing in Europe.
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OpinionWe are working on accessibility
I was sorry to read the report of Mat Fraser’s attack on architects for failing to make cities accessible for disabled people (News June 17). Of course all buildings are not yet accessible, but there is a willingness and understanding in the profession to make things better. Many of ...
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Opinion
The key to access
Mat Fraser is right when he says that architects are to blame for lack of access in London, but David Bonnett is also right when he says that architects design what clients require of them. There is no one answer. Architects often don’t understand what the needs of disabled people ...
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Opinion
Inclusive dispair
I agree, in part at least, with Mat Fraser’s comment on architects and their lack of disability awareness in the application of design solutions. My experience is that the majority of architects have not grasped the concept of inclusive design — for example, the segregation of toilets for the “normal” ...
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Opinion
Critical appraisal
Jeremy Paxman of University Challenge fame, not to mention a certain reputation for interrogation, provides a nice counterpoint to the raging crit debate (Campaign June 10) in his Daily Telegraph column.He writes: “I was accosted by an angry viewer the other day, who wanted to know why I was being ...
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Opinion
Core curriculum
Your article “Schools for Future scrutiny scrapped” (News June 10) created the misleading impression that the Department for Education & Skills was reducing its commitment to good design.The DfES is delivering an unprecedented amount of investment in schools — up from £683 million in 1996-7 to £5.5 billion in 2005-6 ...
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Opinion
Positive lead
With reference to your item regarding my presidency of the AA (News June 17), possibly the result of a bad mobile phone connection, “bossing” other schools was the opposite of my intended comment, which was to suggest the positive role model of the design studio system, and its essential relevance ...
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Opinion
Strong arm of Arb
Robin Vaughan’s letter spells out distinctly that Arb under his leadership is not concerned with the spirit of the 1997 Architects Act or the intentions of Parliament, but with interpreting it to allow Arb as extensive a power over the profession as the unfortunately ambiguous wording of the act can ...
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OpinionBathtime bricks
It was great to see the Caruso St John Brick House in BD (Works May 27), and Irina Davidovici’s valuable commentary.Was Caruso St John consciously remembering Giancarlo De Carlo’s magnificent and extraordinary sixties villa, Ca’ Romanino, in the decoration of its bathroom?
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Opinion
Roman ruination
Vetruvius’s mantra of “commodity, firmness and delight” has been so long established that to contradict it seems almost heretical. But that’s exactly what Architecture Foundation director Rowan Moore did at this week’s Elements of Architecture event at the Tate Modern. Moore labelled the ancient Roman’s insight as “the most boring ...
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Opinion
Climate control
On to Trafalgar Square, where London mayor Ken Livingstone held a glittering photo call this week to mark the launch of the London Climate Change Agency. The great and good of the GLA lined up with business leaders wearing their best caring smiles and waited to be snapped in front ...