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…in the context of recent changes to regulatory reforms in the high rise residential sector of England and Wales. The focus is – for now – on Application Procedure, because that is what is perceived to be hampering progress. Not wrong. But not enough is being said about the underlying issues with the Building Regulations…
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My continuing search for the source of the Golden Thread. Why does the Construction industry name it such? Is a thread really the strongest metaphor for the dispersed packages of information used to record critical safety information about higher risk buildings in the United Kingdom? When the word ‘thread’ is mentioned the image is that…
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Sitting in his office, I would often find myself wondering why he had asked me in there. As we entered that morning’s fifteen minute of discussion, we had covered everything from family dynamics, to home maintenance, and gardening. Anything other than what I went in there for. The site outside was safely up and running…
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Books, Articles, Talks on the diminishing role of the Architect abound. Better to close the lid than to keep searching, re-organising and cramming. The box is full. Better to leave this function to those willing to continue with it, waiting for it to fulfil a function it cannot. Reiner Banham wrote about the ‘Black Box…
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There is an increasing emphasis on introducing green and open space into urban developments with so-called nature dosing. But unless we are prepared to restore South London to its marshy pre-Industrial roots, or use green belt land for planting trees rather than build houses, our work will always change places from what they once were.…
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The recent judgement which ordered Foster + Partners to pay £3.6m in damages to their client John Dhanoa is a wake up call for all architects. The fact that the UK's largest practice has been hauled over the coals for exceeding budget constraints sends a clear message from both clients and lawmakers that cost is…
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Disrupt,Innovate,Reimagine,Fast failure, Thought leader,Creator, 'Keynote' speaker, Life-long learner, Ad nauseam. The world of work is over run with this recycled rhetoric, this babble of buzzwords. The culprits are the kind of people who justify their existence by compressing five minutes of material into hour-long postulations on 'being the best version of yourself.' The most frustrating…
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Or a punch in the gut. I'm talking about that sinking feeling you get when confronted by a problem you have no idea how to solve. While daunting, these moments are wholly necessary in the making of an architect. We learn soon enough that architecture is as much about compromise and negotiation as it is…
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Architects are entrenched in a rhetoric that speaks to power but not to society. It may be cynical of me to say it, but this is because power pays fees, while society doesn't. Stopping time to capture the Zeitgeist is an incredibly difficult thing to do, especially in a discipline as expensive and complex as…
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Happiness is a continuum, there is no fixed point. Humans are hard wired to strive for better circumstances. Better security, better homes, better cars, better taps, better countertops. This desire to build up and out, to improve asset values and own more stuff, suggests that we humans have not changed all that much in ten…
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