Date: 25 June 02
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On Architecture Centres:
I think Architectural Centres are extremely important. In 105 recommendations which we made to the Government in "Towards an urban renaissance", in the Government strategy, we say that every city should have an Architectural Centre. If I remember rightly Holland for instance has something like 45, and it's a much smaller country. In comparison we have very few and they are very badly financed.
If we are going to get the public and the specialists and politicians to come together, then the creation of Architectural Centres is vital. I used to be, up to three months ago, the Chairman of the London Architectural Centre, the Architectural Foundation. I think we did a pretty good role, linking, being a sounding board really and a driving force, especially from the bottom up. I think that part of this is bottom up as well as top down.
So I think that the Architectural Centre can generate tremendous interest and can also answer some of the questions and make architecture much more acceptable.
On a Virtual Architecture Centre:
I'd be very happy for an Architectural Centre put together on Virtual Lines. In terms of a Virtual Centre - I think that's part of it. I think you could make a completely Virtual Centre, though I have a general feeling, and maybe because I am getting very old, that you still need face to face. So it doesn't replace but it extends communications.
It is quite interesting that whilst there are tremendous theories, in the 1960s when IT was born, everybody was supposedly going to their cottage in the countryside to work in a virtual way. Actually this hasn't happened and quite the reverse has happened in that people are flocking to city centres because they like the whole communication; communication is not just about information, it is about exchanging ideas and talking and the whole question of friendship of people.
The impact of architecture on "quality of life":
My passion and great enjoyment for architecture, and the reason the older I get the more I enjoy it, is because I believe we - architects - can affect the quality of life of the people.
If you live in a squalid environment, then of course you are going to want to get out of it, you are probably going to want to get into the country, because that's what it does. You don't want to get back into the centre, because you can't afford it. So I think that, yes, anything that makes it more palatable and easier to understand, such as a Virtual Centre, has to be seen as a primary activity within the educational and information global state.
Does England need it's own architectural policy?:
Yes, I think that there's a need for an Architectural Policy. I think that a way forward would involve a form of spatial/environmental development policy. There are many very simple things, you know. Everyone has the right to walk from one end of the city to the other in secure and beautiful spaces. Everybody has the right to go by public transport. Everybody has the right to an unhampered view down their street, not full of railings, signs and rubbish.
You know, the environment is fragmenting, and the environment is, in many places, absolutely hideous! There has to be policies about that, about what materials we use and so on. So, you know, I'm not saying that all materials have to be the same everywhere. I'm just saying that there are high quality materials and when we change them then there should be a way of changing them so that you can celebrate that change - rather than just 'mix it up'.
So I was extremely happy to see Scotland develop further its architectural policy. It probably has some of the best architecture, both modern and 19th century in Britain. So if anybody needs my help, and if there is any help I can give, I would be happy to give it!
The way forward:
The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved. I believe very strongly, and have fought since many years ago - at least over 30 years ago - to get architecture not just within schools, but architecture talked about under history, geography, science, technology, art. I mean, they all overlap with architecture, and therefore it becomes part of our everyday life, but at the moment architecture is seen as a separate element.
Final Thought:
........people think that all architects do is get a lot of money and they put some lipstick on some gorilla's face, you know .........
