'London needs a planning revolution' says government's design czar

 
Chaos: the boom has left iconic buildings standing next to less successful designs, it was warned
31 March 2014

Britain’s decades-long planning “chaos” has left London a city of great individual buildings, such as the Gherkin and the Shard, standing in a sea of “woeful” architecture, the Government’s design czar said today.

Marylebone-based architect Sir Terry Farrell called for a “revolution” in the planning system, to end the culture of Nimbyism and put the creation of well designed places to live, work and shop at the heart of policymaking.

Sir Terry, 75, was presenting the findings of his year-long review of architecture. He said London had “very, very good individual buildings but they do not reach down to the everyday.

“If you dump yourself in any town centre and look at what the end of the 20th century and start of the 21st century has brought, it is woeful.”

He called for London to host a yearly “Davos-style” global architecture summit, and the creation of “an urban room” for every town and city, displaying its past architecture and plans for the future. He added: “Let’s make London the world centre for architecture in the same way that Hollywood is for the movies and Milan is for fashion.”

But he said public attitudes in Britain towards the built environment needed to go through a fundamental change.

Projects of Sir Terry have included MI6 and Home Office headquarters, the former TV-AM studios in Camden, and huge regeneration schemes in Greenwich and Paddington. He said events such as the winter floods, rows over HS2 and “Boris island” airport, and the capital’s housing crisis, proved “proactive” planning was essential.

But the current system meant Londoners “don’t influence our future, we just wait for it to happen. The only right we have collectively is the right to say ‘no’ and that is why Nimbyism is the only game in town.” While Britain has many of the most world’s admired “star” architects, such as Dame Zaha Hadid and Sir David Chipperfield “at home it doesn’t translate”.

The review was commissioned by culture minister Ed Vaizey. Panel members included designer Thomas Heatherwick; writer Alain de Botton; and Hank Dittmar, a former chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation.

Mr Vaizey said: “The principles of quality of life and community cohesion are well captured in the report.”

Key recommendations:

1 Teaching about how we shape our physical environment to be included in all school subjects from “as early as possible”.

2 Every town and city should have an “urban room” where residents can learn about their past and help plan for their future.

3 Key decision makers such as members of council planning committees and highway engineers should be trained in design principles.

4 Democratise “elitist” architecture training to make it more accessible, and create a new generation of professionals who “understand the needs of all the diverse communities they are designing for”.

5 Make the planning process proactive rather than purely reacting to applications.

6 All major infrastructure decision-making panels should include design professional.

7 Architecture and design leaders needs to connect with the public in a more “meaningful” way to reduce gap between “the everyday and the elite”.

8 All new buildings should have a minimum “life expectancy” of 60 years.

9 London’s status as the world capital of architecture to be enhanced by an annual International Festival of Archtecture in the capital.

10 Government to appoint a chief architect

  • More than 70 of London’s leading figures, including writer Alan Bennett, sculptor Sir Antony Gormley and comedian Griff Rhys Jones, have backed a call to arms against the “out of control” proliferation of towers in the capital. They signed a statement saying that the 250 high rises being built or planned for London threaten “irreversible harm” to its skyline. It claims many of the buildings “are hugely prominent and grossly insensitive” and calls for Mayor Boris Johnson to set up a “skyline commission” to review the proposed skyscrapers.

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