Architects want ‘Title’ and ‘FUNCTION’ protection

We previously posted a blog on  a debate betweenGeorge Oldham,Arb Reform Group member and Owen Luder, RIBA president involved in 1997 Architects Act on this subject of: Should protection of the title ‘architect’ be abolished?

The real debate should be on protection of the Architect’s function. According to a recent BDonline survey, overwhelming majority of it’s readers want both ‘function’ and title of ‘Architect’ to be protected.

..completed by 900 readers, found that 77% want clients to be legally obliged to use registered architects for certain work in the same way that Corgi-registered engineers are used for gas installations.It also found 84% wanted continued protection of title and that a majority also supported the current regulatory status quo, with 54% against the idea that Arb should be scrapped and the same percentage against the notion that the RIBA should regulate the profession.more

Architecture Blogging; Project Picks of the Week

1. N + B architects: exploitation center in brissac, france

elodie nourrigat and jacques brion of N + B architects have designed the exploitation center
and building for forest fire fighters, located in the very heart of a huge green zone in brissac, france.more

2. nARCHITECTS: ordos 100

dubbed ‘villa-villa’ the residence contains a traditional insulated home combined with a walled-in courtyard space  that is open to the sky. the concept was based on the fluctuating temperatures of the ordos climate.more

We featured another pick from the ordos scheme here:

3. Tanzanian Hotel Inspired by Rock Formations

located in Tanzania and designed by WOW Architects. The hotel is comprised of two buildings and its overall design was inspired by geological processes that shape rock formations in nature.

see the review here: Inhabitat

Closer to home;

3. Tower Hamlets Council, by Foster + Partners ,the London’s tallest residential tower

Called The Pride, after the City of Pride pub which it will replace, the 200m-tall tower will be located next to Canary Wharf and have 410 apartments and eight penthouses. more

Oooh Are!! Zumthor does Devon

As I very excitedly mentioned in my review of the talk at the RIBA, Peter Zumthor is to design a house in Chivelstone in Devon. I am sure that interest has grown since the talk and Zumthor’s subsequent rise to Pritzker Laureate. I am pleased to say that details have been released to the architectural press.

See image here

Read more

Keeping an eye on the recession

The monthly survey from by the RIBA on the employment trends reveals a steady increase on lack of workload for those architects employed:

“Since the survey commenced in January 2009 there has been a steady increase in the number of individual respondents indicating that lack of work has lead to them personally being under-employed in the current month; this figure now stands at 32%, up from 21% in January. Large practices are currently the most pessimistic about their ability to maintain current permanent staffing levels, indicating that further staffing reductions are regrettably likely to occur in the large practice sector in the coming quarter.” RIBA

The contnued delays on major goverment projects such as the Cross Rail and the lack of significant impact the Olympics projects has on the indusrty will only make these statistcs worsen before it gets better.

on the positive side:

according to Building;

A glimmer of hope? Three housebuilders gained more than 10 planning approvals last month

see the data here:

View from Bristol

The Architecture Centre

Aside from visiting the Good Life exhibition at the Arnolfini I also visited the New Growth exhibition at the Bristol Architecture Centre. This is part of the Spring Green 2009 Urban Green Networks programme of events. It promotes and celebrates the green spaces around us and intends to encourage debate about their future.

 The New Growth exhibition, in the main gallery, presented works by four artists that considered the biodiversity of brownfield sites. The artists were Rebecca Beinart, Jenna Collins, John Drummett and Andrew Dodds.

 Read more here

 The most successful of the exhibitors was Rebecca Beinart who took the chance to explore a tributary of the River Avon called the Malago and a tributary of its own called the Pigeon Stream. This is an excerpt from Rebeccas blog:

 The route of the river, although interrupted, provides a transect through the city – a line that passes through very different areas of habitation. Rebecca has walked the Malago with various companions, each one offering a different way of seeing the river, and revealing the multiple relationships that surround this stretch of water, and the land that borders it. She walked with a birdwatcher, a herbalist, historians, a conservationist and campaigner, a representative from the South Bristol Riverscape Project and Bristol City Council.

The Malago has a long history of human habitation, human reverence and human interference. Many local groups take care of different parts of it, but some areas still feel forgotten.  The Malago is a wildlife haven in some places, a rubbish dump in others. Surprisingly the two do not always contradict one another. Walking the river, one gets the sense of being on an edge, behind the scenes of the city. There are glimpses of back gardens, gasworks, industrial estates, and occasionally moments when you could believe yourself to be in a rural valley.

The material from these research walks will inform a public walk, being developed in collaboration with Pete Harrison.

I felt that Rebecca best displayed the intention of the brief by taking on a natural phenomenon and documenting its changed surrounding. The exploration transcends the many landscapes and hinterlands of the cityscape. I like how she always linked back to the natural by the presence of the Malago.

More Architecture Centre events including details of a talk by Ken Yeang on Ecomimesis

Other links:

Bristol Festival of Ideas

May 2009

Including talks by James Lovelock, Wayne Hemingway, Ken Yeang and Paddy Ashdown

Drawing Exchange Festival

The Watershed

The Good Life: A Grand Unveiling- Arnolfini Revisited

Arnolfini from 101prints.co.uk

I visited the Good Life proposal for the former Arnolfini Arts Centre on Bristol harbourside last Bank Holiday Monday. I got a taste of a vision for the future. I got a taste of where I could be living. I got taste for the apartment life; for the iconic building. I was entranced and I was enticed. Is this the lifestyle to suit me? The promotional video is so convincing. I have toured the harbourside and experienced the ambience.

Yes this is the place for me.

Yes where do I sign?

Some may not agree with the Good Life proposal. Some say in the comments book that this is representative of Bristol City Councils actions to regenerate the city. Some say money could be spent better. Some just don’t like the damn building. Maybe they are NIMBY’s afraid of progress; afraid of cold hard cash.

Are you convinced?

Would you sign?

Read more

Zumthor: 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate

Peter Zumthor has been honoured by being named the 2009 Priztker Prize Laureate.

 This is the citation from the prize jury:

 Peter Zumthor is a master architect admired by his colleagues around the world for work that is focused, uncompromising and exceptionally determined. He has conceived his method of practice almost as carefully as each of his projects. For 30 years, he has been based in the remote village of Haldenstein in the Swiss mountains, removed from the flurry of activity of the international architectural scene. There, together with a small team, he develops buildings of great integrity -untouched by fad or fashion. Declining a majority of the commissions that come his way, he only accepts a project if he feels a deep affinity for its program, and from the moment of commitment, his devotion is complete, overseeing the project’s realization to the very last detail.

 His buildings have a commanding presence, yet they prove the power of judicious intervention, showing us again and again that modesty in approach and boldness in overall result are not mutually exclusive. Humility resides alongside strength. While some have called his architecture quiet, his buildings masterfully assert their presence, engaging many of our senses, not just our sight but also our senses of touch, hearing and smell.

 Zumthor has a keen ability to create places that are much more than a single building. His architecture expresses respect for the primacy of the site, the legacy of a local culture and the invaluable lessons of architectural history. The Kolumba Museum in Cologne, for example, is not only a startling contemporary work but also one that is completely at ease with its many layers of history. Here, Zumthor has produced a building that emerges from the remains of a bombed church in the most inevitable and lyrical of ways, intertwining place and memory in an entirely new palimpsest. This has always been the compelling character of this architect’s work, from the singular yet universal breath of faith inscribed in the tiny field chapel in the village of Wachendorf, Germany, to the mineral mist in the thermal baths at Vals, Switzerland. For him, the role of the architect is not just to construct a fixed object but also to anticipate and choreograph the experience of moving through and around a building.

 In Zumthor’s skillful hands, like those of the consummate craftsman, materials from cedar shingles to sandblasted glass are used in a way that celebrates their own unique qualities, all in the service of an architecture of permanence. The same penetrating vision and subtle poetry are evident in his writings as well, which, like his portfolio of buildings, have inspired generations of students. In paring down architecture to its barest yet most sumptuous essentials, he has reaffirmed architecture’s indispensable place in a fragile world. For all of these reasons, Peter Zumthor is the recipient of the 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

 I have written extensively on the work of Peter Zumthor. Some of you may have read my previous articles and excerpts from my dissertation:

RIBA Lecture: Peter Zumthor Dreaming of Buildings Coming True

Caplutta, Sogn Bendegt. An excerpt from my dissertation.

Peter Zumthor. An excerpt from my dissertation

 My previous articles are echoed in the sentiments of the prize jury. They are fastidious in the recognition of the characteristics that have made Zumthor such a deserved recipient of this great prize. Anyone who witnessed Zumthor’s talk at the RIBA will recognise the “focussed, uncompromising and determined” approach. Zumthor presented a range of projects each going through the same passionate thought process; “To the very last detail”, as the citation says.

 Having visited many of Zumthor’s built works I agree that they are conceived as a some of many parts that create a highly accomplished whole. The sketches and models are as much a part of the process as the choice of placement, materials and construction process. I am determined to see the Kolumba Diocesan Museum in Cologne as I know it will provide with the same joy as visiting the very humble chapel at Sogn Benedegt.

 I would also agree when the jury states that the “role of the architect is not just to construct a fixed object but also to anticipate and choreograph the experience of moving through and around a building”. For you to understand this statement you must experience the Therme at Vals. The experience of meandering around this building is quite something to behold.

 I would like to end by saying that long may Mr Zumthor continue his fine work and long may others look to him and be inspired by his desire to carry on sketching, crafting and creating.

The Architect’s Dilemma: The Architecture of Excess vs. an Architecture of Relevance

Cameron Sinclair

For the past twenty years the voice of the architecture profession has mainly been drowned out by the computer generated sky-piercing towers of luxury. Year after year some of the biggest names in architecture tried to out do each other in what is technically feasible with oddly named styles of ‘deconstruction’, ‘blobitecture’ and ‘ribbon architecture’. This constant craving to create jewels of desire in the urban fabric left the general public wondering what on earth we do. Now, with the global economy in tailspin, these exercises in object making have come to a crashing halt. For many of us, we couldn’t be more thankful.

A home is where the heart is…

A home is where the heart is… The heart of a home is the kitchen.

Therefore it could be argued that the kitchen is the most important space in a house. It is my belief that the kitchen should be a flexible use space, big enough to accommodate different functions and even multiple uses at the same time. Let me elaborate –

The kitchen is where most of the activity of a household occurs, it can be a noisy place, or, after dinner, it can be a lot calmer. If it has areas of soft seating, for calm activities and areas or harder seating for dining, it can be used for both these purposes. Extra storage space for pots and pans or for recipe books is useful. It can create atmosphere too – each person will use this in a different way. If the kitchen is a big enough space that it can be organised in a number of different ways then the inhabitants of the house can make it into their own home. They will feel like they own the space (even if they rent it) because they have had the chance to make the space function as they want it to. A large kitchen that is an odd shape can actually be an advantage too, different corners can be allocated different functions, the space can be given character – it can be customised and truly come alive.

Food is very important to me; the food I use to fuel my body essentially means the difference between an energetic and full lifestyle, and a lazy, dull, boring lifestyle.

Poor quality food = poor quality of life.

I like to feel connected to the outside, a kitchen that opens onto a garden is important – fresh herbs or vegetables can be brought straight inside and prepared immediately. Views of the garden stimulate the senses, even in rain. If the kitchen opens onto the garden the space can theoretically be expanded – simply opening patio doors makes the room feel bigger.

In the summer outdoor living can be encouraged if the heart of the home (the kitchen) connects directly and seamlessly to the outside. Even a small home with a small kitchen can work well if outdoor dining is made easy.

This week I will be visiting the Saharaween restaurant, just of Haymarket. It will be completely new to me – an experience of North Africa and Morocco. I hope to learn from the way the spaces are laid out, how the tables are used and cushions are placed to create an atmosphere. Maybe there is something about this way of eating that can influence my own architecture – does outdoor eating have to be at a table? Can cushions on the floor be an option outside too? As my housing project becomes more detailed it becomes more complex, I hope to write again next week – explaining how I refined my project and kept it on track, more importantly how the evening at Saharaween went!

P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility)