Chekhov
Anton Chekhov is reckoned to be the master of the classical short story. In his letters he sets out the basis for good writing: objectivity, honesty, brevity, daring and compassion. Hallelujah. Brief writers please take note.
29 June 2010
28 June 2010
Blue
What we mean by a colour depends on who we are – our references, our culture, our past, our life. A single sliver of colour can transform how we view a space: what we think it stands for, and the boundaries we place on its potential.
Sometimes what one person sees as a detail is not a little thing but something which dominates another person’s response to a place. So, for some, colour is a little thing – for others it is an overwhelming aspect of their enjoyment of a space. Google the word ‘blue’ and you get the official website for a boy band, an Edinburgh restaurant, and some Wikipedia science. Colour is not just in the eye of the beholder but also in their brain.
Almost always, the people who use buildings ask for more colour – and we listen, and reflect, and select cool greys and whites ‘with a touch of white’ – rather than listen to the subtext of their pleas. Blue is not always blue.
4 June 2010
Great Streets
Educational buildings are not sited in some space time continuum – to use the terminology of science fiction: rather they form an important part of the urban fabric –to use the terminology of urbanism.
A street with a school frontage is a different street than one with houses – it creates a different experience and contributes to the creation of a different neighbourhood. So, dealing with these issues is not just a matter for Planners.
Making pupils aware that their building is not only located within their neighbourhood but significantly determines what their neighbourhood is about, is an important lesson. The lesson for architects is that designing whole places is always a part of designing for whole lives.
Read more...1 June 2010
Showing Off
A resource rich, flexible school that sits well in its environment and delivers on its brief. A school that doesn’t show off but just does its job well. Difficult to photograph for the glossy design journal.
It is easy to be distracted by architectural peacock displays when first visiting a school. What you remember are the memorable features. Unless you talk to people. Unless you watch what is happening and listen to how people feel about the space. Then you remember differently – about stories rather than things.
There is absoutely nothing wrong with memorable architecture or about a building showing off – when there is something to be proud of. But what we should be showing off is what happens everyday inside our buildings not how well they photograph in the sunlight.
24 May 2010
The MacGuffin
Many film thrillers employ the Hitchcock device of a MacGuffin. That’s to say some plot element which provides an excuse for the narrative to take place and propels the action forward. Think of ‘The Maltese Falcon’ or ‘North by Northwest’.
The important thing about a MacGuffin is that it doesn’t necessarily need to be that important – or even real. What it does is provide a context for exploring more important things like values and relationships.
Sometimes design plays the same role – it creates a safe place to challenge issues, an excuse to challenge deeply held precepts. Indeed, the most significant impact of design can be its role as a plot device to explore and realise new narratives. The best outcome is not always a building.
18 May 2010
The General Theory
Discussions on how to plan for the future often reveal a hunger for theories and models which can provide us with all the answers. There seems to be an overwhelming need to wrap up observations, experiences, and anecdotes into neat packages of elegant thought.
John Maynard Keynes wrote ‘The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money’ in 1935, and a lifetime later it remains an important and influential work. Keynes had a profound impact on the way in which governments approach economic problems. Even those who disagree with him find that his work defines the framework for their dissent.
However, even Keynes embraced doubt. In his preface he wrote:
‘The writer of a book such as this, treading along unfamiliar paths, is extremely dependent on criticism and conversation if he is to avoid an undue proportion of mistakes. It is astonishing what foolish things one can temporarily believe . . ‘
Such doubt and conversations deserve to underpin all of our work.
7 May 2010
Ash
When risk management fails us we tend to resort to ‘acts of God’ as a get out clause. When we are grounded by events we could not have dreamed of, we inevitably become fatalistic about consequences.
Where we choose to focus our investment in buildings is also a reflection of our perceptions of risk. Implicitly or otherwise we balance unlikely consequences against likely disruption. We also need to balance outcomes against opportunity cost – what else could we have spend this money on and would it have produced a better, safer solution for more people.
This is easier said than done in the regulatory and litigious environment in which we all have to make difficult decisions. Protecting lives from danger is not an alternative to changing lives for the better – but it sometimes seems that way.
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