Britain 'will be scarred as cuts end a golden age of architecture'

[M II A II R II K]

Britain 'will be scarred as cuts end a golden age of architecture'


18 July 2010

Vanessa Thorpe

Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesi...ic-sector-cuts

The man behind the design of the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon has predicted a long period of stagnation for architecture that will scar both the British landscape and the national economy. After the boom in the early years of the millennium, an era of paralysis lies ahead, according to Rab Bennetts. "I am pessimistic about the way cutbacks in building will affect the country," he said. "I think the government has underestimated the impact on the economy." Bennetts suspects that the £100m redevelopment of the RST, which is due for completion in the autumn, may prove to be the last great public project in a "golden age" of lottery funding.

"Lottery grants for this scale of work are disappearing because the private sector is no longer in a position to match the funding," he explained. "So this theatre at Stratford may well be the last of its kind. Even the planned expansion of Tate Modern has a question mark over it and other similar projects are being wound up." The biggest blow to the profession will come from the withdrawal of funding for school improvements, Bennetts believes, but the additional freeze on new cultural centres and public spaces will stop modern Britain in its tracks. "The loss of around 715 school projects in one hit, with lots more to come, will have a lasting impact. Although I am sure there is truth in claims there was too much bureaucracy involved, there was a lot of dilapidation and the work was needed."

After the high-profile projects that redefined the urban landscape under New Labour, such as the London Eye, Tate Modern and the redevelopment of Gateshead, Bennetts says architects fear a blight on their profession that will be followed by the collapse of many construction firms as private and government schemes are shelved. "When we had the last deep recesssion, the building and construction industry lost half a million people and I don't think they ever came back. We are talking about a permanent loss of jobs and skills. And construction is the second biggest industry in the country, so of course it can depress the whole economy."

Bennetts, who rebuilt the Hampstead Theatre in north London and designed Brighton Library, runs an architectural practice based in London and Edinburgh with his wife and partner, Denise. In 2005 they won the contract to redesign Elisabeth Scott's 1932 theatre in Stratford, the home of the RSC. Theatre-goers are due to take their seats for the first time in the new, more intimate auditorium in November, but Bennetts fears that it will be the last such opening for several years.

The Great Court of the British Museum is a stunning architectural success. Photograph: Richard Bryant/Arcaid/Corbis

[jetsetter]

The "golden age of architecture" ended many decades ago, long before the present.

[vid]

Well I bet Prince Charles is happy.

[Bedhead]

There's no doubt in my mind that Britain, and London in particular, have gone through a rosy period in architecture. Between 1880 and 1980 there were barely any new buildings in London that could really be said to be cutting edge, in a global sense. The 80s saw the Lloyds building, but since the 90s there have been several structures, most famously the Eye and the Gherkin, but also lower key projects like the Laban dance centre and the Shard which, if not totally unique, are at least as fresh as anything happening elsewhere.

I think the pace will continue to be strong in London, which has barely broken its stride through the recession - the Olympics and various high rise projects will see to that. But the kind of regeneration that we've seen in places like Newcastle and Manchester won't be repeated, I think - the Conservatives just don't believe in using public money in that way.

[R@ptor]

I honestly don't think it is possible to scar British cities any more than they already are scarred. The vast majority of British cities is dominated by cheap and bland 50s to 70s concrete architecture in the city centers and nothing that will be build in the next 10-20 years could possibly be any worse than that.

[M II A II R II K]

Are we heading for a drought in prestige architecture?


19 July 2010

Vanessa Thorpe

Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesi...tural-projects

The idea that we have now seen the last of the great, prestige architectural projects of the last 10 years has provoked a strong, if divided response. The debate started at the weekend when Rab Bennetts, the architect behind the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, said he feared the UK is sailing into the architectural doldrums. At the same time, though, he conceded that some of the landmark building projects that changed the skyline of our cities in the past 10 years were perhaps excessive, or even gratuitous.

After reading his words, several architects and built-environment enthusiasts have contacted me to say they think the great edifices of the Blair/Millennium era, such as Glasgow's Armadillo, the refurbished Covent Garden opera house, Cardiff's Senedd, Gateshead's Sage, and the Scottish Parliament are all vainglorious follies. One used the phrase "white elephants". Others have argued it is all just part of the natural cycle of boom and bust, so we should treat a coming architectural drought like any other period of bad weather: grin and bear it?

Bennetts, though, believes the consequences of a fallow period are more serious. He argues the whole industry will suffer, not just architects. A slow down like this means long-term economic damage. For him the worry is that, along with all the prestige projects put on hold because there are no private funds to match lottery grants, the freeze on public service projects, such as school maintenance and hospital redevelopment, will hit our social infrastructure for years to come.

Worth every penny? ... Glasgow's Armadillo, housing the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Glasgow. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

[ardecila]

Bennetts, though, believes the consequences of a fallow period are more serious. He argues the whole industry will suffer, not just architects. A slow down like this means long-term economic damage. For him the worry is that, along with all the prestige projects put on hold because there are no private funds to match lottery grants, the freeze on public service projects, such as school maintenance and hospital redevelopment, will hit our social infrastructure for years to come.

Just another symptom of the very flawed mindset that says that great architecture is, by definition, astronomically expensive.

Starchitects are astronomically expensive, but only because they're in such high demand. Meanwhile, many other architects put out tremendous, creative, and affordable ideas, but because they don't end up on the covers of glossy magazines, they can never be "great" architects and their work will never be "great" architecture.

The next era could be one in which young architects, tired of using their talents to build grandiose edifices for the super-wealthy classes in the developed world, turn their creative skills to help solve real problems for the rest of the world. I doubt it, though - some portion of the wealthy will always want flashy buildings, and many architects will always be jostling for those few well-paying jobs, while the other 75% of work for the middle and lower classes is designed by pure hacks.