What is wrong with ugly buildings and why are pretty buildings better? These were themes raised previously with the Environment Minister Deputy Duhamel and posted on this site.
The recent Architecture Week was also featured here and criticised for being obsessed with "pretty" design awards rather than attacking the immense problems of the whole Island - especially with regard to housing demands. Here Derek Mason discusses the "ghetto" of St Helier and the failures of the Waterfront but expresses his support for the latest office development proposals from Dandara Ltd on the Esplanade. Meanwhile it is a critical Jersey Advocate who leads the Heritage group - not an Architect or Planner - but Architects are not visibly critical of the standards of legal services provided by advocates in Jersey...why not?
it is a critical Jersey Advocate who leads the Heritage group - not an Architect or Planner - but Architects are not visibly critical of the standards of legal services provided by advocates in Jersey...why not?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is simpler than you think, and it lies in abstraction. Lawyers work in a very abstract field of legal principles and precedents which it is hard to understand, especially as some of them appear to claim that black is in fact white. It's a field into which most people consequently are unwilling to tread.
The product of the work of architects is, however, something that is not at all abstract, even when their "impressions" (deliberately?) seek to mislead, as Dandara's does*. Consequently everyone feels empowered to venture an opinion.
C Northcote Parkinson famously described this phenomenon in Parkinson's Law way back in 1957 - read Chapter 3 (High Finance, or the point of vanishing interest). What is of note is that Parkinson sees things in monetary terms, but experience suggests that the real issue is complexity and the ability to relate it to life experience.
* Look carefully at the front of the building and you will see a reflection of a small group of trees in front of the building - these would have to be planted in the left-hand lane of the dual-carriageway towards the tunnel...