Prince of Pastiche

[SunnyDub]

The whole debate about pastiche vs. modern architecture is getting going again in Great Britain thanks to the Prince of Darkness, I mean Wales! What do people think?

Reject the Prince of Pastiche and his ludicrous prejudices

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/10/stephen-bayley-prince-charles-architecture-lecture


What do people think of Poundbury?

[Blisterman]

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=426&storycode=3140222&c=1

A group of leading architects are calling on their peers to boycott tomorrow night’s lecture at the RIBA by Prince Charles.
In a letter to the Guardian, Stirling prize winners Will Alsop and Chris Wilkinson have joined with Ted Cullinan, Ian Ritchie, MJ Long, Piers Gough, Tony Fretton, critic Paul Finch and Peter Ahrends in urging a boycott on “democratic” grounds.

Ahrends’ firm Ahrends Burton & Koralek was behind the proposed extension to the National Gallery subsequently described by the Prince in his last speech at the RIBA back in 1984 as “like a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved friend”.

The new letter refers to the prince’s recent intervention on Richard Rogers’ plans for the Chelsea Barracks and accuses him of having “re-established his mid-80s technique of seeking to oust modern architecture in favour of his preferred style”.

The letter adds: “The prince’s latest move displays the destructive signs of his earlier interventions, when he set out to scupper modern architecture.

“This intervention must now be resisted by the profession, not because of the question of architectural style, but because his actions again threaten an important element of our democratic process.”

What sort of ridiculous response is that? Prince Charles is entitled to his opinion as much as anyone else, so rather than hearing what he has to say and formulating a good rebuttal, they're taking the "ignore him and hope he goes away" approach.

There's a certain arrogance among a large number of Architects here in Britain, where they consider themselves the only authoritative source on architecture and refuse to consider anyone who's not an architect's opinions.

While I don't really share Prince Charles' enthusiasm for revivalist architecture, he does make some good points, particularly about how architecture should be sustainable, designed to a human scale and enhance the local community. I also think it's good that there's a high profile figure championing the importance of good design in the built environment.

By not even bothering to listen to what he's saying, and publicly calling for a boycott, these architects are appearing very close minded, conservative and giving an impression, that they can't think of any response.

[missarchi]

the prince of POP...

when they mention democratic process there argument losses some weight

[what?]

Its not that Charlie cant have his opinion it is the fact that he went directly to the client of the Rogers scheme and tried to use his ill-gotten power to strong arm them into using his friend Quinlan Terry instead.

If that is not corrupt I dont know what is.

[SunnyDub]

Provocative stuff in today's Telegraph:

Prince of Wales: latest victim of crusade against free speech

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/gerald_warner/blog/2009/05/12/prince_of_wales_the_latest_victim_of_the_crusade_against_free_speech

[missarchi]

POW its all quite amusing how its all blown up... I hope it turns into a great debate!

It is interesting though how well built old houses last longer?

[wearnicehats]

http://www.architecture.com/TheRIBA/175thAnniversary/AnnualLecture/speech.aspx


http://www.architecture.com/TheRIBA/175thAnniversary/AnnualLecture/sunand_speech.aspx

[gunter]

The whole debate about pastiche vs. modern architecture is getting going again in Great Britain thanks to the Prince of Darkness, I mean Wales! What do people think?

What do people think of Poundbury?

I think it's a pity that the debate always seems to come down to just that, 'pastiche vs. modern', when it could be about learning from traditional models and questioning ideology.

Personally, I always think Prince Charles is worth listening to, he comes across as passionate about architecture, the built environment and the environment in general. IMO that puts him above a lot of the architectural grandees who have contributed to the debate so far. I could be wrong, but I sense that a lot of these guys are actually more passionate about continuing to make an impact at all costs and about maintaining their star in the architectural firmament, than they are about creating actual design solutions to actual problems without always usurping the whole context.

I haven't really followed Poundbury, I suspect it's a bit light on integrity, but nonetheless a pleasant place to live.

Here's talk of another such experiment planned for Aviemore (somewhere in the Highlands?) from The Scotsman of last Tuesday.



Typically, the images picked for the article play up the hokey, pastiche, potential in the idea, but the actual stated intentions for An Camas Mór (I kid u not) is far more interesting and potentially rational:

[INDENT]''We are not making Brigadoon'', ''It will be contemporary but sympathetic''. ''It would have a main street, . . . including communal squares with spaces for markets, festivals etc.'', ''There would be laneways off the main street'', ''No home is intended to be more that five minutes walk away from the main street''. ''. . . tidy fronts to the public realm, but ''untidy backs'', where home owners are free to build what the need . .''[/INDENT]

In many ways, this is the leap that we need to make, step away from the labels and just look at the quality of place, look at the fundamental building blocks, look at scale, look at variation.

Apparently there's another community planned for Knockroon in Ayrshire, haven't come across any information of that one yet.