Reply To: Great Modern Architecture!

I think the notion of a safe pair of hands only exists because of the way the planning system works. It is the nail that sticks up that gets hammered down. Any development that attempts to provide a new slant on a traditional building type seems to invite criticism whereas on the other hand if a proposal is bland and generally apes all of the other bland buildings built to date then it is very hard for the planners to argue against it. The net result is boring architecture has a head start over innovative architecture.

In order to level the playing field there should be a reward for schemes that are perceived as being innovative and that contirbute to the built environment. This could translate into higher densities or some other form of reward. But I fear we have passed that point now in that the density argument seems to have moved to be one of supply rather than quality.