Archinect - Features

Cluster, create, devolve

2017-11-01T07:00:00-04:00

In 2010 Boris Johnson, when he was Mayor of London, famously stated that he would not accept “Kosovo-style social cleansing of London” as a result of the then Government’s proposals to cut housing benefit payments. Johnson’s comments highlighted the pressures of retaining the social mix of central city areas in the face of increasing inequality of income and rising land and property prices. It was, and is, an issue that not only affects social housing at the lower end of the scale but also the intermediate market where young professionals and entrepreneurs — the drivers of the city’s future economy — can no longer afford to live in the capital.

London at the Seoul Biennale

2017-09-18T04:00:00-04:00

London made good splash at the inaugural Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism which opened at the beginning of September in Zaha Hadid's DPP Cultural Centre. Taking one of the Biennale's themes of 'The Productive City' the London installation showed a film curated by We Made That and director Alice Masters which explored the complex thread of suppliers, from costumiers to scenery makers, that are needed to deliver a production in the Barbican arts centre. The film featured interviews with the artisans, creatives, manufacturers and suppliers, who contribute to London's role as a productive city.

The Return of the Master Builder?

2017-08-21T05:30:00-04:00

Following the Grenfell Tower disaster, Marc Vlessing, CEO of London residential developer Pocket, was speaking at a NLA Sounding Board meeting. Dutch-born Vlessing stated that for an objective view of such issues he often turned to the European press. Newspapers in Germany and the Netherlands, he said, immediately suggested that the cause of the tragic fire lay in the tendency of the UK construction industry to continually sub-contract risk.

Globe Trotting Designers

2017-04-24T04:16:00-04:00

Following my last blog on the size of London's architectural economy, I was interviewed for a programme on BBC television about the impact of Brexit. Jack Pringle, UK head of Perkins and Will and ex President of the RIBA, was also on the programme and showed the presenter around his office and quizzed his staff about where they were from - "Italy", "Slovakia", "Spain" they responded.

London's Key Role as a Global Design and Construction Skills Hub

2017-03-29T01:00:00-04:00

"The analysis showed that London's architecture sector produced a massive £1.7 billion in gross value added (GVA)—38 per cent bigger than the product, graphic and fashion design sectors put together and greater than many observers expected."