Building Better, Building Beautiful - some initial thoughts - TrustNews Mar 19
Arthur has provided a very helpful introduction to this long overdue attempt by the Government to do something about the essential aesthetic aspect of our appalling housing deficit and, by providing the web link to 20 essays by leading thinkers on the subject, he offers a stimulus to members to write their own thoughts and send them to the Trust. I haven't yet read the essays, so what follows is my own starting position on design - how to assess it rather than how to do it.
My guru is the Roman philosopher Vitruvius, who asserted that there are three essential elements to good architecture: “Firmitas, Utilitas et Venustas", famously translated by the 17th century diplomat Sir Henry Wotton as “Firmness, Commodity and Delight". One can, I suggest, set aside the first two as obvious - a building must successfully stand up and serve its purpose. But why did he choose to translate Venustas as “delight” rather than “beauty”? I believe this is because few buildings even in his day could be described as beautiful in the way we use the word (some very special one-offs might, but these are virtually sculpture). However, all can and should give delight or pleasure, notwithstanding the complication of taste. It is perfectly reasonable that tastes should differ but there is no excuse for getting worked up about another‘s design taste, any more than one would become heated about their choice from a menu. A consensus is possible about skilled and deserving dishes, just as there can be consensus amongst the discerning about what can be respected if not universally liked about architectural design.
So what are the characteristics of good design? In the first place there must be a coherent relationship between its elements and its whole and its relationship with its context. It must also be a considered composition, or it is just building, not architecture. The elements are many and varied, but in the simplest terms they include proportion, colour, texture, mass/void and detail. I have a book written by an eminent architect in the 30s in which he explores all these things, with sketches and photographs to illustrate his conclusions. Similarly there was a publication compiled by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) about what makes a good building. Both are fascinating and instructive, but little good to us because they are written about individual buildings, and hunting on Google provides little help either you will find.
Recently it was put to me by a senior officer at WCC: surely any decent architect can produce an attractive design for a single building, but where can I find examples of good ordinary contemporary housing, free of fashionable gimmicks?" And l would add to this housing that we would be happy (hopefully pleased) to see in the countryside because, if we are to achieve the millions that are necessary, this is where much new housing will have to be built. While l can appreciate the affection for Georgian and Victorian look-alike estates, l cannot believe that multiplied by thousands this would be an acceptable solution.