Where Did All the Patrons Go?

The second of my articles written for ArchDaily.

At the close of the 19th century, the funding of architecture was enriched by a new paradigm: that of the wealthy patron and philanthropist, who financed buildings through a sense of moral and social duty. This resulted in a number of grand public buildings, spanning cultural, educational and political institutions: the Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Music Hall, a huge number of Carnegie Libraries and even the UN Headquarters would not have been possible without the generosity of these men.

Where are gifts like these today? Are there modern versions of people like Carnegie and Rockefeller? In the 21st century, an age of encroaching corporatism and “the one percent”, it might be easy to believe that this form of construction funding is dead. This interpretation, however, does not reflect the reality at all. In fact, the recent history of the ‘wealthy patron of architecture’ is more interesting than you might think, and is rooted in the lessons learned from the pioneers of the past century.

Discover more about the fate of the architecture patron on the ArchDaily website.

Non-Design: Architecture's (Counter-Intuitive) Future

The first of my articles written for ArchDaily.

Global architecture underwent a seismic shift in the 20th Century. Governments, keen to mitigate the impoverishing effects of rapid urbanization and two world wars embarked on ambitious social housing programs, pairing with modernists who promised that design could be the solution to social inequality and poverty. Today, the problems inherent in these mid-century tower blocks are well documented and well known, and these modernist solutions to poverty are often seen as ill-conceived failures.


If the 20th century was all about designing to solve social problems, then the 21st century has been about the exact opposite – not designing to solve social problems. These days, it is much more common to see architects praising the social order and even aesthetic of illegal slums, which in many cases provide their residents with a stronger community and higher quality of life than did many formal social housing projects of the past. The task of architects (both today’s and tomorrow’s) is to develop this construction logic: to use design and, rather counter-intuitively, non-design to lift these urban residents out of their impoverished conditions.


Read more about the social potential of non-design on the ArchDaily website.

Ask yourself

Firstly, I would like to apologise for my absence, I know it has been a long time since my last post. I have finally decided to give in from the constant pleas for me to return which were mentioned in passing by one person back in November.
The reason for my return is this, it is my opinion that I may have inadvertently stumbled upon something which could give meaning to every single thing you ever do.
It came to me one grim January evening when I was alone in my flat; I was making my way through my seventh bowl of mushroom soup in as many days (bulk buying veg to save money does have its drawbacks). To keep me company I had nothing but The One Show, the highlight of the evening was going to be Question Time, but that was over three hours away. The wind was rattling through the window's gaps and the fire was providing little respite to the cold. As the TV presenters introduced another article I had little interest in, probably Gyles Brandreith on how turnips helped to win the Battle of Waterloo or something, it came to me;
The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

NEWS: Archiendo Gains Credibility (a bit)

Your beloved archiendo began as a band of rag-tag, freewheeling students brought together by the remarkable fact that we were always right, but unfortunately with little qualification to back up our insights. Post graduation, whilst most contributors went off into the big wide world to gain experience and confirm their suspicions of correctness, I did not. However, after months of attempting to break through into real architectural writing, I am highly pleased to announce that starting Monday, I will be an Editorial Intern at ArchDaily.

This does not mean that I'm going to forget about Archiendo! As an editorial intern I will be doing a bit of writing, and will be sure to post links to my articles on ArchDaily (for obvious reasons I will not be pasting them in their entirety onto Archiendo). And of course, I will always need this blog as an outlet for inappropriate architectural ideas.

In the meantime, as part of the selection process, I was asked to write about a building that I used every day. Through fear of this writing never getting aired, I am going to place it here, as it is an important subject very close to my heart. Enjoy.

[Title]

I should not be here. I should not be writing this post, I don't have time. I apologise if it's rushed, sloppy. What I should be doing is jobhunting, not especially because I'm desperate for a job IMMEDIATELY but because if I don't have a certain number of applications in the bag by tomorrow, the government will take my benefits away. That's important. Remember it for later.

This post is not so much linked to architecture, but architectural journalism, music - culture in general. Architecture is involved, but it is perhaps a sideshow rather than the main point. Anyway, here goes:

Tribute to Oscar Niemeyer

Roughly once a month for the past year, a recurring thought has crossed my mind, leading me to Google the term "is Oscar Niemeyer still alive?" (I always took care to avoid the less hopeful "is Oscar Niemeyer dead yet?") Sadly I will never again engage in this cycle of dread and relief, because Niemeyer died Wednesday night in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 104 years and 356 days.

Michael Gove, You Plank!

Michael Gove from Robert Gordon School

Stephen Twigg from Southgate Comp

 So Michael Gove has decided to ban curves on all future schools. Well done sire, well done. Glad he's on the right page and understands everything there is about building schools.  Putting aside the fact that curved roofs are very efficient (think of an arched bridge) there really is no need to create enriching spaces in which kids can enrich their minds.

So we at archiendo were curious what sort of school Michael Gove was educated in. Surely it must be a little comprehensive yes? He must be a man who really understands what it is like to spend 15 years of a depressing education cramped into a featureless box day in and day out. An education he must of had where the teachers are induced into heavy lethargy by their shoddy staff rooms; the kids trapped by bullies in narrow corridors and classrooms that trap the kids at a desk (almost a precursor for the uninspiring keyboard tapping mouse shuffling duties of their future)

Sadly not.
.

Design not DEZEEN

silly villa stair by jakeaikenwinter

Design something, not DEZEEN something.

I was always under the impression that design was a discipline in which you began with a human event or issue (say the problem of sitting down to rest or needing somewhere in which to record your thoughts). You then turned this idea over and over in your mind with much frustration and mental pain until you figured out a solution that satisfied all the aspects of the problem as neatly as possible. Through this process, came the understanding of a problem, the understanding of the human and ultimately a hint at what perfection and beauty could be. Furthermore In the higher echelons of design, an unknown need or desire of the human is brought to our attention and then has an elegant solution swiftly provided that brings a feeling of serenity to us.

               Unfortunately this noble notion of what true design seems to have been corrupted in society today. Have we lost this definition?

Fast Architecture

In the recent weeks there have been some shocking news articles about architecture that places the profession in an area of the public mind-set that most would rather it wasn’t. This week The Architects’ Journal announced the results of a new survey which shows that 15% of the public don't know what architects do. This comes after last week's news that an architecture practice in Scotland has been offering a 70% discount on the deal website Groupon; so it now seems those who do know what architects do aren't going to know the true value of the profession.

It's easy to complain about these revelations, as many people on the comment sections of the websites have, but in true reflection of the pioneering spirit of the profession and in the face of the economic climate I think we should embrace it. And here's how…

An archiendo appeal on behalf of ISPRADEFW

This is an urgent appeal by archiendo on behalf of The International Society for the Protection and Rescue and Awareness of Disadvantaged Entourage Figures around the World (ISPRADEFW).