Is architecture as we know it incompatible with our future? Underpinned as it is by the principles of growth and progress, architecture risks becoming ever more obsolete. The built environment is a significant cause of the climate and ecological crises, implicated in the economic systems that produced them. But could it be the solution? From the promises of technofixes to that debatable word 'sustainability' the next series of Fundamentals, hosted by writer and broadcaster Tom Dyckhoff, discusses the most urgent issue facing the planet today.
Practice
Professor Peg Rawes, The Bartlett School of Architecture | Peter Clegg, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios | Professor Elizabeth Shove, Lancaster University | Zoë Svendsen, METIS | Andrew Simms, New Weather Institute
Building
Architects Climate Action Network | Aude-Line Dulière, Architect, Wheelwright Fellow | Michael Pawlyn, Exploration Architecture
City
Johanna Gibbons, J&L Gibbons | London Energy Transformation Initiative | Carlotta Conte, Dark Matter Labs | Tiffany Lam, New Economics Foundation | Duncan Law, Transition Town Brixton
Beauty is back. The government’s “Building Better, Building Beautiful” commission has been established to put beauty at the top of the agenda: it hopes to reduce opposition to development by making new housing more amenable to public taste. But whose idea of beauty are they talking about? Is there a general public consensus on what is beautiful? Are architects disengaged from popular taste? And can the planning system possibly hope to regulate beauty? The third and final Fundamentals debate series looked to tackle these questions in the form of three public debates chaired by the Guardian's architecture and design critic Oliver Wainwright.
The Public
Liza Fior – Muf Architecture/Art | Deborah Garvie – Policy Manager, Shelter | Neil Pinder – Design and Technology teacher, Graveney School | Sir Roger Scruton – Chair, Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission | Andrew Whitaker – Planning Director, Home Builders Federation
The Architects
Lara Lesmes – Space Popular | Patrick Lynch – Lynch Architects | Kate Macintosh – Former architect for Southwark, Lambeth, East Sussex and Hampshire | Ben Pentreath – Ben Pentreath Architecture, Materplanning and Interiors | Diana Yu – Adam Architecture
The Planners
Nicholas Boys Smith – Create Streets | Alpa Depani – Architect and Public Practice associate, London Borough of Sutton | Deirdra Armsby, Director of Planning at City of Westminster | Grayson Perry – Artist | Amin Taha – Amin Taha Architects
From the rise of live projects and collaborative studios that engage with real development sites, to practice-based models of education that do away with the school all together, how can architectural education evolve to remain relevant? How can labour practices be reformed to avoid the architect's exploitation and extinction, or will an unregulated market ultimately correct itself? Is procurement too bureaucratic, risk-averse and a barrier to the best design? This Fundamentals symposium critically investigated architecture, education, and the building industry through the lens of ethical work practices.
Learn
Mel Dodd – Central Saint Martins | Robert Mull – University of Brighton | Deborah Saunt – London School of Architecture | Bob Sheil – The Bartlett, UCL
Work
Architectural Workers – campaign group | Lucy Carmichael – Director of Practice, RIBA | Harriet Harriss – Royal College of Art | Peter Morris – Allford Hall Monaghan Morris | Patrik Schumacher – Zaha Hadid Architects
Build
Claire Bennie – Municipal | Russell Curtis – RCKa / Project Compass | Kay Hughes – Khaa | Malcolm Reading – Malcolm Reading Consultants
Labour - Architecture and capital
Ana Carolina Tonetti and Ligia Nobre - Contra Condutas | Escola de Cidade Adam Kaasa - Royal College of Art Concrete Action | Chair - Alex Warnock Smith, Central Saint Martins
Labour - Architecture’s labour force
Kadambari Baxi and Laura Diamond Dixit - Who Builds Your Architecture? | Precarious Workers Brigade | Shumi Bose - Central Saint Martins | Chair: Brendan Cormier
Labour - Architects as workers
Peggy Deamer - Architecture Lobby, Yale | Reinier de Graaf - OMA | Jeremy Till - Head of Central Saint Martins | Chair: Mel Dodd - Programme Director, Spatial Practices
With the population set to reach 10 million in the next decade, the capital is facing pressure like never before. The housing market is unattainable for many, land values have spiralled, industrial space is limited, and public art and landscaping are doing little to change the face of the city. This series presented work related to these concerns and was chaired by the Guardian's architecture and design critic Oliver Wainwright.
Housing
Barbara Brownlee, Westminster City Council | Kareem Dayes, RUSS Community Land Trust | Amena Matin, London Borough of Croydon | Reza Merchant, The Collective | Marc Vlessing, Pocket Living
Planning
Liane Hartley, Planning in the Pub | Kate Henderson, Town and Country Planning Association | Adele Maher, London Borough of Tower Hamlets | Euan Mills, Future Cities Catapult | Finn Williams, Greater London Authority
Industry
Mark Brearley, Cass Cities | Jessica Ferm, Bartlett School of Planning, UCL | David Saxby, Architecture 00 | Christian Spencer-Davies, Camley Street Neighbourhood Forum | Paloma Strelitz, Assemble
Public art
Alex Chinneck, artist | Mark Davy, Future City | Hadrian Garrard, Create | Anna Harding, Space Studios | Verity-Jane Keefe, artist
Landscape
Giles Charlton, Spacehub | Jo Gibbons, J & L Gibbons | Anna Minton, University of East London | Richard Reynolds, Guerilla Gardening | Stephen Richards, Gillespies
Alex Warnock-Smith, Urban Projects Bureau | Andreas Lang and Mara Ferreri, Notes from the Temporary City | Carolina Caicedo and Xavier Llarch Font, The Decorators Studio | Sarah Featherstone, Featherstone Young | Alicja Borkowska and Iris Papadatou, YOU&ME | Julia King, LSE Cities | Takeshi Hayatsu
Peter Barber, Peter Barber Architects | Helen Marriage, Artichoke | Andreas Lang, public works | Santiago Cirugeda, Recetas Urbanas | Catherine Ince, V&A East | Amanda Levete, AL_A | Jeanne van Heeswijk, Artist | Andrea Zimmerman, Artist | Antoine Picon, Harvard GSD | Verity-Jane Keefe, Artist | Mark Swenarton, University of Liverpool | Oliver Wainwright, Journalist
Prem Krishnamurthy, P! & Project Projects | Maria Smith, Studio Weave | Ines Weizman, Bauhaus Universität, Weimar/CASS | Justin McGuirk, Radical Cities, Strelka Press | Alex Chinneck | Marjetica Potrč | Sophia Psarra, UCL, Space Syntax.
Publica (Lucy Musgrave) | (not) AOC (Daisy Froud) | Studio8 (CJ Lim) | Ooze architects (Sylvain Hartenberg & Eva Pfannes) | Nils Norman | Crimson Architectural Historians/International New Town Institute (Michelle Provoost).
5th Studio (Tom Holbrook) | Assemble | DK-CM (David Knight + Cristina Monteiro) | 00: Architects (Alistair Parvin) | muf (Liza Fior) | Spacemakers (Tom James) | Markussen/Knutz | Peter Higgins | Teddy Cruz | EXYZT | Liam Young | Doina Petrescu | Nils Norman | Something and Son | Fred Deakin.
See more work