Squire and Partners in Lambeth
- Thread starter ricbake
- Start date
T & P
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The person Editor refers to in post 129, of course. And you?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Actually, in the context of architecture, "refurbish" usually means the latter.
Repairing to original condition would be called "restoration".
lefteri
Well-Known Member
so you're arguing with editor in replies to my posts which make no mention of any such person - are you ok?
Surely you're not implying that Lambeth's Councillors are venal freeloaders?
Never !
T & P
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Perhaps you could now enlighten us all and tell us who you think gets to decide which actions a business take constitute genuine engagement with the local community, and which are just PR exercise, as per your claim in post 148.
Unless of of course you were talking bullshit all along and don't know the answer, as your increasingly condescending yet content-free replies would suggest.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Oh, I would agree it is undefinable, and would add it is a matter of opinion. Which is why nobody really gets to decide the issue, and why lefteri's post was superfluous.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
The exhibition was a very long time ago. As part of the present planning application.
Now it's almost completed. Several years have passed. I don't see they have done anything further to engage local community.
They are a profit making business. Working on high end developments mainly. I went to the present planning application to look at the plans. Which looked fine to me. On purely architectural view it's a good development.
I didn't need to hear the PR bollox to judge the plans.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
What's happened to architectural profession is reflection of what's changed in society. Post War if you trained as an architect it was likely you would go to work in a public sector team. Lambeth had one. Helping to rebuild post War Britain. Council housing , amenities and the new Universities for example.
The Brixton Rec is an example. Part of the reason it was listed. An example of socialist architecture. This at the time made one part of the mainstream. You could be a socially commited architect and have a job. The architect Finch , who designed the Rec and his wife designed many public buildings. At a time post War when it was felt that ordinary people should have good facilities.
The last thirty eight years since Thatcher have seen the post War consensus dismantled. The end result being that architects now serve the needs of the rich and capital. That's the new consensus.
It's worse than just consensus it's now taken as just how things are. The natural order of things. So complaining appears worthy of ridicule.
Zaha Hadid successor to run her practice forgot PR image to mouth off about "free loading " Council tenants. His unguarded statements reflects the mentality of those at the top of the profession.
Architect blasts 'free-riding' central London council tenants saying they should be moved
I'm not blaming architects further down the food chain. There is a new generation of architects who are now critical if the way the profession has gone. ASH for example.
The architects working on the LJ project are another.
But the political climate is largely against them. Unless some like Corbyn gets into power.
So Squires are a product of the system. They have done a good job on the building. They won't have any relevance to the people on the estate near me.
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teuchter
je suis teuchter
So you can't give an example of a thing that you'd consider as "engaging the local community". Only note the absence of something. Fair enough: as you say they were the ones who mentioned it. I don't really know what "engaging the local community" actually means though.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
lefteri
Well-Known Member
This is true - I remember reading about Cedric Price - who went into private practice reluctantly because he was passed over by the local authority architects department, which is who he aspired to work for
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
tbf, he was bonkers (for the time)
editor
hiraethified
What an utter scumbag. Fuck you Patrik Schumacher, you worthless piece of shit.
Exactly. And cherry-picking a few high profile, PR friendly causes to enhance their 'community' credentials is unlikely to have any positive impact on the wider community. It's all the same rich-company-PR-spin and I've seen it a hundred times.
editor
hiraethified
I quite like the new green glass dome (although I liked the original copper dome too) but I'm not so sure about the big letters making it look like it is an actual department store rather than a showcase for architects to the super rich. But then that is a trend of gentrification: name buildings and businesses after the things that used to be there for an extra slice of authenticity.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I just had a look at the building and it looks great, really good job, although I'm not so keen on the "department store" sign.
Doing a proper job on part of the town centre streetscape is a contribution in itself - compare to various massacres carried out by developers who have no interest in contribution to the streetscape other than the minimum the planners will let them get away with. Premier Inn, anyone?
Doing a proper job on part of the town centre streetscape is a contribution in itself - compare to various massacres carried out by developers who have no interest in contribution to the streetscape other than the minimum the planners will let them get away with. Premier Inn, anyone?
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
If they wanted refer to the building's history as part of the Bon Marché department store and yet be pretentious why didn't they say something like Bon Marché Annexe?
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
The likes of Schumacher - the douchebag from Zaha Hadid Associates - represent the triumph of style over substance, of money over morality. On a more personal level, any fucker who legs it because a 71-yr old anarchist with a walking stick is hobbling after him, is some sort of chicken-hearted wanker.
Regarding ASH etc, Concrete Action have done some good work, as have "ArchitecturalWorkers", a group of low-ranking architectural workers who want to see the social aspect of architecture come back into focus. I chatted with 3 of them last week, and like Crispy , they're discontented about working on oligarch and "big money" related projects, rather than on innovative social housing projects. They realise that without a genuine resurgence of social housing, their jobs will simply become more and more formulaic.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I notice from Skyscraper News that Squire and Partners are involved in the development of 71 tower blocks.
One The Elephant particularly irks me. The Unison Headquarters in Camden is by them. But the list contains many schemes either cancelled or just proposed.
Looks like architecture is quite speculative - and I suppose the art must be in producing a scheme which everybody can approve and sign off.
Squire and Partners - Architect, Visualisation Firm
One the Elephant. Replacing a council swiming pool and leisure centre, and next to Spurgeon's Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle, this building has elevated a down-at-heal shopping area to the Metropolitan Elite - don't ya think?
One The Elephant particularly irks me. The Unison Headquarters in Camden is by them. But the list contains many schemes either cancelled or just proposed.
Looks like architecture is quite speculative - and I suppose the art must be in producing a scheme which everybody can approve and sign off.
Squire and Partners - Architect, Visualisation Firm
One the Elephant. Replacing a council swiming pool and leisure centre, and next to Spurgeon's Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle, this building has elevated a down-at-heal shopping area to the Metropolitan Elite - don't ya think?
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
I use the shopping centre on way home sometimes. The Pound land and Iceland. I can't see it lasting in long term. I've been following some of what's going on
35% Campaign
Depressing account of how social housing has been whittled down over time in this "regeneration" project.
It's a case of social cleansing of Elephant Castle.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
The one next door with the triangular balconeys is a bit better (and it appears to have some actually affordable housing attached at ground floor. Someone will tell me it's actually "affordable" now I'm sure...)
