The UK's first exhibition on the contemporary delivery of traditional urbanism opened at The Prince's Foundation in Shoreditch (right) on 17 November 2003. Traditional urbanism seeks to put the needs of the person, and the communities of which they are part, at the centre of the design process. The exhibition considers the principles that underpin it using 20 groundbreaking examples of urban development from around the world which demonstrate how traditional urbanism can be delivered in contemporary practice.

These projects - which extend from urban infill to the building of whole towns - have, in different ways, each successfully challenged the status quo. The exhibition gives an insight into the challenges, solutions and methodologies of these projects and how they can provide the key to turning government policy for future development into the reality of flourishing settlements.

The launch
At the launch of the event on 20 November, The Prince of Wales made a major speech addressing the issue of traditional urbanism. Closing the speech, the Prince commented on sustainable development, noting that:

"We all hear that buzzword quite a lot nowadays and we need to ask what it really means. To me it means something very simple: ending a throw-away world, by building a world that does not deserve to be thrown away. It means learning the lessons of the most enduring places that have proven themselves over centuries, to make, in our own age, places that can endure over the centuries to come. Economists, bankers, financial experts, land agents and, most particularly, the Treasury, tried their damnedest to stop Poundbury from happening because they said it wouldn't work. In fact, Poundbury has shown that if you invest a bit more in quality, and attention to detail it pays dividends in the long term in respect of greatly enhanced values, both financial and social."

You can read the full text of the speech here.

The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, in making a speech containing several major announcements, noted that Poundbury

"... is important because it puts people before cars. It shows that places to work and places to live can exist side by side... I know Seaside has been criticised for going 'back to the future' and for being a holiday village rather than a working community. But the use of masterplanning and urban coding in Seaside has a lot to offer here in Britain. I'm not talking about colonial style houses. I'm talking about how to produce an attractive, well planned environment quickly and efficiently. I believe that urban coding - or 'Community coding' as I would prefer to call it - has a lot to offer."

Matthew Line, Chief Executive of The Prince's Foundation commented:

"The Prince of Wales has been a driving force behind a growing international movement which has affected attitudes to town building at the most senior professional and government levels. Now that we have understood the theory, we need to grapple with the practice of designing and building differently. To this end our exhibition seeks to be both inspirational and highly practical, and aims to deliver both ideas and guidance for those charged with creating the sustainable and thriving neighbourhoods of current government urban policy."

The exhibition
Visitors to the exhibition will see a wide range of urban developments from Europe, South Africa, Canada and the USA and gain insight into their successful implementation through the use of Design Codes, Pattern books and community involvement. The exhibition is aimed at professionals and policy makers in the fields of urban design, planning, development and architecture as well as students and interested members of the public. Following a two-week run in London it will tour the UK with a programme of events and workshops.

The exhibition runs from 17 November - 30 November (closed to the public on 20 November) at The Prince's Foundation, 19 - 22 Charlotte Road, London EC2A 3SG, U.K. For those unable to attend the event, a beautifully produced catalogue containing all the exhibited material and the major speeches of HRH The Prince of Wales and the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will shortly be available. Contact Louise Beaumont (see below) at TPF to enquire about availability and price.

It is possible that the exhibition will tour outside the UK next year. Please contact Louise Beaumont or telephone +44-20-7613-8535 if your organisation would be interested in hosting this professionally-designed exhibition in 2004.

For further information on the Council for European Urbanism, please click here.

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Teaching Shock:
RIBA announces two new education policies(Aug 2003)

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has endorsed two new education policies to promote breadth and variety in architectural education. The approved statements reinforces the RIB'1Ú4s policy that architectural teaching is a liberal discipline and should offer visual literacy in all areas of design.

The policies will require schools of architecture to either declare their ideological position or accept a wide range of architectural approaches from their students, thereby encouraging the teaching of traditional design and construction.

The new statements are as follows:

1. Unless clearly stated in course objectives, no ideological or stylistic preference of any kind, either in intent or terminology, will be acceptable as part of any assessment in a school of architecture.

2. Should it be proposed by a school of architecture, the RIBA would welcome and encourage a course, module or part of a degree or diploma course in architecture teaching traditional design and construction, the assessment of which would contribute to the final assessment of a degree or diploma.

The Standing Committee of the Heads of Schools of Architecture of the UK (SCHOSA), has endorsed these statements.

Robert Adam, who when not INTBAU Chair is Honorary Secretary of the 15 September 2003.

Quite separately, Europa Nostra continues to assist restoration projects related to endangered monuments or sites in private ownership through its Europa Nostra Restoration Fund. Entries for the 2004 allocation must be received by 15 December 2003. Full details are to be found here.
(Source: UK Heritage Link Newsletter 28)

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Stonehenge under threat:
Massively enlarged roads set to destroy the wider landscape setting of the monument (June 2003)

A road scheme currently under consideration in the UK will irreversably affect the landscape setting of Stonehenge, the best known megalithic site in the world. In the absence of world attention, draft Orders for the Stonehenge 'improvement' scheme were published on 5 June 2003.

The scheme is intended to reduce the impact of the A303, a route to and past the monument, which has in the last 30 years become a major arterial road.   In response to public concern the scheme includes a short (2.1km) bored tunnel near the henge, but as is usual with road tunnels the approaches will be horrible: in this case the remaining two-thirds of the UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site will be divided by dual carriageways, long cuttings and grade separated junctions. Campaigners for the Stonehenge landscape are far from happy with the scheme, which they say will irreparably damage archaeological sites and landscape settings.

Promoters of the scheme have argued that this is the best that can be 'afforded', but international attention has focused on whether this is acceptable for one of the world's most famous monuments and its surroundings, protected by World Heritage Site status. The Draft Orders, an environmental statement and a non-technical summary of the scheme are at www.thestonehengeproject.org.

However, there is still time to make your view felt as objections to the scheme must be received by the UK Highways Agency by 4 September 2003. If there are enough objections, it is probable that the Government will institute a Public Inquiry where all the objections may be heard and alternative solutions considered. If the current scheme goes ahead, work could start in 2005, with traffic removed from the core of the Stonehenge site by 2008.
(Source: UK Heritage Link Newsletter 27)

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INTBAU Transylvanian Village Development Workshop
Laslea / Sighisoara, Transylvania, Romania, 30 August - 7 September 2003

INTBAU is pleased to announce that our Summer Programme 2003 will be a design Workshop, to be held in the medieval village of Laslea, Transylvania, Romania, from 30 August to 7 September 2003.   The Workshop will include an 8-day Charrette involving the local community and professionals.

The purpose of the Workshop project is to assist in the long-term sustainable development of the medieval Saxon villages of Transylvania. The participants will analyse the qualities of the villages as settlements, and produce New Urbanist-based proposals for a future integration of heritage preservation and sustainable development.

The aim will be to produce a masterplan for a future expansion of Laslea for ecological tourism complete with design guidelines for new traditional buildings inside the villages and in the future expansions. This will not be intended as a fixed masterplan for development, but rather as an analysis of future possibilities.

Click here to read more about this project.

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New CNU CEO:
Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist is the new President and CEO of the original US New Urbanist organisation (June 2003)

Mayor Norquist, with the Santiago Calatrava museum

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) announced today that its Board of Directors has selected Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist as its new President & CEO after a US-wide search.   Mayor Norquist will assume the post at the head of the international organisation upon his resignation as Mayor at the end of the year. Norquist succeeds Shelley Poticha, the current Executive Director, who is resigning after six years.

"John Norquist is a national figure and a proven leader on issues ranging from transportation reform and urban design to school choice. Under his leadership, Milwaukee has transformed its downtown, revitalized its neighbourhoods, and built world class cultural facilities," said Hank Dittmar, Chair of the CNU Board. "We are delighted to have his help in broadening and deepening the influence of the Congress for the New Urbanism."

Mayor Norquist is a long time member of the CNU, having been an original signatory of the Charter for the New Urbanism. "While serving as Mayor for more than fifteen years, I've seen the power that urban design has to reform neighbourhoods," said Norquist. "I'm delighted to be able to serve the organization that is leading the effort to repair the damage done to cities and countryside by sprawl over the last 50 years. Thousands of cities, suburbs and villages have benefited from ideas generated by the new urbanism. I look forward to working for the organisation, leading efforts to restore common sense to the built landscape."   Norquist is the author of The Wealth of Cities (Addison-Wesley, 1998) and has taught courses in urban planning and development at the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Marquette University.

Along with the leadership transition, the CNU will move its headquarters from San Francisco to Chicago over the course of the next year. "Chicago provides better access to our members, and to our growing network of chapters. It's got good transportation connections, great architecture, and many of its neighbourhoods and suburbs are revitalizing with new urbanist principles," said Dittmar of the planned move. The Twelfth Congress, which is the annual gathering for the organization, will be held in Chicago on June 24-27, 2004. The organization's California office will remain open to ensure continuous services to its 2,500 members and to the many members of the public who rely on its expertise about accommodating architecture, walkable neighbourhoods, and sustainable regions.

The Congress for the New Urbanism, founded in 1993, is a non-profit organisation which aims to re-establish compact, walkable and environmentally sustainable neighbourhoods, cities and towns. CNU is a Supporter of INTBAU.

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Found and Lost:
Concern over continued looting of antiquities in Afghanistan as inventory shows Iraq looting 'less than reported' (June 2003)

UK Heritage Link newsletter reports:
The UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) issued a statement last week concerning the latest situation with regard to the cultural heritage of Iraq, noting that 'it appears that the scale of the overall losses from the National Museum's collection is significantly less than initially reported with estimates of up to 170,000 lost or looted items now being re-estimated at nearer to 3,000. The majority of the museum1s collection including the Nimrud treasures was removed for safekeeping before the start of the conflict, the statement continues.

Heritage Link also responded by writing to the UK DCMS to point out that the problem of antiquities looting in Iraq was never just an issue about losses from the National Museum. Of greater concern by far is the systematic looting of ancient monuments in post-war Iraq. Heritage Link has called on the UK Government to maintain pressure wherever necessary to achieve effective policing in Iraq to prevent this continuing loss to the world's heritage.
(Right, the 5th century arch at Ctesiphon (Al-Mada'in), 30km south of Baghdad. Image courtesy 1914-1918.net)

Last week's DCMS statement also says that the Government is 'working within the Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq (OCPA) to support the Iraqi people in the protection and reconstruction of key heritage institutions and sites.  An Iraqi Cabinet for Culture has been established to determine priority actions'. It adds that it endorses the British Museum1s efforts to co-ordinate support from the international museum community for the restoration of the National Museum in Baghdad. A team of curators and conservators from the British Museum is travelling to Iraq shortly to carry out assessment work. The UK Government has also offered to make arrangements for a group of Iraqi culture specialists to visit the UK as soon as possible for appropriate training.

Trafficking in Cultural Heritage
British MP Richard Allan has introduced a 'private members bill' (i.e. not part of government policy) proposing the introduction of new legislation to clamp down on the international black market in looted cultural objects.   The bill has now passed several important stages without amendment, and will have its Report and Third Reading on 4 July.

The scale of the problem was illustrated last week in an article by Dalya Alberge in The Times, reporting on the looting of Afghanistan's ancient heritage. The report said that Scotland Yard had just seized several hoards of recently illegally excavated sculptures in stone, bronze and terracotta that may have come from temple sites, and that range in date from the third millennium BC to the 5th century AD. Hundreds of other ancient pieces in ivory, gold and silver are reported to be on sale in Pakistani bazaars before heading for private collections worldwide. Unesco is so concerned that it is appealing to governments to fund a 'heritage army' to guard some of Afghanistan's key sites. It argues that such an army was successful in preventing looting in Cambodia.

Robert Knox, the British Museum's Keeper of the Department of Asia, is working closely with Unesco and Scotland Yard. He said: ÎIt's a very serious matter. So much is coming out. It's a free-for-all. Their country is being ravaged. There's no security left.  The poor Afghans are unable to protect what they have. If there were a functioning police force, there would be some protection.'

!Update! Meeting on Iraq antiquities to be held in London (June 2003)

A meeting is to be held on 27 June, from 10.30am to 1pm, at the British Academy, Carlton House Terrace, London, to discuss Iraq and other antiquities issues. The meeting is being hosted by the Standing Conference on Portable Antiquities in association with ICOMOS-UK, English Heritage and the Historic Environment Forum. Because space is limited, those wishing to attend should contact Alex Hunt at the CBA to reserve a place, email AlexHunt@britarch.ac.uk.

Speakers will include representatives from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the British Museum and the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, as well as Dr Christopher Young, FSA, Head of World Heritage and International Policy, English Heritage, and Susan Denyer, FSA, of ICOMOS UK, and Dr David Gaimster, FSA, of Cultural Property Unit, Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

It is expected that the meeting will result in resolutions being passed relating to the prevention of further damage to antiquities in Iraq, on the UK1s ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention and on the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Bill.
(Source: UK Heritage Link Newsletter 24)

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Declaration of Havana:
Charrette agrees Charter of the Rights of the City (May 2003)

Andres Duany writes:
"We recently returned from a charrette in Havana. The initial intention was to vaccinate the city against automobile-based development before it arrived. It turned out to be much more comprehensive than that. Among the things we did was to elaborate the following charter:

DERECHOS A LA CIUDAD DEL CIUDADANO SOCIALISTA
THE RIGHTS TO THE CITY OF THE SOCIALIST CITIZEN

1.El derecho a la vivenda integrada socialmente.
1. The right to socially integrated housing.

2. El derecho al transporte publico y semi-publico. Que la red de autobuses sea suplementado con flota de taxi masiva.
2. The right to public and semi-public transportation. This includes buses supplemented by a fleet of taxis.

3. El derecho a el satisfacer las necesidades ordinarias dentro de una vertiente peatonal. Estas necsidades incluyen la bodega, el parvulo, la escuela primaria y el parque.
3. The right to the fulfillment of ordinary needs within a pedestrian shed.¹   These needs include the food store, child care, primary school and a park.

4. El derecho al agua potable y a el alcantarillado.
4. The right to drinking water and a functioning sewer system.

5. El derecho de aceso al mar.
5. The right of access to the sea.

6. El derecho als uso social de los mejores edificios.
6. The right to the social use (public access) of the best buildings.

7. Derecho a la evolucion predecible de la ciudad.
7. The right to the predictable evolution of the city.

8. El derecho a la preservacion de los valores cultutrales patrimoniales.
8. The right to the preservation of cultural assets.

9. El derecho a edificaciones con ventilacion natural
9. The right to buildings with natural ventilation.

10. El derecho a las calles adequadas para peatones.
10. The right to pedestrian-friendly streets.

11. El derecho a una ciudad limpia y segura.
11. The right to a city both clean and safe.

12. El derecho a la ciudad sombreada por arboles e iluminada por noche.
12. The right to a city shaded by trees and illuminated by night.

13. El derecho a vida nocturna.
13. The right to night life.

14. El derecho a calles que sean una experiencia astetica.
14. The right to streets as an aesthetic experience.

15. El derecho a regulaciones que se entienden y a su explicacion.
15. The right to regulations that are intelligible, and the right to having them explained.

16. El derecho a la participacion en el proceso de decisiones municipales al nivel del barrio.
16. The right to participate in the municipal decision-making process at the neighborhood level.

17. El derecho a que las projectos privados rindan beneficios publicos.
17. The right to private projects that yield public benefit."

These principles could easily be applied to every city in the world. INTBAU welcomes the Declaration of Havana and we look forward to seeing its wide application.

Footnote
¹ Pedestrian shed - area defined by a walking distance of not more than 400m, a five-minute walk.

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House the Homeless:
"First Step Housing" design competition in New York (May 2003)

Common Ground Community and The Architectural League of New York are holding an open design competition for a new form of individualised dwelling unit to be known as "First Step Housing". Competitors are asked to design a prototypical individualised dwelling unit and the layout of 19 such units on a typical floor of The Andrews. In addition to a $US2,000 cash prize, it is also anticipated that up to four winners will enter into an agreement with Common Ground to develop their projects for production and installation at The Andrews House (Common Ground's lodging house on the Bowery). Winners will also be paid a design fee.

First Step will offer private, safe, clean and affordable short-term accommodation to individuals who are moving to housing, facing homelessness, or who have rejected or failed in other programmes. It is Common Ground's goal to seek out designs for First Step Housing that respond to the ideas of context, prefabrication, modularity, individualisation, cost effectiveness and materiality while adhering to the building codes and performance standards of the project.

Jurors for the competition include Steven Holl, Architect and Professor of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University; Michael Bell, Associate Professor of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University; Julie Eizenberg, Koning Eizenberg Architecture; Andrew Freear, Director, Rural Studio, Auburn University; Toshiko Mori, Professor in Practice and Chair, Harvard Design School; Rosalie Genevro, Executive Director of the Architectural League and Rosanne Haggerty, Founder and President of Common Ground Community.

The registration deadline is 11 July 2003, and the design entry submission deadline is 10am on 25 August 2003.  Full details of the competition (including registration and requirements) are available at www.firststephousing.org.

Urban Infill Gets Teeth:
Opportunity for "Urban Cosmetic Dentistry" in Germany (May 2003)

A competition entitled "1,000 Infill Challenges" will shortly be launched to promote consideration of the problem of "missing teeth" (Baulücken) in the 339 cities and towns in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalia in Germany. The problem, created by wartime bombing, urban decay and indiscriminate development, is seen as hampering orderly growth and failing to maximise the potential of existing cities in housing the growing demand for dwellings. The problem is acute in both industrialised cities such as Mönchengladbach and in the historic centres like Cologne (right) and Aachen.

Those interested should click here for the announcement or here for more details on the competition, on the website of Architektenkammer Nordrhein-Westfalen (in German), or email 1000-bauluecken@aknw.de.

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ICA&CA appoints CEO:
Paul Gunther is new President of US classicism's flagship organisation (Apr 2003)

The Board of Directors of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America (ICA&CA) has announced that it has appointed Paul Gunther as the organisation's first full-time President. Following a comprehensive US-based search, conducted over the last six months with the help of the executive search firm Phillips Oppenheim Group, Gunther was selected from a short list of six candidates with broad cultural management experience. He assumes his position as President early in May.

Gunther currently serves as the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at the New York Historical Society, where he has worked for the last eight years. While at the Historical Society, he has been responsible for managing public relations, marketing, special events, government relations, educational outreach, and development, including overseeing the Society's $US8 million annual fund, membership and planned giving programmes.

From 1991-4, Gunther was the US Director of the American Centre in Paris, raising $US11 million for their endowment. Prior to the American Center, he served as Director of Development and Public Affairs for New York City's Municipal Arts Society (MAS) for 6 years and as a Vice President at George Tresher Associates. Gunther is a graduate of Yale University, where he took a degree in Art History. He also studied at Jesus College, Oxford.

Gunther brings a broad range of skills to his role as President of the ICA&CA and has been charged by its Board of Directors to build on the momentum of the newly-merged organisation to address a growing national audience for its programs. Commenting on Mr. Gunther's appointment, ICA&CA's Board Chairman Gil Schafer said "Paul stood out as the candidate who had the energy, passion, commitment to the ICA&CA's mission, and leadership abilities necessary to take us as an organisation to another level. This is an important day in our history, and we embark on our next decade with enormous excitement and a renewed sense of purpose in bringing our programmes to an even wider audience at a national level. Paul will be a key factor in realising that vision."

One of Gunther's first duties as President of the ICA&CA next month will be to serve as MC at the organisation's 21st annual Arthur Ross Awards on 29 May in New York.

For more information on the ICA&CA and its programs, visit the ICA&CA web site or telephone +1-917-237-1208.

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New Urbanism moving on:
European and Australasian organisations to be formed soon ? (Apr 2003)

A group of around 75 European and American architects and urban designers spent much of last week in a basement in Bruges (below) during 5 days of intensive discussion about New Urbanism and traditional design in Europe. The sessions included presentations and criticism of built and unbuilt projects and discussions on the progress of urban design. The result was the founding on April 6, 2003 of the Council for European Urbanism.

The meeting was organized by Christian Lasserre and Joanna Alimaniestianu from Belgium and Lucien Steil from Portugal. It was jointly administered by the American Council (not the Congress) under John Massengale and Bill Dennis. Andres Duany and Stefanos Polyoides of the CNU Board advised on the process.

The Council included experienced practising New Urbanists from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA. Organisations represented included CNU, INTBAU, the Prince's Foundation, the Foundation for Urban Renewal (Norway), A Vision of Europe (Italy), ICA&CA (see above) and the Foundation for the Urban Environment (Belgium).

Also present were representatives of the Technisch Universität Berlin and of the schools of architecture at the universities of Ferrara, Naples, San Sebastian, Strathclyde, Viseu, Miami and Notre Dame as well as the Knight Program in Community Building.
(Right, Andres Duany makes a point. Photo Ben Bolgar)

The Council agreed on a range of actions to be undertaken over the next 18 months, including an exciting programme of conferences and councils in a variety of locations around Europe. Click here to read more about these and check back for more details as they become available.

Meanwhile, half a world away in the southern hemisphere, at 7pm on 21 March the Urbanism Down Under conference was scheduled to agree to the formation of a new Australasian organisation. We're still waiting to hear how that conference went, but it does seem that the success of New Urbanism in the US is set to be replicated in other parts of the world.

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UPDATE: Iraqi historical treasures under threat:
World outrage as artifacts are smashed and looted from unguarded museums (Mar 2003)

UPDATE: As feared, major Iraqi museums have been looted in the chaos following the war. Many commentators have noted the priorities evidenced by an occupation force which protected the Oil Ministry while unguarded museums were systematically looted of artifacts from four millennia of the history of civilisation.

Two senior US advisors have resigned, claiming that much more could have been done. A multidisciplinary group of museum curators, lead by officials from the British Museum, is on its way to Baghdad. Never have the words "we told you so" tasted so much of ashes in the mouth. Those responsible - both looters and failed protectors - have lessened us all.

INTBAU's earlier story:
UNESCO (the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has warned the warring parties in Iraq to exercise caution in attacking targets located close to historic cities and museums, it has been revealed¹. The warning came as Iraqi authorities took press photographers to the damaged main entrance of the museum in Tikrit (above). Present-day Iraq contains antiquities and archaeological remnants of a series of civilisations dating from 4000BC, many of which are close to strategic targets, UNESCO said.   Culturally rich settlements such as the northern city of Mosul - home to more than a dozen of the world's earliest churches - are strategically valuable and likely to attack.

Museums damaged include those in the capital Baghdad and in Tikrit, birthplace of Saddam Hussein. UNESCO's Deputy Culture Director Munir Bushenaki noted that TV footage had showed bombs hitting the Flowers Palace in Baghdad which houses a major museum containing significant antiquities. He also raised concerns about the national museum, which stands near a government ministry already bombed, and adjacent to a telephone exchange. Describing the recently-renovated institution as "one of the finest museums in the Middle East", Bushenaki revealed that UNESCO had supplied Washington with a map of Iraqi archaeological sites, and that the Pentagon had been briefed on vulnerable sites by leading archaeological experts.

Bombing during the 1991 Gulf War damaged the 12th century Abbasid Palace, which backed onto the Iraq Defence Ministry in Baghdad. Some fear that historic sites will be used as shields during the ground war, with US reports suggesting that the Iraqi forces have located miltary and communications equipment next to the famous 5th century arch at Ctesiphon (Al-Mada'in), 30km south of Baghdad (right) ².

Further reports from Iraq describe museum curators led by prehistorian and Director of Research at the Iraq Antiquities Department Dr Donny George sandbagging fragile sculptures and bas-reliefs and sleeping in museums, hoping to protect artifacts from looting in the event of bomb damage.³   The present conflict risks damaging architecture, archaeology, antiquities and art of immense age and value. Sites and artifacts in Iraq are part of the common inheritance of all humanity and should be protected from damage by all parties.
Sources: 1 - H-Museum; 2 - OpinonJournal.com; 3 - Independent, London, 28 March 2003.
Tikrit image AFP. Ctesiphon image courtesy 1914-1918.net.

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Poundbury Designer wins major prize:
University of Notre Dame chooses Léon Krier to receive inaugural Richard H. Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture (Mar 2003)

Léon Krier, the distinguished architect, urbanist and teacher, and leading polemicist of the principles of new traditional urbanism and classical architecture, has been awarded the inaugural Richard H. Driehaus Prize, it was announced today. Krier, architect of Poundbury, author of Architecture: Choice or Fate? and inspiration for American New Urbanism, will receive the award in Chicago on 22 March 2003.
(Right, Léon Krier speaking at the launch of INTBAU in London)

Richard H. Driehaus, founder and chairman of Driehaus Capital Management in Chicago, established the $US100,000 prize to be presented annually to honour a major contributor in the field of traditional and classical architecture or historic preservation. Dreihaus founded the award program through Notre Dame's School of Architecture, he says, because of its reputation for incorporating the ideals of traditional and classical architecture into the task of modern urban development.

The University of Notre Dame School of Architecture will present Krier with the inaugural Richard H. Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture on 22 March in the Stock Exchange Trading Room at the Art Institute of Chicago. A commitment to preserving the built environment and a vision to improve the quality of life by making traditional and classical architecture integral components in urbanism were key criteria for the Richard H. Driehaus Award.

A panel formed of leaders in architecture education and practice selected Krier, who will be invited to present a lecture at the University of Notre Dame. He will receive both the $100,000 prize and a model in bronze and stone of the Choregic Monument of Lysikrates in Athens. The selection panel comprised Richard H. Driehaus, Thomas Fisher, Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota and former editor of Progressive Architecture; Michael Lykoudis, Chair of the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture; Jaquelin Robertson, Principal of Cooper Robertson in New York and former Dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture.

Further information
Please click here to read more about the prize, and about Krier, on the UND website. For further details please contact Kara Kelly at the University of Notre Dame by email on Kara Kelly or by telephone on +1-574-631-5720 for further information. For more information on on Krier's work, click here to visit the Krier pages on the Salingaros website.

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Traditional Architect Reappointed at Yale:
Robert A.M. Stern gets second term as Dean of the Yale School of Architecture (Feb 2003)

Yale University has announced the reappointment of Robert Stern for a second term of five years as Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. During his five-year tenure, Stern has brought major changes to the School, initiating the interior renovation of the landmark building in which it is housed and attracting many of the most acclaimed architects in the world to its classes.

In announcing the reappointment, Yale President Richard C. Levin and colleagues at the School of Architecture said that Stern "has raised the School's profile, infused it with energy and restored its ability to attract the very best students". Levin cited Stern's "presence, his availability and his commitment to stimulate thinking about architecture", adding, that he had "built a renewed sense of community" through his ambitious programme.
(Right, Stern at the Yale school. Photo: Michael Marsland, Yale)

Stern has a distinguished academic record, having been professor and director of the Historical Preservation Department of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, and the first director of Columbia's Temple Hoyne Buell Centre for the Study of American Architecture. He is author of "New Directions in American Architecture", "George Howe: Toward a Modern American Architecture" and "Modern Classicism" and many other works. Stern is perhaps the leading authority on the architecture and architectural history of New York, and has co-authored a number of books focusing on particular decades of New York's history.

Stern maintains an active practice in the New York firm of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, which he founded and where he is a senior partner. His projects include the Health Centre at Celebration, Florida; the Headquarters of Mexx International in Voorschoten, Netherlands; the Casting Building for Disney in Orlando, Florida; and the Spangler Campus Centre at Harvard Business School.

Stern is a champion of the traditional and vernacular in architectural design and a strong advocate for considering any structure within its environmental, urban and historical context. Stern is also a founder member of the INTBAU Committee of Honour.

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Libeskind attacked:
Article claims deconstruction commemorates life with an architecture of death (Jan 2003)

A new essay in the prestigious journal Architectural Record accuses architect Daniel Libeskind of creating an architecture of death to celebrate life. The authors of the essay, former Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture director Brian Hanson and mathematician Nikos Salingaros, argue that 'there is essentially no difference between what he believes commemorates death, and what commemorates life, for the simple reason that he gives them exactly the same geometrical properties.'   The work, they say, has 'no more than the artificial appearance of life, as in a Golem, or Frankenstein monster...'.

The authors of the article approach the master deconstructivist's work from the point of view of a sophisticated understanding of the geometry of natural forms and of life itself. Drawn from studies of fractal geometry and the geometries of life processes, this new mathematics is allowing a glimpse of the process of growth and reproduction hitherto unavailable to designers. The findings have been seized upon by proponents of deconstruction, but, the authors insist, the forms resulting from this limited understanding have proved to be as dead as any modernist productions.

The authors conclude by claiming that traditional environments 'both lived and reproduced, by dint of its origins in relatively simple human activities'. By contrast, they argue, the buildings of Libeskind and other doconstructivists lack 'the ability to reproduce. They stand as sterile objects within the city, the most they can hope for being to be "cloned", by some one or another camp-follower of deconstruction.'   The article is expected to produce a storm of controversy similar to that produced by Salingaros's INTBAU Essay, Twentieth Century Architecture as a Cult, published last October.

Source of quotations:
Architecture Information from Architectural Record
Construction Leads from McGraw-Hill Dodge Construction

Further critiques of deconstruction:
Twentieth Century Architecture as a Cult, Nikos Salingaros (INTBAU Essay no 3)
Deconstruction and Architecture: A brief critique, Philip Bess (Thursday Architects)

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Art in the service of building:
Project records traditional East Anglian building crafts (Jan 2003)

A new project launched this month by British artist Malca Schotten seeks to highlight and promote traditional building skills currently practised throughout East Anglia. The project, The East Anglia Rural Building Trade Project or EARBTP, aims to show the value and demand in sustaining such skills as lead working, reed cutting, carpentry and thatching, with the hope of raising the status of these occupations in the eyes of school leavers.

In 2004 there will be a series of exhibitions across the Eastern region of the UK of artworks by Malca Schotten telling the story of these trades in the region. The first of these is planned for the Rural Life Museum at Gressenhall in Norfolk.

Schotten's records so far include the work of lead casters, reed cutters and clay lump makers. She may be contacted by telephone on +44-(0)1603-622-135, email malca@macunlimited.net, or through her website at www.malcaschotten.net.

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ICA seeks prize entrants:
Enter now for the 2003 Arthur Ross Awards (Jan 2003)

The Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America has announced the 2003 Arthur Ross Awards programme, which recognises excellence in new contributions to the classical tradition in the arts. Awards are given in the following categories:

Architecture
Mural Painting/Painting
Sculpture
Landscape Architecture/Gardening
Community Design
Education
History/Journalism/Criticism
Craftsmanship
Patronage
Stewardship

Classical America was founded in 1968 to promote the continuing vitality of classical architecture and the allied arts, and joined forces last year with the Institute of Classical Architecture (founded in 1991) . Through publications, events, and the Arthur Ross Awards program, the newly-consolidated organisation seeks to recognise and encourage new contributions to the classical artistic tradition of Western art.

Nominations of qualified persons or organisations must be received by 14 February 2003. Please send descriptive information about the nominee and the project(s) or achievement(s) that merit recognition, together with a photograph or other relevant image to:

The Arthur Ross Awards
Institute of Classical Architecture/Classical America
225 Lafayette Street, Suite 1007
New York, N.Y. 10012
USA

Further information
Please email Seth Weine on sethweine@aol.com, telephone +1-917-237-1208, or click here for further details.
ICA/CA is an INTBAU Supporter organisation

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Shock of the New:
Over-enthusiastic renovation damaging Tibetan heritage (January 2003)

A multidisciplinary team of conservation specialists, including representatives of the Getty Conservation Institute, Columbia University, the Courtauld Institute and The Prince's Foundation travelled to Sichuan Province in China this summer to develop a conservation strategy for a Tibetan lamasery. The team's objective in the three week visit was to undertake a systematic documentation of the lamasery's most significant buildings and to undertake emergency intervention to stabilize and conserve wall paintings in the Protector Temple and one of the monks' quarters.

The lamasery, like so many other religious structures, was sacked in the Cultural Revolution and subsequently abandoned. Although the destruction was great at the time, many buildings and paintings survived, effectively mothballed for fifty years.

However, the site's significance is now under threat for a second time. The Chinese authority's increasing tolerance of Tibetan Buddhism has enabled some monks to return and they are obviously keen to return the site to a respectable state. This is not necessarily problematic as this part of China retains a very strong tradition of vernacular building and the necessary rebuilding work could be done harmoniously.

Unfortunately, the degree to which the Tibetan cause has captured the imagination of wealthy countries means that monasteries can often have a large amount of foreign cash at their disposal. Many lamaseries are using these funds to renovate with a vengeance, using all the modern materials available to them, and replacing historic materials with new without consideration of the impact on the style, character and historic significance of the buildings. Traditional buildings are being demolished and rebuilt from the ground up with dropped ceilings, wall panelling, concrete and other Modernist clichés replacing original materials.
(Right and above, a lamasery virtually rebuilt from scratch, with zinc roofs replacing the original stone tiles)

Instead of studying and documenting historic buildings, the high significance of which has already been established, it would appear to be of utmost importance to halt the renovation work that is continuing apace. Those donating funds to the Tibetan cause should take steps to find out exactly how their cash is spent: they may well be appalled at the damage being caused.
By our special reporter

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