C O N T E X T 1 3 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 5 ‘ARCHITECTURE, the art of invention, can cross historical and stylistic boundaries to engage with the past without losing the authenticity of the present.’ The architect Sir Richard MacCormac, who died in July ‘I FEEL VERY strongly that heritage is so much more than beautiful buildings. ‘My definition is really anything that people value and that they want to hand on to the future. That can be a memory, a culture, a butterfly inYorkshire or a fantastic landscape in Scotland, as well as a building that has been derelict in the centre of a small community and which, if they could just turn it into something, would transform that community. ‘If you talk to ordinary people, it’s very much about the urban landscape in which they live.’ Dame Jenny Abramsky talking to the Daily Telegraph as she stood down as chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘THE BRUNSWICK Centre is one of Britain’s great modernist masterpieces. Wedging a long rectangular box into the void of the grand entrance portico and on top of the Renoir cinema would harm this Grade II listed building, and overshadow the piazza below. ‘We would also lose fantastic public views up into the vast concrete A-framed structure of the complex that are only visible from this space under the portico. It’s the wrong development in the wrong place.’ Henrietta Billings of the Twentieth Century Society objecting to the addition of a large restaurant structure at the Brunswick Centre in London ‘“We are not about need.We are about market demand.” – City mandarin enraged at Smithfield office rejection, quoted in AJ. Says it all.’ Hugh Pearman on Twitter @hughpearman ‘THE SECRETARY of state sees no reason to disagree with the [inquiry inspector’s] view that the deteriorated state of the buildings is, at least in part, the result of the history of deliberate neglect and that, in assessing the planning balance, less weight should therefore be given to the current condition of the buildings and the consequent benefit of their repair.’ From community secretary Eric Pickles’ decision letter refusing the development proposals for Smithfield Market. ‘IFYOUWISH to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists.’ Samuel Johnson quoted in the Mayor of London’s supplementary planning guidance to the London Plan on character and context Samuel Johnson: London’s ‘wonderful immensity’ ‘HUMAN beings have evolved to move horizontally, unlike some of our primate relatives. As a result our colonies have expanded horizontally. The only reason historically to build upwards was for defence, display or closeness to God.Where geographical constraints demanded high-rise development it tended to cause stress of some kind, as indeed it did when we used it to solve the last public housing crisis.’ Steven Bee, chairman of the Academy of Urbanism, writing on the AoU website ‘WHAT I particularly liked was that the committee’s approach seemed to be the same as the Vatican’s towards new saints: the selection process was precise and lengthy, with the candidate’s worthiness tested to destruction. ‘At the moment, however, the scheme is in turmoil. Two members of the panel – David Edgerton, a professor of the history of science and technology, and Gillian Darley, an architectural journalist – have quit because of the appointment of a host of what’s been referred to as “white men off the telly”... ‘I know that there might be some who considered the committee to be nothing more than a cabal filled with snobs. But the old panel seemed to me to be one I could work with. It wanted the Blue Plaque scheme to extend itself, to go deeper, without losing its credentials and expertise... ‘What with the funding being reduced – which had prompted the resignation of two previous committee members, amid complaints of dumbing down – that could mean only one thing: a big push for private money, or to get money directly from the public. For that, you need people attached who are instantly recognisable... ‘The Blue Plaque was special. Now, by contrast, there are plaques everywhere – not least because people are choosing and erecting their own, and doing it better and faster and cheaper... ‘How will, or can, the Blue Plaque scheme respond? Could this new committee become the launchpad for a kind of X Factor process for old buildings, which engages with the young, and with ethnic minorities, and gets them to actually give a damn about Blue Plaques and heritage in general? ‘The question has to be asked, because at the moment it looks like the scheme is becoming yet another branch of the all-encompassing entertainment industry. Politics is often called showbusiness for ugly people.What a shame it would be if heritage becomes politics for showbusiness people.’ Bonnie Greer writing in the Daily Telegraph after she resigned from the London Blue Plaque selection committee
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