C O N T E X T 1 4 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 6 41 New member Ian Wightman has been elected a full member of the IHBC. As a design student I was not allowed to use pitched roofs, nor did I intend to. The school of thought was a strictly modernist one and the tutors, mostly from the Architectural Association, sought an architecture born out of function and the rituals of living.While my training went to the roots of modern design principles, it also taught me the importance of architectural space as a means for articulating different uses and expressing feelings: something that I would now read as ‘significance’. Ultimately, our reaction to any building is an emotional response. Some of the buildings I have most enjoyed working on have been by modernists such as Philip Powell, Marcel Breuer, Patrick Gwynne and Edward Cullinan. These are conceptual pieces, often complete and incapable of significant alteration. They are modern works of art in this regard and, like many historic buildings, they show a high regard for detail, material and finish. An understanding of historic buildings was also important in my studies. From the mid-1980s I made many visits to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in Singleton, West Sussex, to look at how historic structures functioned, but also because I was interested in vernacular materials. Twenty years on I was fortunate to work in this area of West Sussex and took up a post at Chichester District Council as a historic buildings adviser with Graham Tite. I am now the senior historic buildings adviser, and my colleague Heather Hall and I respond to nearly 1,000 planning consultations a year for both Chichester and Arun District Councils. A large part of our area is also now covered by the South Downs National Park, which provides added emphasis on non-designated heritage assets. Despite my modernist background, I do not tend to subscribe fully to a modernist view of the past in which history is detached, as something other, but I try where possible to evolve buildings with anonymity and sensitivity. Given the richness of the county and its built environment we, like many of our colleagues in the public sector, are continually in demand. It is mainly for this reason that my application for full membership has taken this long to make, although I did have the benefit of numerous (perhaps too many) case studies to choose from. Once I began the process, though, I found it both enjoyable and rewarding. I hope that in time the public sector finds greater representation within the IHBC. After all, we work for the historic environment for the broader benefits and values it represents, but ultimately because we all believe in its importance within the modern world. Patrick Gwynne’s Grade II listedVista Point
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