London Debate / Wednesday 18 March / 6.30 – 8pm
Do we accept the status quo in place?
Speakers: Alastair Donald, British Council Project Director, British Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale; Leslie Barson, Project Team, London Community Housing Cooperative; Andrew Carter, Acting Chief Executive, Centre for Cities. Chair: Sophia de Sousa, Chief Executive, The Glass-House Community Led Design.
'We should take the risk to imagine a different place, a better place and stop thinking that it is acceptable to do it in one particular way, since this is how it is done, the "Best Practice". Best practices are what kill any potential inventions and innovations which will lead us to creating places that we only dream of.'
— Samar Héchaimé, Factors Ltd
Sir Tom Shebbeare, Virgin Money Giving:
'Our partners, and in particular the developers and planners, are unanimous that the new "super bits of village" which we have designed together are simply better places than if the professionals had been left to their own devices. The "amateurs" may have been aggravating or worse, but the professionals have certainly enjoyed the experience.'
Alexei Schwab, Future of London:
'The change in permitted development rights for office-to-residential conversions provides an extreme example of what can happen when placemaking is not part of the housing delivery process: without the need to negotiate with local authorities, developers have no requirement or incentive to meet good design standards.'