RIBA Fiddles While the Industry Burns
The elephant in the room shows no sign of leaving A high-end chain of sandwich shops wants to create a new flagship sandwich. The owners hire a chef to create a recipe for the sandwich. The chef creates the recipe, which is approved by the owners. The owners then put the production of the sandwich out to tender, […]
Fostering Relationships
As President of Manchester Society of Architects, Practice Owner Nick Moss was tasked with presenting the MSA Lifetime Achievement Award to Lord Norman Foster. I imagine meeting a legend and personal hero such as Lord Foster is a daunting prospect for anyone. Such people often become giant, mythical entities in our minds. Therefore, come 8.15 […]
The Art of VE
No design survives unchanged. How do we ensure the outcome is the best it can be? No architect is unfamiliar with procurement practices that involve value engineering. Indeed, the concept of value engineering in itself is no bad thing and has become an integral part of the construction process. But effective value engineering is concerned […]
To Boldly Go
Risk – a word that can excite or terrify. Or both. Whatever reaction it invokes, risk is an unavoidable part of the human condition and it’s worth saying that if no-one ever took a risk, nothing would ever change. Whilst certainty induces feelings of order, risk can involve feelings of chaos, something most people wish to avoid. But the […]
The Architecture of Belonging
The majority of human beings want to belong to a social and cultural community. They long for a feeling of attachment, of being rooted. To achieve that feeling, the psyche connects to certain places, increasing a sense of self-esteem, happiness and belonging. Place at its best addresses basic human needs by creating inclusion, identification and the […]
