黑洞社区

Unsuitable clothing

No conference these days would be complete without a debate on sustainable buildings, but finding speakers prepared to voice bold solutions is a little rarer. At the BSEC MENA education conference in Abu Dhabi this week, former RIBA president Sunand Prasad had no such inhibitions. 鈥淚f Abu Dhabi wants to be sustainable it should ban people wearing suits,鈥� he told a rather surprised audience. 鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy that we have to wear warm suits because temperatures in air-conditioned offices are so cold. If people wore lighter clothes then buildings wouldn鈥檛 need air-con. Architects talk of vernacular architecture. We ought to encourage vernacular dress.鈥�

Don鈥檛 ask me: I鈥檓 just a hack

I鈥檓 beginning to feel a little bit sorry for the RICS. While the surveyors body has been dealing with problems at home, resentment against the institute鈥檚 management of its qualifications has spread overseas. 黑洞社区 was contacted by one particularly irate German who was angry at the RICS for refusing to recognise his home-grown qualification. He then asked 黑洞社区 for legal advice. We know it鈥檚 a recession but, for the record, using journalists as solicitors is not recommended.

Pass the buck

Olympics watchers hoping last week鈥檚 pre-Budget report would resolve the biggest remaining issue over the legacy of the 2012 site were left disappointed. Plans to pass on the 拢1bn debt that the London Development Agency took on when it bought the site to the communities department were not announced, contrary to the expectations of many. Sources suggest the talks are being held up by departments desperate to offload the debt on each other. The legacy company鈥檚 boss, Baroness Ford, told 黑洞社区 in July the issue would be sorted 鈥渋n the next couple of months鈥�, a date now long past. Surely the government wouldn鈥檛 go to all the trouble of firing the previous regeneration boss, setting up a new company, and hiring a top team at great expense, only to leave it hamstrung by debt and unable to do its job? Would it?

Art for our sake

That doesn鈥檛 mean a lot of legacy work isn鈥檛 happening on the Olympics. Sarah Weir, the head of arts and cultural strategy at the Olympic Delivery Authority, is getting used to explaining the array of artworks on site: from bridges painted the different colours of the London 2012 logo to plants in the shape of buildings that used to stand on the site. However, I hear the one to look out for is a bridge, from designer Jason Bruges Studio, which is flanked by video screens. When a pedestrian approaches the bridge, a video of Usain Bolt will be triggered running from one side to the other.

The ones that didn鈥檛 make it

Not all of the art works are so welcome, though. At a conference last week Weir was asked to clarify whether mayor Boris Johnson鈥檚 highly publicised plan to build a 拢20m 鈥渋conic鈥� sculpture in the park called Transmission was a speculative entry, as 黑洞社区 revealed last month. She agreed and said, rather wearily: 鈥淲e get sent enough random art and ideas for things to build on the site that we could fill an exhibition.鈥� Now there鈥檚 an idea 鈥�

Look busy

Architects are renowned for their innovation and creativity, but it seems firms are reviving an old practice to ensure they make a good impression on clients. Word reaches me that some companies are asking former coworkers who have been made redundant to position themselves in their offices and 鈥渓ook busy鈥� when potential clients visit, the idea being to make it appear as if they are overflowing with work. With so many empty offices around at the moment, perhaps there are further opportunities for out-of-work-architects out there? But hang on, an office where some of the people aren鈥檛 actually doing any work 鈥� no, it will never catch on 鈥�