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Who will lead us?
Industry leaders are apparently no nearer finding a successor to Sir John Egan as head of the strategic forum. Various names have been mooted, including ex-BAA man Mike Roberts, former Treasury mandarin Sir Steve Robson, and everybody's favourite quangocrat, Alan Crane. Egan himself has apparently suggested Wates chief executive Struan Robertson, whose experience of making things happen includes 30 years at BP. There certainly does seem to be a strong mood in favour of someone with experience in manufacturing, where supply-chain integration is more sophisticated than in construction. The latest suggestion is to approach a UK executive from Honda. But haven't we heard enough about the wretched car industry during Egan's time?

Ugly is the new beautiful
Ken Livingstone and the Corporation of London are supposed to be allies in the fight to get tall buildings erected in the Square Mile. But last week they seemed to be singing from different hymn-sheets. The rigours of the planning process mean that the coming spate of city skyscrapers will be "some of the most graceful and beautiful buildings we will see in this country" Livingstone said at last week's Property in the City conference, organised by my colleagues on Property Week. However, a few days earlier, corporation planning chief Peter Rees had informed a colleague of the risks of making skyscrapers too beautiful: "We don't want architectural icons. What I don't want is these buildings listed in 20 years' time by the heritage lobby. I want those buildings to be removable."

Letting the heir down
And not content with taking to task English Heritage over its anti-tall buildings stance, Rees is gunning for Prince Charles as well. "We do have a great tradition in Britain of amateurs doing planning," he said, in a clear reference to the prince's attempts to build a live–work community at Poundbury in Dorset. "Poundbury doesn't work," says Rees. "People drive from their homes in Poundbury to their jobs the other side of Dorset, and vice versa. You can't force people to live and work in the same village – unlike in feudal times."

Classics nouveux
Faced with such an onslaught, the people at English Heritage are obviously keen to throw off their fuddy-duddy reputations and swig champagne with the industry's glitterati. A source at the organisation tells me they are considering heading to Cannes next March for the annual MIPIM property fair. Something tells me they'll be in for a rough ride: among the biggest exhibitors at the show is their arch enemy, the Corporation of London.

The path to success
There must be something in the wine served at the Association of Consulting Engineers' group dinners. Witness the career arcs of two recent speakers. Ex-chief government scientist Sir Robert May was elevated to the peerage and the presidency of the Royal Society after his recent appearance. More spectacular still was the rise of Sir Andrew Turnbull following his address. Shortly after his speech he rose from lowly permanent secretary to the Treasury to cabinet secretary and head of the home civil service. The association has yet to confirm its next speaker but rumours that Alan Crane has requested an invite have been denied by ACE.

Hidden agenda
Helen Gordon, Railtrack's property director, has a theory as to why English Heritage has developed a sudden interest in preserving the Bishopsgate Viaduct, a series of ancient arches occupying a development site to the north of the City of London. "We now have a head of EH who was head of the railway museum in York," she tells me, referring to Sir Neil Cossons. "That might explain the sudden interest in railway buildings."

A linguistic confusion
Who's the father of cool? Marlon Brando? James Dean? James Brown? Actually, it's Dr Willis H Carrier. So says US company the Carrier Corporation, which describes him as "one of America's greatest inventors, who made indoor sports and summer blockbuster movies possible, not to mention pharmaceuticals, microchips, the New South and the Sun Belt …"

If you haven't guessed, Carrier invented air-conditioning; to celebrate the centenary of his invention, the company that bears his name has launched a website in his honour. The site, to be launched on Fathers' Day next month at www.fatherofcool.com, is a place where people can celebrate the accomplishments of this unsung Father of Cool, as well as pay homage to their own cool dads.