Alex Smith settles down to EP鈥檚 guide to the best in urban design and then intrepidly explores a site that is campaigning to save Captain Scott鈥檚 ill-fated stab at polar architecture
A couple of new websites to report this week. Both focus on great architecture, but while one glories in the buildings of the past, the other hopes to provide a blueprint for those of the future.
Those looking to deliver their share of Gordon Brown鈥檚 3 million homes will no doubt be pointing their cursors at English Partnership鈥檚 online version of its Urban Design Compendium. The website includes all the compendium鈥檚 best-practice guidance, plus more case studies, images and web links.
Architects concerned about their Thames Gateway homes looking just like everyone else鈥檚 should visit the World Monument Fund鈥檚 (WMF) new site for inspiration and ideas. The website looks as lovingly crafted as some of the threatened buildings it champions. The best feature is the images of buildings it is seeking to save through fundraising and conservation management. Watch 100 includes some truly awe-inspiring structures, some relatively unknown, such as the Fenestrelle Fortress in Italy 鈥� the 鈥淕reat Wall of the Alps鈥�. The list also features Captain Scott鈥檚 hut on Ross Island, Antarctica (below), which contains food and gear left by the ill-fated team of explorers.
Anybody who watched the BBC鈥檚 Restoration series won鈥檛 be surprised to hear that four UK buildings made the list. They include Wiltons Music Hall in London, which was the runner-up on Restoration in 2003.
Projects funded by WMF also include the restoration of Nicholas Hawksmoor鈥檚 St George鈥檚 Bloomsbury in London. If you are wondering what it looks like now, there鈥檚 a video which includes an interview with restoration architect Molyneux Kerr. From October, WMF members will be able to access additional areas including online heritage discussions.
Postscript
EP鈥檚 Urban Design Compendium: www.urbandesigncompendium.co.uk
Word Monument Fund Britain: www.wmf.org.uk
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