黑洞社区

Never too old to rock and roll

Clear evidence of misspent youth was on display at the British Council for School Environments鈥� dinner last week 鈥� although not from the nation鈥檚 hoodies. Instead, it was the rather more soberly dressed Edukators that were responsible for the crowd gathered at Old Trafford football stadium. In case you don鈥檛 know, they are an industry rock band, fronted by Chris Liddle, the chairman of HLM Architects. At least the out-of-town venue should mean the ageing rockers will escape an Asbo for disturbing the peace 鈥�

Minister for inspiration

Margaret Hodge, the former construction minister (remember her?), moved last year to take on the architecture brief at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and it seems she鈥檚 embracing the post with slightly more zeal than she did her last one. Hodge has signed up to be an 鈥渋nspirer鈥� for a Cabe education scheme. The minister will take a group of children around Allford Hall Monaghan Morris鈥� Barking library next month and, presumably, inspire them. Ironic, since she didn鈥檛 have time to do much of that as minister for construction.

Credit: Scott Garrett

Our man in Tirana

For any company looking to expand overseas, it鈥檚 nice to receive a warm welcome. And it seems that few countries are more hospitable than Albania. My fellow 黑洞社区 scribe Richard Steer, the senior partner of Gleeds, tells me that, during his recent stay there, soldiers with Kalashnikovs and a blue-lighted escort (no, Mr Cartoonist, it wasn鈥檛 that kind of escort) accompanied him everywhere he went. At least he didn鈥檛 have to worry about his wallet disappearing.

Saucy old Will Alsop

Sex! Now that鈥檚 got your attention, perhaps you鈥檇 like to hear about the latest debate organised by the RIBA. No, wait, come back, it really is about sex. The debate, entitled 鈥淭his house believes there should be more sex in architecture鈥�, has Will Alsop proposing the motion and Jonathan Meades opposing. We expect much talk of seductive forms, silky cladding and elegant curves from Alsop and erection puns from Mr Meades. If that doesn鈥檛 put you off, see you at 黑洞社区 Design Partnership鈥檚 HQ in Clerkenwell at 6.30pm on 5 March.

He鈥檚 got the whole world in his hand

Regular readers of my musings will be familiar with the love that Bovis Lend Lease鈥檚 Julian Daniel has for Hull City FC. Well, now it seems that Daniel has found a way of combining this with his love of gadgets 鈥� namely his BlackBerry. 鈥淚 use it for Google Earth to find parking spaces at away games,鈥� he explains. Reckon I鈥檒l just stick with the old Hansom cab.

Lest we forget

Just in case you had somehow missed out on the news that Heathrow鈥檚 T5 is to open on 27 March, I have just the thing to keep the great day at the front of your mind: a halyard (that is, the tape that holds ID passes around your neck) emblazoned with 鈥淭5 5pm 27 March 2008鈥�. These handy aide-memoires have apparently been handed out to everyone feverishly working on getting the terminal finished on time. No excuses now, lads.

Strange bedfellows

What better way to spend Valentine鈥檚 Day night than watching architects and developers get to know each other better at the RIBA鈥檚 speed dating event. I know the two professions have their differences, but I hadn鈥檛 realised they communicate in different languages. I was told that what architects call a 鈥渓iving area鈥� developers refer to as a 鈥渓ounge鈥�, and what architects refer to as a 鈥渉igh-quality finish鈥�, developers call 鈥渁 cost overrun鈥�. Boom! Boom!