黑洞社区

John Sorrell, the outgoing chair of Cabe, has used his valedictory speech to hit out at the 鈥減oor鈥� quality of supermarket development.

He said: 鈥淸Supermarkets] must be challenged to try new things, stop building standard stores, and respond to local context without reverting to a wind turbine, pastiche design or a few shelves set aside for local produce,鈥� he said.

Sorrell made specific mention of planning proposals by both Asda and Tesco in Barnet. 鈥淭he Asda scheme fails on every level,鈥� he said. He also attacked proposals for a Tesco in St. Helens in Merseyside 鈥榝or it鈥檚 lousy public space鈥�. He called on supermarkets 鈥榯o come up with an alternative development model鈥�.

His speech, Architecture In An Age of Anxiety, was an impassioned plea for architectural design quality to be maintained in the teeth of the recession. 鈥淎rchitects should resign a job which will create a bad building,鈥� he stated.

Sorrell, whose Foundation advocates improved design in schools, claimed that design quality in the 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future was a bellweather for standards in all public buildings.

鈥淚f we see standards drop here then we are in trouble across the board,鈥� he said. Comparing the current recession to that of 1825, he also made a plea for government to maintain public spending.

His remarks come at the end of five years at the helm of the government quango, a term in office which has ended with uncertainty over the organisation鈥檚 future amidst Tory pledges to stage a 鈥渂onfire of the quangos鈥� upon coming to office.

However, in September Ed Vaizey, the shadow culture minister, said that he was 鈥榓 huge fan鈥� of Cabe, while warning that it needed to maintain a distinctive remit from others.

Sorrell however, expressed reservations about the Tory policy of localism. 鈥淭he simple old equation that private sector services are good and public sector services are bad flies in the face of most evidence,鈥� he said.

Sorrell however, denied that he was making an implicit criticism of the Tory party proposals. 鈥淐abe is a fantastic organisation. We tell the truth to whoever is listening,鈥� he said.

He remains Chair of the organisation until Paul Finch takes over in December.