Vision for a better built environment could benefit us all

I was reading recently some online comments about a proposed major redevelopment in York and I was saddened by the seeming lack of comprehension regarding architecture and the built environment.

Clearly as an architect, I am passionate about trying to create places, buildings and spaces that enhance our lives – both for individual clients and society as a whole. In fact, one of the 12 standards in an Architect’s Code of Conduct is to ‘consider the wider impact of your work’.

I know from experience that good architecture can indeed enhance lives and be transformational on the broadest scale.

Sadly, there are all too many buildings which do not achieve this level, and the spaces between buildings can have a negative impact on our behaviour. It is therefore incumbent to understand what goes into making buildings and places, which benefit everyone.

I believe architecture and ‘place making’ should be part of the National Curriculum.

Seemingly any such guidance is limited to those taking art and in part to those taking geography.

The National Curriculum for Art notes: “Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation”.

I concur with the last sentence but believe this should be expanded to cover architecture and the built environment; looking at all aspects from design through to town planning, building economics and the way buildings and spaces affect human life.

If we gain this knowledge as children, it would help inform how we respond to change in our built world – looking at all aspects in the broadest possible sense.

I have written many times about Scandinavian design and culture, and it is fascinating to note that their National Curriculum states: “In primary and secondary schools as well as in upper secondary schools architecture is part of the curriculum for the arts education, addressing themes as urban planning, urbanisation, sustainability, climate change, and the built environment as an identity provider and a regulator of behaviour.”

Two Danish institutions – the Utzon Center and the Danish Architecture

Centre – specialise in Built Environment Education and architecture education for primary, secondary and upper secondary schools.

Armed with such an education, we see a learned population working together to create buildings, places and infrastructure in a holistic manner.

I would encourage such a vision to be adopted by our education system, so that with better informed knowledge we can positively contribute to the ongoing debates about our built world.

As Winston Churchill once said: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”

Let’s all be part of this process to make our built environment exceptional.