Is Architecture Enough?

In the book Do We Need Architects? A journey Beneath the Surface of Architecture, I explored cities and urban development over a time frame of twenty-five years. Over that time I was also exploring the changing environment in which architecture is practiced. The journey does not end there, and the stories keep on coming, there are more cities that are experienced for the first time, others that have been revisited and new aspects experienced, since the publication of the book, my journey has taken me to Lahore, Pakistan where I was based for six months, working on a strategic plan for one of the largest urban development projects in the world.

During that time, my journey has also taken me back to Dubai and experienced the developing public transport infrastructure in the shape of the metro and new tram at the Dubai Marina, as well as exploring some of the developments on the ground, to London on two occasions and explored different aspects of the ever changing city, along with experiencing the first tangible evidence of the worlds largest, probably most complex infrastructure project Crossrail on the cityscape.

A later visit to Pakistan and provided the opportunity to experience Islamabad to present proposals a new major urban development project. A visit to the UK revealed Birmingham undergoing significant change, Manchester is in a similar state as public transport infrastructure is being upgraded in the city centre, there is a first time visit to Liverpool and a return to my home town on the English Riviera now being viewed not through the eyes of a child growing up in the town, but after being involved in significant urban development projects and viewing as an urban designer, planner and architect. Bahrain is continuing to evolve as more elements of the masterplan set out in 2030 vision emerge from the sand.

The journey in a sense is never ending, and as new adventures loom on the horizon, my aim is to share insights and observations of working on projects, in different environments, visiting existing cities and developing areas against the backdrop of what we are doing as a profession ,in addressing the global needs of a growing understanding of the impact that cities have on the health of the planet, the guiding question shifting emphasis from Do we need Architects? To Is Architecture Enough?

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