Somebody Else's Problem

There a saying that there is nothing new under the sun, and this is a phrase that I have borrowed from comedy writer Douglas Adams, although best known for the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, this comes from the third book in the trilogy of five, ‘Life the Universe and Everything:

“The Somebody Else's Problem field is much simpler and more effective, and what's more can be run for over a hundred years on a single torch battery. This is because it relies on people's natural disposition not to see anything they don't want to, weren't expecting, or can't explain.” Douglas Adams

The term Somebody Else’s Problem it is a one has stayed with me since the 1980s and sums up my take on the prevalent view in society, from individuals, organisations to governments. Our impact on the environment is always somebody else’s problem, we all contribute to it by eating food, drinking water, producing waste, consuming energy. 

Meanwhile the oceans are filling up with plastic, fish stocks are dwindling, ground water is contaminated and the atmosphere is filling up with greenhouse gases, but we all continue living following the continue business as usual scenario. The problem? Is the commonly held perception that it is always somebody else’s responsibility to tackle the global situation that we are all contributing to, it is always ‘Somebody Else’s Problem.

Society is addicted to fossil fuels and the consumer lifestyle. Nobody wants to give up their car and let’s face it, in a city like Beirut as with many cities that do not have the adequate infrastructure, even if we give up our car how would we get to work when there is no alternative? Then there is the air conditioning, the electronic gadgets, the convenience foods and products with all the disposable packaging, not an easy habit to break, the consumer lifestyle is making us sick, and with the perception that human impact on the environment is somebody else’s problem.

The back story is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble published by Xlibris — Do We Need ARCHITECTS? A Journey Beneath the Surface of Architecture

Do We Need Architects? by Alun Dolton

Where do we go from here?

Over the past few years with the developed world in financial crisis, projects stopped indefinitely and Architects being put out of work or continuing to work forever diminishing fees it feels as though the profession is doomed to extinction. In conversations with friends and colleagues the subject of the purpose of Architecture inevitably comes up, or more to the point where do I see it going in the future. The truth is none of us know how the future is going to pan out and it is becoming increasingly evident that it is unlikely that things will be the way they were before 2008.

For me it is about how we as Architects adapt to become ‘valued’ by society in the future. Cities continue to change and new places and experiences continue to create new stories. Those experiences of the built environment and in some cases the natural environment through student’s eyes then later dealing with some of the issues and viewing through professional’s eyes begin to set up a context for viewing the world and that context is Architecture! The journey has revealed just how much of an influence some of the players have had on the environment that many take for granted.

In this context everything built and man made in terms of environment is Architecture. It has been built by humanity for the use, enjoyment and in many cases non-enjoyment and eventually abandonment by humanity. Not that everything was designed and its construction supervised by Architects, much of what we live with is built outside the control of Architects, but each element of the built environment sets up the context that Architects have to comprehend, integrate with and transform into new places to for people to live, work, play.

As a profession we were not responsible for the for the factories built during the industrial revolution for example, or the pollution caused to the air, rivers and soil or the countless products that are discarded to litter the environment, but we are the only construction professionals with the knowledge, understanding and above all imagination and vision to deal with the legacy in a positive way. In developing countries, where industry has not created wastelands it is possible to share experiences from the lessons of those nations and cities that are dealing with the legacy. In areas of extreme climate such as desert regions, we have the knowledge gained from experiments that enable us to be able to design entire cities that are in tune with their environment without resorting to the business as usual scenario and burning more oil and gas.

In any context we are capable of steering hugely complex projects through the minefield of bureaucracy and address the social, cultural, economic and environmental issues to make a project a success. Architecture as a process is an immensely collaborative one, gone are the days when we could concentrate on one masterpiece and follow it through from initial sketch to final built product. Projects are far too complex to be driven by one person today it is a team of specialist consultants whose specialist knowledge contributes to the overall vision under the leadership of the project leader. The reality is that in many cases the project leader is not an Architect but could be from any construction related field and assumes the role of Project Manager. That itself is not necessarily a bad thing where the management of stakeholders and balancing conflicting requirements is a full time occupation. In many cases though, projects are led by cost consultants, Architects can be relegated to positions where they have less influence.

That is until considering the world view and the changing emphasis of economy and the perception of the notion of cost, it is no longer enough to consider a project solely in terms of financial cost, often referred to as the capital cost to build a project. There a growing understanding of whole life cost, that involves considering energy consumption as a real driver, there is the environmental cost of extracting the raw materials, there is disposal of waste material and what happens at the end of a building’s life that needs careful consideration. There is a growing understanding of the social cost of building cities and neighbourhoods where nobody wants to live. There is a growing understanding of the need for sustainable infrastructure, so that we do not all need to get into our car to go to the shops. Where we do not have to use power generated from coal, oil, gas or nuclear power stations. Where waste is not sent to landfill to add to the growing environmental problem of pollution. 

The full story is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble published by Xlibris — Do We Need ARCHITECTS? A Journey Beneath the Surface of Architecture

Cattle Crossing - Lahore 2014

As the boulevard heads towards a gated area, a right turn off the road reveals another boulevard except this one has no street scene and the central median is replaced with a channel that is a combination of open sewer and storm-water drain rendering the view out of the window of the trees and flowers slightly less pretty the air is rank with the odours from the open channel. Motorcycles pass by on both sides families and in many cases three men who seem to be stuck together like ‘Gummy Bears’.

Heavy corrugated iron shelters form bus stops along the roadside with a few waiting passengers and no sign of approaching buses. At a busy junction crammed with vehicles so close not that you could not get out of the car even if you wanted to and there is a bus with curious faces peering out of the windows. Through the honking and pushing across another unruly stream of a traffic donkey protests against being forced into what must seem like a moving wall as the driver skilfully finds a gap in the traffic to turn right, as if finally accepting that they had no choice but slow down, cars give way to the long suffering donkey.

The journey is held up once again as a herd of cows are crossing the road seemingly streaming out of the low rise urban sprawl that lines the side of the road driven by a girl to must be no more than seven years old, confidently in control. Turning right to follow the herd and eventually passing alongside them. A narrow side road with mature trees running along the centre and the ubiquitous blank high walls, gates an security guards along the side, at the end of the median a barber has set up shop beneath a tree with no more than a wooden chair and is busily shaving a customer. 

Driving along the wrong side of roads to avoid a puddle and taking a left alongside a patch of waste ground with sheep grazing on scrubby vegetation. A screen is being erected in green fabric. On the opposite side of the street a group of girls appear from a gap in a sea of parked cars alongside a row of trees that appears to be a school entrance across the road and into screens enclosure looking every part like a cricket team. I am told that the screens at there to prevent boys from watching. Further along the road on a patch ground that appears to have been cleared to become a construction site, a young family take their morning bath, children play in the water while their mother washes clothes in a muddy puddle.

The back story is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble published by Xlibris — Do We Need ARCHITECTS? A Journey Beneath the Surface of Architecture

25 years later

Having viewed Canary Wharf from a distance, a far cry from the solitary tower and the perceived white elephant of 1989, from the high places of the city, the Shard, Dome and Emirates Airline, to standing on bridges over the Thames, and Royal Docks and viewing the impressive skyline, what does this mean on the ground?

Wandering around the glass and steel landscape in the rain, contemplating the journey that has taken 25 years. The streets are almost deserted, office workers are all inside following the morning rush, shoppers are under ground in the mall which is an environment that works very well in the rain, a few delivery vehicles circulate on the surface on the loop road known as the Colonnade, with red brake lights reflecting off glass and off the shiny road surface as drivers wait for the traffic lights to change. The setting between the vertical shear planes of the offices framing views to the docks feels a bit like scaled down midtown Manhattan albeit without the constant stream of yellow taxi cabs, as though it is five in the morning as opposed to eleven.

In the past 25 years, Taking an abandoned industrial zone and transforming it into what is now a very lively environment, a thriving employment hub for East London and a catalyst for its broader regeneration. Although it has not always been so, Richard Rogers referred to the uneven development in the London Docklands leading to left over spaces and ghettos In ‘Cities for a Small Planet’ in 1997. Whether that comment alone made a difference or whether it is just coincidence, some of the left over spaces have been developed like the apartment towers at East India DLR Station for example. There is still a way to go to integrate Canary wharf with the surrounding fabric. 

The greatest challenge being the arterial route into central London the A13, dominated by its own flyovers and intersection in addition to the elevated DLR above the traffic and getting into the right lane. Traces of high street still talk of decline and the painted sign on the brick gable reading ‘Sorry, The lifestyle you ordered is out of stock.’

The full story is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble published by Xlibris — Do We Need ARCHITECTS? A Journey Beneath the Surface of Architecture

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?

- See more at: https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Opinion/22389#sthash.4bejFAhC.dpuf

Into the melting pot - Lahore 2014

Heading through the dust and haze towards the city, the scene is dominated by traffic or more accurately, so many motorcycles, agricultural carts drawn by donkeys introduce a new dynamic, each flatbed cart drawn by a single donkey quite often laden with fresh fruit and about five children probably aged six to eleven,  others are laden with steel bars quite often driven by single man or more likely a teenager who is constantly talking on the mobile phone.

The road becomes wider and supported on concrete legs and the urban scene is made up of industrial facilities partly obscured by the morning haze as vapour rises from the dense belts trees that line the roadside. Concrete construction is everywhere, a group of young men standing in the middle of the road one working one watching and the other waving his arms around as if to direct the traffic around the part of the road is being worked on. In UK this will involve a whole lane being closed for miles and Bahrain it would result in two. As the flyovers snake their way of what is left of the urban realm another heavy concrete structure with slow moving Bendy-Bus absolutely jammed with people moves along the top of it. Ahead is what appears to be a Railway station, with platforms, signals, and bridges that span the traffic, the bus lane is fenced off from the road, this is the Lahore Metro, a transit system that still under construction, with too few buses to constitute a rapid transit system creating urban devastation is wake.

The whole scene begs the question wouldn’t it be easier to have created a bus lane along the existing road as opposed to constructing such a heavy barrier that divides the city? To be fair is not only the Metro line that divides the city, it is the combination with all the lanes of traffic moving alongside it and the associated concrete flyovers and demolition to accommodate it that is causing the devastation looking something like pictures of the Walsall Road in the 1960s. The irony being that Birmingham has spent the last twenty-five years trying to undo the damage caused by the Manzoni plan, and here in Lahore they’re building it is though it’s a new innovation. The elevated road takes the severe turn to the left and passes over the British attempts to introduce an efficient transport system and connect the peoples world whether they wanted it or not, from this vantage, the railway passes through a wide clearing lined by trees disappearing into the haze of the distance. Passing alongside the railway, it looks relatively modern, with overhead electric catenary but seemingly devoid of trains, with people wandering across the tracks while others bump motorcycles over them, to avoid driving round and fighting through the traffic trying to squeeze through a two lane level crossing, what appeared as a belt of trees from a distance is punctuated by a collection of ramshackle buildings, concrete frame, brick infill, built right up to the edge of the railway.

The roadside is a colourful spectacle of fresh fruit on carts with the donkey patiently waiting while business is conducted behind. All manner of vehicles stop, causing chaos as others swerve to avoid them, so that the drivers, passengers join the informal market beside the road to purchase wares from an array of carts and single-storey shops situated beneath tall trees. Ladies elegantly perched on the back of the motorcycles, dressed in brightly coloured fabrics add to the vibrance of the scene. The central median of the road to wide area of grass this numerous people seated in the shade of trees surrounded by flowerbeds. This is the ultimate tree-lined boulevard only something is missing there’re no grand buildings fronting onto it, the Kot Lakhpat Railway station is understated, identifiable only by sign pointing to a narrow alley between two of the single storey retail units situated beneath the trees.

The back story is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble published by Xlibris — Do We Need ARCHITECTS? A Journey Beneath the Surface of Architecture - See more at: https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Story/23491#sthash.lNVVNj3E.dpuf