Daily Telegraph - More on Design
Now for a bit more on design.
The article in the Daily Telegraph quoted from a report by The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment where they indicated that 4 out of five new developments were ‘mediocre or worse’ and only 17% as ‘good or very good’.
On a mathematical note this leaves only 3% that might be described as acceptable. This seems a remarkably small proportion.
CABE is made up of staff and consultants that include architects, engineers, planners, environmental specialists, academics and developers. You can bet that the developers are in a definite minority and don’t include many from the major housebuilders.
This body is not representative of the opinions or desires of the general public. It is bodies like this in the past that thought that tower blocks of flats in the 1960s were good design and would improve people’s lives.
They would also have been delighted with the extensive use of exposed concrete that now blights areas of our cities and is mostly loathed by those that live there.
Developers use architects to design new blocks of flats in central urban locations because they are looking to SELL to those that aspire to living in a modern apartment in a block designed from modern materials.
These designers are not used for the majority on new houses.
Why not?
Because the developers carry out market research into what their target market wants to buy and then they build it. The mistake CABE and other unrepresentative bodies make is thinking that the housebuyer does not know what they want and is incapable of voicing that desire.
Developers are in the business of selling the most expensive purchase in most peoples lives. They also carry huge capital costs if they get it wrong and nobody will buy the houses they have built. Therefore they go to some trouble to build the houses that the buyer wants.
It may not please the Architect, the Engineer or the Academic but the buyer who is paying £250,000 or more is happy to get a house that meets their requirements and looks pleasing to their eye.
Art critics may love the modern artistic ideas that win the Turner Prize but look in peoples homes are you will find very different styles of decoration. The same is true for the houses themselves.
Stay tuned to Property Fortunes...
The article in the Daily Telegraph quoted from a report by The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment where they indicated that 4 out of five new developments were ‘mediocre or worse’ and only 17% as ‘good or very good’.
On a mathematical note this leaves only 3% that might be described as acceptable. This seems a remarkably small proportion.
CABE is made up of staff and consultants that include architects, engineers, planners, environmental specialists, academics and developers. You can bet that the developers are in a definite minority and don’t include many from the major housebuilders.
This body is not representative of the opinions or desires of the general public. It is bodies like this in the past that thought that tower blocks of flats in the 1960s were good design and would improve people’s lives.
They would also have been delighted with the extensive use of exposed concrete that now blights areas of our cities and is mostly loathed by those that live there.
Developers use architects to design new blocks of flats in central urban locations because they are looking to SELL to those that aspire to living in a modern apartment in a block designed from modern materials.
These designers are not used for the majority on new houses.
Why not?
Because the developers carry out market research into what their target market wants to buy and then they build it. The mistake CABE and other unrepresentative bodies make is thinking that the housebuyer does not know what they want and is incapable of voicing that desire.
Developers are in the business of selling the most expensive purchase in most peoples lives. They also carry huge capital costs if they get it wrong and nobody will buy the houses they have built. Therefore they go to some trouble to build the houses that the buyer wants.
It may not please the Architect, the Engineer or the Academic but the buyer who is paying £250,000 or more is happy to get a house that meets their requirements and looks pleasing to their eye.
Art critics may love the modern artistic ideas that win the Turner Prize but look in peoples homes are you will find very different styles of decoration. The same is true for the houses themselves.
Stay tuned to Property Fortunes...
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