Collapse
‘Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive’ by Jared Diamond; Allan Lane, 2005. 590pp Reviewed by Peter Smith | 9 November 2005 With Collapse, Jared Diamond has essentially written two books. Firstly, a series of four case studies examining ancient societies that subsequently collapsed; the East Islanders, the Anasazi in the south west US, the Maya in the Yucatan which forms part of Mexico today and the Norse in...
Taking a Risk
Austin Williams | 8 September 2005 On the very day that the Architects’ Journal was holding its conference on changes in Health and Safety legislation, focussing on how to manage risk, so the House of Lords was hosting a conference focussing on worries that risk culture had gone too far. So at the same time that I was getting a short shrift from Stephen Wright of the Health and Safety Executive for questioning what I called the...
Sustainability and the moral right
Austin Williams | 12 May 2005 ‘The problem is that people like you think that they can deny the reality of events: like David Irving, you are denying the problem.’ Now I’m used to being insulted, but it still amazes me how many people that I have never met before, feel as if they have the right to insult me simply because they are unable to come to terms with the fact that I have a contrary position to them. However,...
The vacuity of ‘critical pluralism’
‘Sustainable Architecture: Cultures and Natures in Europe and North America’ by Simon Guy and Steven Moore (Eds); Spon Press, 2005. 269pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 3 March 2005 Yet another tome from the Newcastle home of new-sustainability with a hands-across-the-sea research link with American and north European Universities. Guy, together with Graham Farmer who also has an essay here, are both from Newcastle’s School...
Dark Age Ahead
‘Dark Age Ahead’ by Jane Jacobs; Random House, 2004. pp241 Reviewed by Austin Williams | 13 January 2005 Aged 88 when this book was published, Jane Jacobs is certainly the grande dame of urbanism and it must be worrying for this book to be described on the dust jacket as ‘the crowning achievement’ of her career. While its title sounds like yet another millenarian offering – in the spirit of Sir Martin Rees’ ‘Our Final...
Saving the planet
‘How We Can Save The Planet’ by Mayer Hillman; Penguin, 2004. 192pp Reviewed by Dave Clements | 5 June 2004 We will live in a ‘carbon-literate’ society, where carbon is a parallel currency and carbon credits tradable on ‘cbay’. We will exist within the confines of carbon budgeting, subjecting ourselves to a regime analogous to our present day penchant for calorie counting with weekly visits to Carbon Watchers. Our...
Real Development
Austin Williams | 17 March 2004 When Sebastian Tombs, Chief Executive of the RIAS recently announced that “sustainability has been recognised formally by the RIAS as one of the keys to successful development of the built environment’ he was simply voicing what is now a commonplace assumption; that Sustainability Rules OK. Admittedly, there appears to be no alternative to sustainability, but since nobody really knows what it...
Tomorrow's World
David Clements | 13 December 2003 ‘One year ago, Tomorrow’s World was cancelled,’ announced Austin Williams, convenor of the one-day conference Future Vision: Future Cities and chair of the final plenary ‘Tomorrow’s World: Visions of the Future ‘. Indeed, as the knowing laughs from the audience suggested, even though the reference was to the former BBC flagship of TV Science, the implications are wider...
The Making of Paris
Austin Williams | 13 November 2003 This year sees the 150th anniversary of Haussmann’s appointment as Prefect of the Seine, engaged to draw up the plans for Paris, one of the greatest, most audacious proposals in town planning ever seen. One-and-a-half centuries later, and in New Localism or New Centralism? Planning and the Regions, Sir Jeremy Beecham, chairman of the UK’s Local Government Association, argues that ‘counties are under...
The vision thing
Austin Williams | 13 November 2003 Here we explore the methods, the madness, the legacy and the redefinition of Baron Haussmann’s influential work in Paris and ask whether it could happen today. This year sees the 150th anniversary of Haussmann’s appointment as Prefect of the Seine, engaged to draw up the plans for Paris, one of the greatest, most audacious proposals in town planning ever seen. One and a half centuries...
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