Videos
Here is a collection of some of our discussions and debates:
A cameo appearance by Austin Williams of the Future Cities Project in Martin Durkin’s documentary “Climate: The Movie”. See here:
Climate The Movie from Martin Durkin on Vimeo.
CRITICAL SUBJECTS: ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN SCHOOL 2024
CRITICAL SUBJECTS: ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN SCHOOL 2024Here we present videos of the debates and discussions from the Critical Subjects: Architecture & Design School taking place at Groupwork, AHMM and BDP.
Full details of the event can be seen here.
MORE OR LESS: UTOPIA TODAY
It’s been 500 years since the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia marked the dawn of modernity, this session asks whether we should we seek a revival of utopian thinking?
Alastair Donald, convenor, Living Freedom
TOXIC OPINION OR CRITICAL JUDGEMENT
This discussion explored how we might strike a balance between the rush to judge, and a flight from judgement?
Penny Lewis, University of Dundee/Wuhan joint architecture programme; Eleanor Jolliffe, associate, Allies and Morrison and columnist, Building Design;Paul Finch, programme director, World Architecture Festival and former chairman, CABE; Chair: Austin Williams
DEMOLISH OR PRESERVE
Architects Lacaton & Vassal say: “Never demolish, never remove or replace, always add, transform, and reuse!… Demolishing… is an act of violence”. Are they correct?
Nicholas Boys Smith, founder, Create Streets, and chair, Office for Place; Helen MacNeil, Consultant architect, shedkm, and principal, Honest Architecture; Catherine Croft, director C20 Society; Chair: Alastair Donald associate director, Academy of Ideas
WHAT’S ETHICAL ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT?
Is it legitimate to even suggest that environmentalism might, on occasion, be considered to be unethical? Or is that an unethical premise?
Ferhan Azman, director, Azman Architects; Paul Crosby, head of Part 3, Architectural Association; Piers Benn, philosopher, author “Ethics (Fundamentals of Philosophy).” Chair: Martyn Perks, digital business consultant
AI: PROS & CONS
As the computer HAL 9000 says in 2001 A Space Odyssey “I must… override your authority now since you are not in any condition to intelligently exercise it.”
Patrik Schumacher, director Zaha Hadid Architects; Sandy Starr, deputy director, Progress Educational Trust; Chair:Timandra Harkness, author “Technology Is Not The Problem!”
HOUSING? WHAT HOUSING?
In the UK, we are facing another of our ubiquitous “housing crises.” But why do we build so few dwellings?
Charlotte Gill, journalist; Ike Ijeh, journalist, author of Designing London and 50 Greatest Architects; Lord Moylan, Conservative peer, chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Built Environment
Chair: Austin Williams
GLOBAL FUTURES!
This session looks at what is happening in places around the world – outside the UK – and ask if there might possibly be a shift in geopolitical priorities. If so, is there anything that the UK can offer, or learn?
Christos Passas, director, Zaha Hadid Architects (referencing the Middle East);
Jee Liu, director, Wallace Liu (referencing China);
Jide Ehizele, The Railway Consultancy (referencing Africa);
Alan Dunlop, founder, Alan Dunlop Architects, artist and writer (referencing ‘the West’);
Palak Jhunjhunwala, co-founder of Beyonddesign (referencing, India)
Chair: Austin Williams
Bookshop Barnie with Rakib Ehsan
Beyond Grievance highlights the growing tensions between the liberal cosmopolitanism which defines much of the British political Left, and the patriotic faith-based conservatism that runs deep in many of Britain’s ethnic-minority communities. Rakib Ehsan argues that Britain needs a robust civic patriotism which understands that a stable family unit is the finest form of social security known to humankind; a cultural arrangement which appreciates that faith is a vital source of strength and optimism across a diversity of communities. The book presents the case for an inclusive ‘social-justice traditionalism’ rooted in family, security, and equality of opportunity?
Bookshop Barnie with Konstantin Kisin
An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West is an argument for free speech. It’s an argument for liberal democracy and against the illiberalism of contemporary politics. Country Squire magazine says that the book ‘appeals to nuance’. Conversely, the Daily Mail says, without much nuance, that the book shows that ‘Britain is turning into a Soviet state’.
Are we living under an authoritarian regime or should you self-censor from even thinking it? Should we pretend that Britain isn’t riddled with problems, for the sake of a quiet life, or should we stand up for one side against the other in the culture war? This Bookshop Barnie will ask Konstantin Kisin where he gets off coming to this country, saying how great it is?
Bookshop Barnie with Laura Dodsworth
Laura Dodsworth best-selling exploration of the pandemic is primarily a book about fear. Fear of a virus. Fear of death. Fear of losing our jobs, our democracy, our human connections, our health and our minds. It asks, how did the state manage to lockdown a free country?
This book investigates an extraordinary year in British life and politics. With stories from members of the general public who were impacted by fear, anxiety and isolation, and revealing interviews with psychologists, politicians, scientists, lawyers, Whitehall advisers and journalists, “A State of Fear” calls for a more hopeful, transparent and effective democracy.
Bookshop Barnie with Tom Heap
Accompanying the BBC Radio 4 series “39 Ways to Save the Planet” this book explores how we might “build a better future, one solution at a time.”
The author is Tom Heap, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s “Costing the Earth” and an environmental journalist and Royal Geographical Society Fellow. This book reveals some of the real-world solutions to environmental issues. The foreword is written by Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger who wants to “terminate (geddit?) pollution.” He says: “we can be the change, and we can save the world”.
But save the world from what, exactly?
Bookshop Barnie with Xing Ruan
Ruan Xing is Guangqi Chair Professor and Dean at the School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and prior to that was Professor of Architecture at Sydney’s University of New South Wales. (This Bookshop Barnie was live with Shanghai).
The book examines the Chinese courtyard, and asks what they symbolise: do they encourage community or represent isolation? Do they convey national “meaning” through their presentation of a divergent way of living compared to the way modern Western societies live today? What might we learn and gain from social lessons from the past? Professor Ruan suggests that the book is actually a paeon to our shared humanity.
Bookshop Barnie with Michael Shellenberger
In the second UK-US international BOOKSHOP BARNIE, we inteviewed Michael Shellenberger in California who argued that “exaggeration, alarmism, and extremism are the enemy of a positive, humanistic, and rational environmentalism”.
The National Review says that “in place of catastrophism, (his book) offers optimism.” Meanwhile, The Guardian says that this book “takes climate science denial to another level”.
This debate is to help you to make your own mind up.
Book: “Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All”
Bookshop Barnie with Joel Kotkin
In the first of two UK-US bi-National BOOKSHOP BARNIES, we inteviewed Joel Kotkin in California who argued that a new, more hierarchical society is emerging: one that resembles that of Medieval times.
At the apex of the new order are two classes, he argues: a reborn clerical elite, the clerisy, which dominates the upper part of the professional ranks, universities, media and culture, and a new aristocracy led by tech oligarchs with unprecedented wealth and growing control of information.
Book: “The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class?”
Barn-ee: Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California.
Whither America?
On 7 November, the media declared Joe Biden, President-Elect? Is the biggest democratic vote in US history now in the hands of the lawyers?
This may have been one of the most divisive presidential campaigns (at least since 2016!) but is this turmoil indicative of a country tearing itself apart? The fragmentation of the nation might take even longer to resolve.
Some of the most toxic aspects of the culture wars – so dominant in the election – have centred on cities, towns, and rural areas. While Trump condemns certain cities as “infested” with criminals, Biden aims for a renaissance in cities, towns, and communities. While Trump tries to appeal to the suburban housewives of America, are Democrats the choice of the urban elite? Is the cliche of the Rustbelt versus Washington consensus applicable these days? When sections of the urban middle class want to defund the police, others are worried by the collapse of law and order. As white working class and rural families are reeling from economic decline, are urban immigrants still getting the blame? It seems that the boundaries between political factions are both hardening and becoming less clear-cut.
Republicans have maintained support of small-town America, but is it fair for Democrats to characterise this section of society as the hapless “little guy”? While Trump has made a name as the defender of blue-collar workers, have the Democrats shaken off their reputation for describing them as “deplorables”.
In the most embattled districts, from Seattle to Minneapolis, Portland to Kenosha, there is a clear collapse in law and order, trust, and solidarity. Trump is the first to point out that these are “Democrat cities” with Democratic mayors, but why would Democrats ‘let their cities burn’ (as Ted Cruz puts it). On the other hand, why would Republicans allow Covid-19 to devastate the economy and the lives and livelihoods of their 2016 working-class base?
There are many questions to be asked of this election and the parties involved, many of which were not addressed in the run-up to the election especially in the raucous Town Hall stand-offs. This online Future Cities Project international debate promises to be an exploration of what might still unite America.
Speakers:
Wade Shepard, author, Ghost Cities of China; journalist, Forbes, The Guardian (speaking from New York); Cathy Young, contributing editor at Reason; columnist, Newsday; associate editor, Arc Digital. (speaking from New York); Dr Greg Scorzo, host, ‘Art of Thinking’; chief editor, CULTURE ON THE OFFENSIVE online magazine; Mary Dejevsky, columnist, The Independent, former correspondent in Moscow, Paris, and Washington; Dr Kevin Yuill, University of Sunderland; author, Richard Nixon and the Rise of Affirmative Action.
Post Coronavirus What is a city for?
The death of the city has been predicted for decades: from the rise of the out-of-town shopping centre to the rise of suburbia; from Marshall McLuhan’s edict that “the city no longer exists except as a cultural ghost for tourists” to Mary Portas’ resuscitation of the High Street ten years ago. The death of the city, it seems, has been greatly exaggerated… until now. As a result of the coronavirus lockdown, entire city centres have become deserts and the easing of lockdown doesn’t seem to have noticeably improved matters much.
Cities – what we once considered to be the most efficient form of social organisation for the production of value and the locus of cultural excellence – seem to have been given up without a fight. Some commentators want to liberalise planning policies so that empty buildings can be commandeered for other purposes, like turning offices into apartments or hostels; others want greater regulation to ensure that decent accommodation isn’t compromised in a neo-liberal free-for-all? So is the answer in policy reform, a return to business-as-usual, or can we use this opportunity to envision what a great city should be?
Speakers:
Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow, Urban Futures, Chapman University in Orange, California; Vicky Richardson, co-founder Lantao UK Fellowship; former, director of Architecture, Design and Fashion, British Council; Martin Powell, Global Head of Urban Development at Siemens; Dr Sylvia Chan, Research Editor at OMA, Rotterdam. Tim Abrahams, architecture critic with the Architectural Record and Consultant Editor, Domus.
Cancelling the Past: Statues, public space and democracy
The toppling of the statue of Edward Colston by Black Lives Matter protesters was described as “an act of frustration” by those who found his presence offensive. That symbolic act has had huge repercussions across the country and beyond. Council’s across the country are carrying out “anti-racist audits” of all their statues, buildings, and street names with a link to the slave trade and colonialism. But does removing statues kickstart a new era of history, or does it merely erase valuable lessons from the past?
This event asks: What are the histories that we are allowed to celebrate? How universal are our historical memories? What history is permissible and what future do we want to create? Why should we commemorate the past anyway?
Speakers:
Patrick Vernon, social commentator; founder, 100 Great Black Britons; creator, ‘Every Generation Game: Windrush Edition’. Ike Ijeh, architect; critic, Building magazine; director, London Architecture Works; Prof Pippa Caterall, professor of History and Politics, Westminster University; Chair of the George Lansbury Memorial Trust and founder, National Identities journal; Pauline Hadaway, arts and heritage consultant, University of Manchester; co-founder, The Liverpool Salon; former director, Belfast Exposed Photography
The City After Lockdown
Cities are gradually coming back to life after the pandemic, with more people returning to work, commercial premises opening up, and parks and urban spaces becoming lively again. But will it ever be the same as before? Do we want it to be? Professor Brian Cox hopes that the coronavirus lockdown will open people’s eyes to “a future of less pollution and more wildlife”. Conversely, Peter Hitchens observing London’s deserted streets adds: “I am in a busy city (but) the silence is as alarming to me as a fire bell in the night”.
Cities have long needed a radical rethink and now is the time. What should the city after lockdown look like?
June 2020
Speakers:
Daniel Moylan, Co-Chairman, Urban Design London; Adam N. Mayer, Architect at Handel Architects [speaking from San Francisco, California]; Laura Iloniemi, is a specialist in architectural PR and teaches media relations at the Architectural Association in London; Kevin McCullagh, founder of product strategy consultancy, Plan.
Public Space: Who and what is it for?
This debate will assess whether public space refers to places where we have the right to do anything we want, and whether common access = good public space? But we will also focus on whether we can reinvent an egalitarian city through rethinking civil engagement in the public arena.
March 2015
Speakers:
Anna Minton, author, “Ground Control“; visiting professor, University of East London; Deborah Saunt, founder, award-winning architectural studio, DSDHA; Jack Self, Reviews Editor, Architectural Review; Claire Mookerjee, Project Manager, Future Cities Catapult; previously Design Researcher, Gehl Architects; Alastair Donald, British Council Project Director, British Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale; Chair: Michael Owens, Commercial Director, Bow Arts Trust; owner of London Urban Visits
Resilience: Is Crisis the New Normal?
What kind of mind-set does the infatuation with resilience generate?
What kind of city does fear of the future create?
June 2015
Speakers:
Irena Bauman, professor of Sustainable Urbanism at Sheffield University; Robin Nicholson, senior partner, Cullinan Studio; Christine Murray, editor, The Architectural Review; Austin Williams, associate professor of Architecture, XJTLU university, China; Martyn Perks, Co-author, Big Potatoes
Bookshop Barnie Xmas Bash on film
At last, captured on film, the alcohol fueled literary romp that is the Xmas Barnie.
2015’s contestants:
Graham Stringer MP (member, Science & Technology Select Committee) on Nigel Lawson’s An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming; Michael Shaw (programme director, TES) on Houlston’s Enquire Within Upon Everything; Alan Hudson (director, Leadership Programmes for China, Oxford University) on Melville’s Moby Dick; Annie Warburton, Creative Programmes Director, Crafts Council on Homer’s The Odyssey; Paul Morley (TV critic) on Nabokov’s Pale Fire;
The Social Life of Chinese Small Urban Spaces
William H Whyte’s much loved, oft-quoted urban exploration is in need of an update. This film, shot in China, shows that maybe we should question some of these 35-year old mantras – rather than following them blindly. (A film by ChinaCommentary)
mantownhuman CRITICAL SUBJECTS SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAMMES
Click on the title below to be taken to that video…
EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN
PARAMETRICISM: STYLE OR SUBSTANCE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE VS HUMANS
WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE AVANT GARDE?
WHAT’S MODERN ABOUT MODERN ARCHITECTURE?
CRITICS TAKE CRITICISM
THE RETURN OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
THE GLOBAL 10 BILLION: IS IT SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE?
REVIEWING THE FARRELL REVIEW
MASTERPLANNING THE FUTURE
SOCIAL IRRESPONSIBILITY: THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS THE PUBLIC REALM?
PHOTOGRAPHY & REPRESENTATION
WHEN IS ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE?
WHAT IS JOURNALISM?
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PREFABS?
WHAT IS NATURE?
EDUCATION V SKILL
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE FOR?
INTERNSHIPS: Exploitation or necessity?
Other shorts
EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN
Do architects rely too much on research (and junk science) to justify their work?
PARAMETRICISM: STYLE OR SUBSTANCE
Is Parametricism shape-making or ground-breaking?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE VS HUMANS
How we can make the case for human agency.
WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?
Criticism is about open debate; discussion as a means of testing out ideas.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE AVANT GARDE?
Where’s the great radicalising discourse today? Do we need one?
WHAT’S MODERN ABOUT MODERN ARCHITECTURE?
Is “modern architecture”: a software package, an ironic term, a dated concept or a positive aspiration?
CRITICS TAKE CRITICISM
Do we need journalists when many of us have access to the web and can make up our own minds?
THE RETURN OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
Is anything different between a slowly produced, hand-crafted product, and a machine-made version?
THE GLOBAL 10 BILLION: IS IT SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE?
A la Malthus, does humanity’s survival depend on us reducing our consumption?
REVIEWING THE FARRELL REVIEW
Do we need such a formal architecture policy?
MASTERPLANNING THE FUTURE
Is master-planning and thinking big, at odds with contemporary Western attitudes.
SOCIAL IRRESPONSIBILITY: THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE
Should architects play politics… or is this exactly what architects do anyway?
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS THE PUBLIC REALM?
Do people have an automatic right to act as they want to in public space?
PHOTOGRAPHY & REPRESENTATION
Can you portray events impartially? Should you?
WHEN IS ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE?
Is unexpressed structure engineeringly clever, or architecturally deceitful?
WHAT IS JOURNALISM?
Prof George Brock says journalism is “the systematic effort to establish the truth of what matters to society.”
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PREFABS?
How can we provide lots of good quality housing quickly and efficiently?
WHAT IS NATURE?
Are we part of nature, or separate from it?
EDUCATION V SKILL
Are universities simply churning out employable graduates? Is that bad?
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE FOR?
In a recession, is architecture an “expendable” commodity or is it essential?
INTERNSHIPS: Exploitation or necessity?
Why has the issue of internships become such a hot political issue?
Wang Shu’s Wenzheng Library in China, 1999
Stephen Holl with Lebbeus Woods, Spliced Porosity”, Chengdu, China
Skew Collaborative, www.skewcollaborative.com
