The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
The case for a 100-mile national park from Oxford to the Wash
The East of England is facing a critical water shortage. 5th Studio director Tom Holbrook proposes a bold response: the Arc, a 100-mile public landscape with water at its heart
Planning
News about the planning system in the UK, including permitted development rights, the National Planning Policy Framework, the London Plan and the ‘country house’ clause
London’s ‘incoherent riot’ of a skyline beats NYC’s boring banality in my book
Despite producing twentieth-century gems like the Empire State building and the Chrysler, Manhattan’s more modern towers have been relentlessly bland, argues Earle Arney
Bartlett chief to kick off Parliamentary high streets inquiry
University College London professor John Tomaney is to give evidence in Parliament tomorrow as an inquiry begins into the health of Britain’s high streets
Meltdown looms for building control, warns key figure
A leading figure in building control in England and Wales has warned of an impending breakdown in the system that oversees safe and compliant construction
Gove’s brownfield-first planning policy criticised as ‘threadbare’
Key industry figures have criticised government proposals to re-emphasise brownfield use in planning policy
How we can stop utilities firms from scarring our streets
Botched repairs or ‘street scars’ degrade local high streets and town centres, damaging local pride. But there is a way to fix this, writes Nicholas Boys Smith
Lendlease submits revised £1.9bn Birmingham Smithfield plans
Lendlease and its design team, which includes David Kohn Architects, has resubmitted its £1.9 billion plans for the Smithfield area in Birmingham city centre
Morris+Company Shoreditch planning decision deferred for third time
Morris+Company’s controversial plans for an office building in Shoreditch have been stalled yet again, after Islington Council deferred its decision on the scheme for a third time
Gove threatens councils over poor housing delivery
Michael Gove has warned local authorities in England their planning powers could be removed if they delay planning decisions, just days after new housing consents plummeted to a historic low
Glasgow cheerleaders should admit it. The city is on its knees
Last month, Rory Olcayto gave a speech at the RIAS convention in Glasgow describing the city as a ‘shipwreck’. Here, he explains what’s gone wrong and what could fix it