Monday 8 December 2014

No Wright in your backyard, say planners

No, the problem isn’t just New Zealand’s: innovative building is increasingly difficult worldwide. And it’s almost always been all but impossible in Britain.  ( When I was there twenty years ago I was told by a former Wright apprentice to whom I was introduced that he had discovered early on after emigrating from Iraq to Britain that the UK was not the place for innovative organic architecture to flourish.)

No surprise then that would have been Frank Lloyd Wright’s first home on a property in Britain has been knocked by by arseholes philistines planners, who have told the owner he may not have his masterpiece.

A plan by Stephen Brooks Architects to build the first Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in the UK has been blocked at the appeal stage by a planning inspector, reports the Architects’ Journal… [The] proposal [was already] rejected last year by North Somerset Council, who commented that as he never built outside of the USA and Japan, Wright “can’t be that influential.”

The video below was produced by the architects to help persuade people and ignorant busybody arseholes planners. It was unsuccessful – a ‘'planning inspector” called Edward Gerry declaring that in his view,  “the design, including in terms of its horizontal form and its use of materials, would not be of exceptional quality or of an innovative nature when considered against modern construction techniques.” And in a country in which one-eyed ignoramuses are king, his view is the only one that counts.

To paraphrase John Greenleaf Whittier, “For of all sad thoughts of architectural pen, The saddest are these: "What might have been!"

2 comments:

Paul said...

I get the impression the grey one played the man and not the ball, he seems to object to Wright rather than the design. I suppose that's to be expected from a functionary who undoubtedly goes home to his "two up - two down" terraced house with a loft extension, or semi-detached duplex if he's really made something of himself.

Anonymous said...

Wow how magnificent would this home be built on this stunning block of land!!. Why do we have to have to have ordinary when we can have brilliance! Because the planner says and that's all subjective and silly. Good luck Hugh