"Can also you name a suburb where this has happened."Dresden?Seriously, what's less British than co-ordination? Eclecticism, difference, juxtaposition, absurdity - those are the elements of British planning that end up lasting and being celebrated - consistency and uniformity are what ends up being *hated* 20 years down the line. Ealing Broadway Centre, for instance, is genuinely interesting because it tries to juxtapose the Edwardian gables and spires of Ealing with a thoroughly modern design - there's a fascinating account of the development of the design on Google Books which has strong resonance 30 years later, particularly why the elevation on the Broadway is much uglier than the High St. (developers wishing to maximise and simplify floor plans for financial reasons, actually). The lesson is if you want interesting architecture, put arbitray and contradictory restrictions on, rather than allowing one consideration (cash, say, or floor area or number of dwellings) override all others."wonder if the Council is run by republicans."It's run by Conservatives, who are not generally noted as being particularly republican in outlook. Monarchists and republicans can both be civilised people, but barbarians come from both parties these days.Anyway, Prince Charles is hardly the saviour of architecture he thinks he is, much of what he likes is as awful (in the sense of being dull and bad) as some of the stuff he doesn't like and some of the stuff he doesn't like is quite good or (even better) just ahead of its time. He'd doubtless have opposed, for instance, the 30s Modernist tube stations that are now world famous and treasured icons of London, but hardly consistent and co-ordinated with what already exists. It's the juxtaposition that makes them interesting.
Thomas Barry ● 6132d