Gordon Murray

A new type of architecture exhibition: empathies between Mackintosh and Holl in Glasgow

“There are periods in all the arts when the language reaches a certain critical mass of complexity, beyond which lies only sterile mannerism. At those times, when the art form seems particularly inflated and prolix, spring-cleaning is in order… The simple gesture is the hardest of all to defend…”; the composer of Nixon in China, John Adams, speaking of the work of composer Steve Reich. In considering Holl and Mackintosh together two themes emerge, the first, the idea of an architecture of uncertainty as a metaphor for where we are as a society and as a profession. Not simply doubt, but the indefinite. The second how we place architecture and architects in a wider contemporary cultural context. Starting with the latter, to attempt a placing of Holl in an American artistic cultural context, in his Reid Inaugural Lecture he plainly set out a lifetime of collaboration with contemporary artists empathetic to his approach. Another architect, his Finnish collaborator, Juhanni Palassma suggests: “Steven Holl re-sensualises space, material, light.” Interestingly motivations may be better understood by shifting outside the visual arts to look at counterparts in music

Education for a smarter profession

We must build for this nation a big passion for innovation. We must make the development of the creative mind a national agenda. Unless we get really serious about cultivating creativity and promoting innovation, the transformation to an innovation economy will not really happen.

Visions of sustainability - cities and regions

A painting from 1825 by Alexander Nasmyth hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland, a view of Edinburgh looking east along Princes Street; under construction to the south is Playfairs great Doric temple, the Royal Institution (now the Royal Scottish Academy), while beyond, across parkland, there is North Bridge and, in the distance, Arthurs Seat. More importantly Nasmyth shows us the contrast between the Old Town to his right -with buildings achieving some 10-12 storeys in height as the backlands of the High Street fall away into the hollow yet to become Princes Street Gardens - and the New Town to his left. The view being expressed is that the congested Old Town has been left behind for a cleaner, healthier and more open space, a beautiful new world order.

Disciplinary challenges. Critical perspectives

At the Research Seminar held at the riba on 9 September (see Report, pp13-15), Alan Penn presented the next rae exercise as a creative vehicle by which the diversity of research and architecture could be acknowledged and consolidated as a basis for self-understanding. In principle, this is a good idea. However, it implies something of a common disciplinary understanding, as against the previous regime, where schools pursued different approaches within the loose framework of the riba assessment of design quality.

Teaching, research and practice - establishing a productive balance (Raising the game)

The current debates on teaching standards, on research assessment and on the condition of the profession tend to be carried on in isolation from each other. In this article Gordon Murray, a practitioner and teacher, draws a connection between all three topics and underlines the importance and potential of research for both teaching and the profession. His brief review of teaching and professional formation in Japan provides a thought-provoking comparison with architectural education in the UK and the US.