2 10 20 https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/27236971ee842226bdd1646541678f3a.pdf 48c45a71ca7a227217907d1b48db2323 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 14 Subject The topic of the resource Building Quality, Skills, Education, Ideology, Materials, Production, Design Description An account of the resource es |oa 7a A iso:ae a i Bai ve BUILDING MATERIALS: Se TTea 35D BUILDING QUJALITY? NEVER MIND THE QUALITY _______________ Page 7 Monopoly fe scales operated by architectural selat Srarty SLATE IS THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, published bi-monthly and edited by the Movement’s Publications Group. News and features of broad interest to workers in the profession, the building industry and to the general public are included to stimulate general debate ona wide range of issues and to bring the Movement’s views and activities to the attentionof the largest possible readership. WORK ON SLATE SLATE needs more workers, more writers, more ideas and more reps. on order to producea better, larger and cheaper newsletter. If you would like to work for SLATE, becomea rep., join the group, send in articles or suggest topics it should cover then contact us soon. The copy date for the next issue is: 6th December 1979 SLATE ispublished by the Publications Group of the NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, 9 Poland St., London, W1. (Letters should be addressed to the Publication Publications Group). Printed by Islington Community Press, 2A St. Paul’s Rd., London, N1. Trade distribution by Publications Distribution Co-operative, 27 Clerken- well Court, London, EC2. SLATE may beavery slick looking paper but we need money fast! Please send us your donations now! Cheques made payable to SLATE” 9 Poland St., W1. There are those who think that the ‘quality’ of a building can only be evaluated in a subjective way. In recent years, however, attention has been focused by the media on several| notorious cases of a lack of quality in biulding: the collapse of Ronan Point multi-storey flats, the fatal fire at Summerland leisure centre, the social problems of blocks of flats in the Wirral which were recently dynamited and everywhere problems of condensation dampness and structural decay in system-built dwellings. Each case picked up by the media has been treated as an isolated scandal and little attempt has been made to uncover the underlying causes of these failures to provide even basic quality. Above all little or no attention has been paid to the nature ofa construction industry that creates such low standards. Processes of building design and construction can only be understood against the background of the economic realities that shape them: simply put, the search for ever increasing profit from the building process on site leads to the speeding up of work, corners are cut, standards of training are depressed andthesupervisionofworkisminimalised.Fallingstandards of workmanship could be compensated for to some degree by building materials of higher quality, but the production of building materials takes place under the same economic circumstances as construction itself. The building materials industry is more rationalised than the construction industry which has enabled attempts to be made to control the quality ofbuildingmaterials butthemonopolisticpositionofthe building materials aglomerates has enabled them to exert adequate pressure to ensure that standards of product quality remain minimal. In architectural education and design the operation of market forces are less obvious, although their effect in speeding up production of design work in architects’ offices cannot but reduce the amount of care that can be given to either technical or aesthetic matters. Beyond that, the function of architectural training and work in creating designs whose ultimate role is to support the conditions under which other sections of Capital can flourish inevitably distances building designers from ordinary people who must be the final judges of buildingquality. _ We have not been able to. explore all these questions in this issue of Slate but hope that we have pointed oft some ways in which quality in buildings can be viewed from a material as well as subjective viewpoint.and indicated some of the ways in which the current economic and social structure militates against good building. A radical redistribution of econamic and political powerinsocietycannotguaranteebuildingqualitybutitmay well prove to be a precondition for any improvement. firms discourage care and quality in building design TRAINED TO MAKE A KILLING Architectural training and ideology enforce thedistancingofbuildingdesignersfrom building users NEWS Coin Street — The battle for an inner London housing site Page 9 Page 12 NEWS:EROMNAMss sn age14) LETTERS Page 15 Opinions expressed in SLATE are not necessarily the policy of the New Archi tectureMovement unlessstatedtobeso. sh or plate’, n., a, & v.t. 1, Minds of grey, green, oF blulsh-purple rock caaily aplit, into flat smooth plates; plece of such plate used es roofing-material; ploceofIt ‘usu. framed in wood used for writing on with ~-pencil orsmall rod of soft ~ (clean, the ~, rid oneself of or renounce obliga. tions); ~-black, -blue, prey, modifications *these tints such as occur in~; ~-club, BUILDING UALITY? O ~al benefit soclety with small “utions; ~-colour(ed), (of) darie reenish grey; hence slat’y? a, *~. 3. y.t. Cover with ~a oo slit’er‘ n, (ME o ne a 2. adj.(Made) OL esp. 88 roofing; heri aic)late£.OFesclate,fem.of> mut. l ui slite*, v.t. (collog.). Criticlze severe” (esp. author in reviews), scold, rates *ocminate, propose for office eto. slat’inc'(1) n. (app. f.prec.] SLATE14 PAGE3 S S ST ue CONTENTS EDITORIAL Page 3 BUILDING SKILLS, Page 4 How the contracting system for building construction forces a decline in the standards of building workers’ training EDITORIAL CONTACT :‘PHONE 01-703 7775 SLATE14 PAGE2 John Keene is a building worker who has recently completed a6 months full time TOPS course in bricklaying at one of the Skill Centres run by the Government and is now employed as a bricklayer. and controlled and more stable union organisation _ determination overides not only the financial SLATE14 PAGES Building skills In this article John Keene loks at the variuos ways in which building operatives are trained and employed by the contracting industry during their apprentice- ships. He argues that conditions in the building industry training and hence quality. militate against proper training and hence reduce the Any discussion on the quality of the built environ— ment must take into consideration the standard and quality of building industry itself. Iwould like therefore in this article to attempt a look at the quality of that training based on my own experiences which the reader should bear in mind are limited. This is not therefore a scholarly report but rather a review of mine and others experiences in the industry and an attempt to draw from them an overall view of the situation. The most obvious way of learning a skill is to do ted toimprove an apprenticeship. Apprentices Another more basic method of learning a trade is to merely purchase a kit of tools and go with a friend who is a trades person already. Under his/her guidance and protection you try and pick up the essentials of the craft until you feel confident to strike out on your own. Theoretical study if are indentured with 7 any is usually aquestion of purchasing the odd book is possible whose vigilance ensures proper training facilities, Some exceptional firms exist who believe they have an obligation regarding apprentices and some lucky people get with them. Other firms under pressure from strong on site union organisation can be reminded of their obligations and fortunate apprentices receive their due instruction. On one such site that I was on, the Stewards Committee ensured that apprentices were instructed in and carried out allshe craft operations, and were not used as teaboys, semi—labourers and the like. Anothermeansoflearningabuildingtradeisby _ofthecasualstructureoftheindustrythatsuch taking a TOPS course. These are six month a method exists and is pursued by reasonable numbers fultimecoursesrunbytheGovernmentwhichhave ofpeople. become increasingly used in the last ten years or so. They stick very closely to the City & Guilds syllabus giving a good grounding in the theory but with a stronger emphasis on the practise. The TOPS course Iattended in bricklaying Ienjoyed very much and found the standard of instruction very high. However that being so it is impossible in six months to learn a trade: the skill centre I attended certainly tried its best but the time limitation is too great. Also the skill centre, try as it may, cannot capture the reality of site work and ex—trainees like myself have a real struggle surviving on sites afterwards. In fact officially you are not regarded as a trades person for another 18 months and your rate is supposed to be set lower accordingly, but few firms take people on on this basis and you are left to make your own way. Although aTOPS course will come nowhere near ahalf decent apprenticeship, agood TOPS course is far better than a bad apprenticeship. Quality in terms of appearance and technical correctness are stressed before speed (although the shortage of time puts pressure on this attitude and is one of the courses contradictions) and the theoretical grounding isquite wide and ful. Youactually get to perform most craft operations. In brickwork Icovered from a manhole to a Florentine arch, but again the problem is that you only usually have time to do each job once whereas craft knowledge and skill require repetition. Therefore although TOPS courses can’t and shouldn’t be allowed to replace apprenticeships they do provide a service for peoplelike myself who missed the opportunity of an apprenticeshipand who now wish to learn a trade. The best TOPS trainees in my opinion are usually ex—labourers whose self difficulties (you only receive an allowance — far below normal site earnings)but also the pressure of the course and the army type running of the skill centres themselves. on the craft. That this method of learning a trade is totally inadequate is obvious but it is a function SLATE14 PAGES that only by changine the structure Of the buildi industry will the opportunity be crea a building firm for three years under an approved scheme, with certain regulations concerning the apprentices Position and general wellbeing. There is a board regulating the scheme,consisting of both union and employer's representatives, The apprentice is expected to receive the necessary craft training usually under the wingof an older tradesperson or foreperson. He/she is also expected to receive day or block release at a technical college where craft theory is brushed up on and a check made on his/her progress. This sounds and would be fine if this situation was true for al apprentices, however it is not and experience shows in fact that it is only true fora possibility of producing quality work, Heconcludes small proportion. This isbasically because apprentices are and have always been in this industry and others, a supply of cheap labour. They are viewed by employers Iwas on, the main contractor M JGleeson hadsub- let al the brickwork toa subby whilst also having two bricklayer apprentices. The subby wouldn't allow the two lads near any brickwork at al, other than making good and Cutting away, Iwas on that site for 15 months and whenI left there was nothing to suggest that this would change in the next 15 months. not as the necessary new blood for the industry whose training costs are an essential investment but rather as another group to be exploited, Employers profits on site are often tied to completion dates which makes speed the key factor. Time for on site training istherefore greatly reduced. ; The exceptional apprentice who can keep up with high production gangs is welcomed — doing a craft job for les than the craft rate, But the average apprenticeis put on nonproductive work because of hislack of speed and Knowledge and spends his day doing work that is useful to the employer but not to the apprentice. For a young carpenter this means that his/her apprenticeship might consist solely of cutting down scaffold boards, Precuttin, timber for production Bangs, erecting huts etc The widespread use ofsubcontractors by : employers also aggravates this Situation not only in that they very rarely take on apprentices and thus don’ t put anything at al back into the industry, but also In some situations being so piecework : orientated refusing to have anything to do with even directly employed apprentices. Thus one site As one can see from al this the apprentices lot is not generally a happy one, poor pay and debilitating work result in a high number of apprentices leaving completely or going straight on the tools — in- experienced though they may be. However there are exceptions to this general picture. The largest being in the public sector. Here in the Direct Labour departments the Department of the Environment , it is commonly accepted by all sides of industry that a good apprenticeship is the norm. The reason for thi is due to the difference in set up and organisation within the public sector. Here work ismore regulated SLATE14 PAGE6 have had it all their own way and chaos and anarchy rulealongsidetheprofitmotiveinthejunglewe y cal the building industry. The only real threat to this state of affairs being trade union organisation which has fought long and hard battles against employers that make the likes of Grunwicks and Garners management look like benevolent societies, In their struggle they won many things but the lar, a battle is stil going on and that is for control. Fer the only solution to the problem of apprentices, poor quality work is the same solution to al the ils that beset the industry and that is nationalization, Only under acontrolled building programme carried é out by registered building workers, stongly unionised can true regulation and improvement occur in craft training. On sites with no subbies with continuity of work good pay and conditions one might see designers ; willing the sort of buildings we now no longer take for granted but regard as works of art, once again springin, up in this country. But be that whimsical or not it is : a fact that only under direct state intervention wil any real improvement be made in training. Failing that we can only look forward to more of the same —tory destruction of the DLO’s, destruction of the one section where good apprenticeships are the norm, companies dropping back on their numbers of apprentices, and the constant growth of subbies with their shoddy work and even shoddier employment methods. Never mind the quality.. The architectural profession is controlled and minipulated by the Royal Institute of.British Architects (RIBA). They claim that, in return for employing a private architect, a proper regard for the interests of the client. isguaranteed. In the following article, however, John Murray demonstrates how the RIBA’s system for charging fees (Conditions of Engagement) encourages the architect to reduce building quality. publicarchitectshaveneverproposedanalternative JohnMurrayisa method of programming and costing which would reflect the different form of service carried out by in-house architects, Chief architects seem to be firmly wedded to the idea of their departments being similar to those of independent and private practitioners, but with some extra unquantifiable practice stil provides the norm. It defines the context in which public architecture is practised. In niether case does quality of service feature, except as an exhortation, in the discussions on programming and productivity. Yet there isaclose representative of ‘unattached’ archuects on the Architects Registration Council of the UK and has been active in the NAM Profession..." Issues Group. Some firms occasionally take on improvers and this is another way of learning a trade. They are usually people who have been with the firm as labourers and who have shown an interest in acraft. Paid more than labourers but less than the craft rate they are open to exploitation and the employer has not real obligation to proper traingin no real obligation to proper training and day release. Other courses exist for learning a trade under the Construction Industry Board (CITB) but I’m afraid Iknow litle or nothing about them. Also another very important fact when talking about training and quality is that labourers receive no training whatsoever. Anybody who believes they are only performing unskilled work anyway should try it sometime. Labourers are expected, with no training other than years of experience (sometimes the wrong experience) to perform operations as different as trench digging, cutting Both private and public offices use the RIBA fee scale as a device for programming and for measuring productivity. As successive NAM reports (1) have pointed out, this method of payment, which is based on apercentage of final construction costs gives rise to excessive profits and is a barrier to the achievement of quality in building. away with machine tools, kerb and pipe laying. Bad habits learnt when young remain forever. Thus the building industry has a whole section of the workforce who are instrumental to the building process who receive no proper instruction at al. The only conclusion one can make from al this is that craft training in the industry is generally in a sorry state. The reasons for this are to be found in the system itself. With so litle direct state intervention in the industry the employers and mysterious qualities surrounding the fee scale. It is rare either the percentage or the basis of the scale to be questioned in the offices. One might think that when enough. The available fee is divided up into a proportitportion of the fee will be twice as great. Yet labour Salaried architects will be familiar with the awesome and irksome additional tasks thrown in (4). Private arm and the RIBA Conditions of Engagement under the link between productivity and quality. And it is the Moses came down from the mountain he carried the tablets containing the ten commandments under one other. Yet it seems reasonable to speculate thatthe present fee scale emerged when a small number of partners in private practice sat down in Portland Place one afternoon and figured out how much profit they could get away with based on the amount and type of work a medium sized practice could produce in a year. They would also have had to assume a relation- ship between staff salaries and final construction cost. ‘As NAM’s original report to the Monopolies Commission (2) has shown medium and largepractices (over six staff), while accounting for some 36% of practices, nevertheless handle just over 80% of work by value and employ 80% of salaried architects in the private sector. An analysis of the make up of the RIBA Council and ARCUK will show that these bodies are dominated by partners from thosepractices practices (3). As far as the way the fee is to be distributed is concerned al architects will know of the famous three thirds ideal - one third salaries, one third over- heads, one third partners profit. While the definition of each of those may vary, the concept -of unknown origin -exercises apowerful hold on the minds of partners and staff alike. A sample survey of different offices suggests that this is rarely achieved in practice. Yet each office will have its own norm for different types of work which is applied to every project in the office. It is simple proportion for salaries, for overheads and for partners expended could have remained constant. This profit. Staff salaries are divided into the portion allotted for salaries and the amount of hours tobe spent on the job appears as if by magic. distortion will also occur if twice the quantity of material is specified. For chief officers in the public sector the fee scale is the yardstick by which they can provethat they are just as efficient as the consultants or that they can provide a cheaper service. As far as is known, As far as the client is concerned, the existing fee arrangement gives no direct incentive to the architect to reduce either the quantity or the cost of the work because this would reduce the fee income. Thus the RIBA fee scale may be summarised as SLATE14 PAGE7 promise of quality, in aesthetic, technical and social performance which is the claimed basis of the architects’ bargain with society (5). Quality is a social concept. It varies in place and time. Its definition is elusive and the subject of debate, yet its achievement has been the central concern of architectural practice for centuries. Ifquality asaconcept isproblematic, less arguable is the proposition that the quality of the end product isclosely related to the labour spent on it. While the quantity of time taken to achieve quality in a given piece of work wil vary from individual to individual, what is beyond doubt is the fact that therwillexistaminimum time.Iflessthanthisis expended, loss of quality follows. This si not to say that time spent guarrantees quality, but that quality can only be achieved when a certain amount of labour has been expended on the product. Time spent may be said to be the only reasonable means whereby the conditions under which quality can be achieved can be quantified. Time therefore represents the quality element in any pricing system. In the case of the’present RIBA fee scale this quality element is concealed. In addition the architects’ reward from the fees varies not in relation to quality but in relation to quantity and cost of building materials. Thus if an architect specifies a material of twice the unit cost of an alternative that SLATE14 PAGE8 SLATE14 PAGE9 livlihood itwould seem that they devalue itattheir peril. References (1) (a) ‘The Case Against Mandatory Minimum Fees’. NAM Report of the Monopolies Commission 14th May, 1976. (b) ‘Do not pass go.......do not collect 6%: AdoubleNAM reportNovember,1977. (c) ‘Way Ahead’: NAM/Unattached Architects report July, 1978. (2) As I(a) & (b) above. (3) Unpublished NAM report 1979. (4) May, 1978 Public Design Group’s Conference Report. (5) The argument that follows was first published in ‘Way Ahead’ July, 1978, Architecture students are force-fed on the notion that the design of buildings is an arcane knowledge with the power to solve all our problems, a notion that they find hard to shed once they start work. This is no accident, argues Rob Thompson, as the architectural profession exploitsthismythtodefenditsprivi- ledged position, to excuse itselffor itsfailure to design good buildings and to diffuse crticism None of this is good for the rest of us. the ultimate judges of building quality. Iasked my wife to briefly define ‘an architect’. ‘Someone who designs buildings’ was the reply. I asked the man in the off-license the same question and received the same reply. My next door neighbour (a teacher) also considered an architect to be ‘one who designs buildings’. Requiring further confirm- ation, Ilooked up ‘architect’ in the dictionary, and once again was confronted with the same words; ‘a designer of buildings.......’ (1). Four sources, four almost identical definitions. The same unity of definition does not exist, however, for the word ‘architecture’. The people mentioned above produced answers that varied from “buildings designed by architects’ to “everything that is built’, and the dictionary definition was -......the art of designing buildings; style of building......’ (2) I find it significant that society has a clear picture of the architects’ ‘job description” but not of the extent of his or her field of work. Significant because sustaining the situation requires the ‘expert’ to exist whilst allowing the result of his or her “expertise’ to be difficult to question. The definition of ‘architecture’ appears to be as vague within the architectural profession as it is with the lay-puplic. When approximately 80 students of the Architectural Association were asked, prior to a debate on ‘architecture’, ifanyone would like to define the field of their chosen profession, there was silence (3) Whethearn architect iders thephysical realmof architecture to be wide or narrow by executing the design of any building type s/he is contributing to the ‘backcloth’ over which s/he has no control. The built environment is not the product or the architectural profession’s decisions but is determined by market-forces, seemingly democrat- ised by political backing and presented ‘gift-wrapped’ by ademocratic planning process. Ifone uses an analogy of the ‘backcloth’ in theatrical terms the role of the architect is one of colouring in, rather than forming the scene. That the public should be confused about the architects’ field of work is an important protection for the profession against direct questioning about where their responsibilities lie. That the public should be unaware-of architects’ similar confusion is essential for the architects’ self- respect. The uncertainty of both sides regarding the field of operation of the architect is a relatively contemp- orary state and appears to coincide with the strength of voice of ‘the people’. Historically related to aprivileyed sector of society: architectural history, as we know it.....amounts architect, recently to little more than a who's who of architects who qualifie.1. This article commemorated power and wealth; an anthology _ isan edited version architecture is of buildings of, by and for the prvileged - the houses of true and false gods, of merchant princes and princes of the blood -with nevera word about the houses of lesser people’. (4) The growth of socialism in the latter half of the 19th century saw a change in attitude (of some of the powerful sectors of society) towards the ‘lesser people’, from total indifference to liberal paternalism and with this change in ‘client attitude’ came the alteration of focus of the architect. The paternalistic attitude of the architect deciding what was best for society continued through our century, until the late 1960's when the voice of public opinion was strong enough to openly question the ‘right’ of the architect to impose his or her product upon the user. With the growth of public questioning the scope of ‘architecture’ and of architects’ responsibilities has appeared to become (conveniently?) vaguer. The public questioning of the role of the architect in the late 1960's placed the architectural profession’s official body (the RIBA) in a dilemma. To deny responsibility for the built environment by passing the buck to the professional Planners, Engineers or Government Legislation etc. would be to lessen the importance of the ‘architect’ within society. ly the RIBA decided to put its head and try to weather the storm, which it suceeded in doing. Public questioning of the social responsibility of the architect inevitably lead to soul-searching within the profession. This in turn has resulted in an increased need by the majority of the architectural profession (the salaried architects) for a pair of blinkers to direct their attention from clashes between conscience and the realities of working as asalaried architect. As has already been shown the lay-public con- sider the architect to be a designer of buildings, an artist rather than abusinessman. As the RIBA isthe mouthpiece of the profession it can only be con- cluded that such an image is put about by the RIBA. The public might become concerned if it were informed that the environment was determined by the callousness of business efficiency rather than a concern for beauty. Ibelieve that not only is the above image of the architect sold to the public, it is also sold to the d of archi and impl dso deeply of part of his final thesis. Rob Thorson isan one which does not contain an incentive to reduce building costs, but which does contain an incentive to reduce building quality. It is questionable 2 whether this is a suitable basis for society’s bargain with the architectural profession. Ifindeed quality is the cornerstone of the professional service it would seem to be at least logical to establish as the basis of any pricing and programming system the only quantifiable element to which quality can berelated. Therefore itissuggested that the elementoftime should be brought to the forefront and costed, and an indice established for different types of work, so that the salaried architect as well as the client may compare and monitor the amount of time spent on the job. In the argument about quality v productivity, there is more than service to the client at stake. By agreeing to the continual reduction inquality, salaried architects devalue their own skill and the skills of building workers. In so far as both parties are dependent on the scale as their sole means of Trained to make a killing It is probably only within the last 15 years that the architectural establishment has had to concen- trate on the selling of an image to the general public ments. To concentrate on the production of in order to protect itself from the threat of extern- ally enforced change. are presented to students depends to a large extent on the interest of their tutors, who are encouraged by the RIBA through the educational establishments to actively practise architecture therefore ensuring that they are an integral part of the existing architect— establishment is never going to stress the moral ural establishment. The tutor’s interests generally lie in the smaller scale ‘design’ orientated schemes rather than the commercial or industrial corporate image/cost—effective projects. The majority of schools clients. in the country present their students with a variety of size and type of projects likely to be experienced in practise, in fact failure to do so would be failingintheirtasktoproduce‘architects’thatfitted into the existing system. They do not however, present an accurate picture to the student of his/her future role in bringing such projects to fruition, concentrating on the ‘design’ aspect rather than the co—ordinator/administrator role of the architect, nor do they attempt to develop any kindof ‘social conscience’ regarding the trust placed inthe architect by society for its environment. This last point can hardly come as a surprise if one turns to page 4 of the ARCUK Code of Professional Conduct. (ARCUK also being a body with a RIBA majority on its _ Council) Principle 1 states that: An architect shall faithfully carry out the duties which he undertakes. He shall also have a proper regard for the interests both of those who < commission and of those who may be expected touseorenjoytheproductofhiswork.(5) re ThereappearstobenoregardinthisPrinciplefor fxs, yi those who object to an imposed change in their The ‘community action’ movement (which seems to have been the result of the increase in confidence of the public voice) focussed attention on the fact that the architect/client bond was considerably stronger than the architect/public-need relationship. Architecture was beginning to be seen by the public as nothing more than a business. Allegations of corruptioncombinedwithdis-satisfactionof buildings by their users, together with the overall environment spawned by the building boom of the 1960's left only one course open to the architectural profession if it were to maintain any public respect; self-flagellation. The RIBA were not slow to realise that architect’ public credibility, and through this their stability, depended upon being seen to serve public rather than private interests. Almost like a gift from above a virtually unknown architect named Rod Hackney began to be talked about. A small urban renewal scheme had been carried out under his supervision and designed with the participation of the local residents. This scheme, known as Black Road, Macclesfield, appeared to have everything the RIBA needed to promote the image of architects being ‘socially aware’. However one considers the resulting design, for the RIBA it was perfect for the task in hand i.e. to show obligation of its members in preference to their obligation to design, as by so doing it would be working against the interests of its traditional the public that the architect was there to respond to the RIBA continues to ‘approve’ education courses their needs and wishes, and had the specialised by maintaining its control over the ARCUK Council. . “- discipline, bring under control Little Oxford Dictionary A man has no ears for that to which experience has given him no access. Nietzsche ‘Ecce Homo’ (1888) translation by Anthony M Ludovice. Istated in the Introduction that Ibelieved the image existing, and perhaps loved, environment, but who are not wealthy enough to purchase land, buildings or professional aid to block such a change. The way schools of architecture present an un— realistic view of professional, practise can best be summed up by the following: They are playing (most of) the right notes but notnecessarilyintherightorder. (6) If you don’t know what something sounds like you are unable to question the authenticity of your first hearing of it. For a few students however Suspicions begin to creep in that there might be certain omissions or bias within the ‘score’. For its continued survival in its present form, and at its existing level within society the architectural profession needs to be viewed as ‘special’. The intangibility of an‘ability’ to design ensures this. The image that is sold to the public is surviving, and it seems unlikely that the establishment will have to undergo the pressures on this of the early seventies for some time to come. It is the image that itsells itself that requires the constant attention, because itisupon this that the status quo or the architectural establishment is maintained. The architect is trained to believe that his responsibility is to the God of ‘Design’. As long as this training is continued the architectural ‘status quo’ will be maintained.Everyman’sresponsibilitymustbe in whatever way he can, to work tawards freedom and justice for the members of his own society. I of ‘designer’ is planted so deeply into the minds of ae students of architecture that even after registration as There is no ‘national syllabus’ followed by the schools of architecture. There is however, a gerera generalpatternwhichincreasesthescaleofthe projects undertaken by the students as they progress through the school in order that on completion of the five years of study they will be ‘competent’ (?) to handle the size of schemes required by theprofession over this task. If‘design’ isthe weapon chosen to Practice;v.t........imposeupon.LittleOxfordDictionary.chitectsthisimage itsvividenoughtoover—ride clashes between conscience and working reality, conflicts, that, if not pacified might lead to a demand for radical change of architectural practise from within the profession. There is however, a second fundamental requirement of the schools of architecture,namelytotrainstudentstofitintothe existing fields of architectural practise, comfortably. There is then an immediate contradiction of require— believe there should be nothing that takes precedence ‘designers’ is contrary to the requirements of the majority of the larger clients that the profession serves. As Charles Jencks stated in Building Design: The architects who get the most work provide the most unidentifiable buildings (4) And yet the belief in ‘design’ is the architectural establishment’ssafeguardagainstforcedchange. Design is the basis of the architect’s public and self—respect, it makes him ‘special’ and provides him witha‘skill’ that is undefinable, making arguments against the results of his skill (buildings, environments) extremely difficult even for other architects let alone lay—people. 1am now going to concentrate on the relationship between RIBA and the schools of architecture and the way in whichI believe ‘correct stability’ within the schools, regarding students’ attitudes to their profession, is maintained. The following section of the text will focus on the way in which ‘design’ is developed and marketed without contradicting the require— ments of the professions clients. The foundation upon which the future retention of the ‘status quo’ rests, for the architectural establishment, must be the ‘correct’ training of its student architects. Fourty one years later, despite having lost its majority on the ARCUK Education Committee, There is a quotation: “The Status Quo does not abdicate in the face of logic’. The architectural This delegated right of ‘approval’ is one of con— siderable power. The whole basis of *statutory grant’ funding to enable students to undertake advanced educational courses in this country requires that these courses are ‘approved’ by a ‘recognised’ body. The withdrawal of approval of a course automatically removes the right of a student to a‘statutary grant’ and consequently reduces the number of students financially able to attend such a course, even if it were to remain open. A further guarantee that, for example, an architecture school would have to close with the withdrawal of RIBA approval is that, no matter how long a student studied there he would be unable to register as an architect. The one possible exception to the statement above regarding guaranteed closure is the Architectural Associatiotn is the Architectural Association, and the reasons for this will be explained later. There is an irony within the situation of statutory funding for advanced architectural education. The general policy of Socialist—controlled Education Authorities (which, despite the recent change to a Conservative Government, have increased in number) _to award grants to students for ‘public—sector’ education dictates that architectural education can only be gained at schools approved by the RIBA. _ traditional clients, i.e. commerce, industry, local, be used by the architect towards these ends then care regionalandnationalGovernment.Thewayprojects mustbetakenthatitremainspointedintheright direction and that it stays ‘a means to an end’ rather than becoming an end in itself. = Ee “oyoom olin wledge and capabilities to protect their eaeThecoverageofthisschemeinthe public media was extensive and notonly got into| ‘Good Housekeeping’ and ‘Ideal Home’ but was given peak—viewing time on both ITV’s ‘Today’ and BBC’s ‘Nationwide’ programmes. Itwas awinner from every establishment view point, even the self—help/indepen— dence aspect was present. The ‘community architecture’ image promoted by the Royal Institute has not only quietened public concern but has thad the added advantage of making attacks upon the RIBA from within the profession less credible with regard to criticism of lack of public accountability. School; v that, after qualification, the belief inbeing a designer over-rides any other contraryexperience. : The questions that were taught to be important: form, function balance, etc. take second place to ‘timescale’, ‘price per square meter’, “units per hectare’, etc. The words that were used to show one’s knowledge of architecture (eg. constructivism, post-modernism) mean nothing to either client or user. An entire terminology; upon which five years of acedemic training has been based is found to be totally useless, that is, until one is with other architects, when (once more) the phrasescan be uttered, the names dropped andone’s “true knowledge of architecture be appreciated by others. Rarely are leading architects, past orpresent, associatedwithpoliticalorsocialbeliefs.Their , aesthetics are of prime importance, their motivations secondary or never mentioned, unless they happen to be complimentary to the fashion within aplace 4 of learning, What must be remembered is the “design It is this that is pushed forward and it is this that is analysed. And yet for many of the traditional ‘greats’ of architectural design their aesthetics were the result of their strong social beliefs, which also provided their prime motivation for design. Architect; n.......One who drafts a plan of your house and plans a draft of your money. The Devil's Diction ary by Ambrose Bierce 1881-1911. clei |iz V eyvifecsLnS ATTEMPTS to build Britain’s largest office block near Waterloo in London have reached fever pitch, with the arrival of new proposals from developers Greycoat London Estates on the table of the Coin Street planning enquiry. If this initiative is successful the last link,in a chain of large scale commercial and institutional developmentswi,ll be in place stretching along the South Bank of the Thames from Southwark Bridge to Vauxhall. Standing between the developers and their goal are two obstacles: Lambeth that this unusual step was taken at the behest of the Tory GLC, who favour office development on the site but were anxious that the commercial proposals under consideration at the start of the Enquiry were so appalling that they stood little chance of success. Greycoats’ intervention has come in the form of proposals for an integrated development of offices with attendant restaurants, pubs, shops, some housing and a small industrial unit all designed by architects Richard Rogers and Partners. Greycoats wona place at the Public Enquiry the Coin St. Enquiry could benefit the formal battleground between the commercial developers as a whole! so the developers and the local people, when their development lobby must be content that the »4 /\ _, View from the North Bank of 4 _Y,Greycouts’ proposals Industry: Totalling 30,000 sq ft Rogers’ role as Greycoats’ architect is to arrange this floorspace in a way which is at once viable commercially and acceptable to the public in the forn: of the Enquiry, although no designs were submitted with the outline application. As Simon Jenkins pointed out, this paper exercise is within . the now discredited traditionoflarge scale modern town planning and architecture?: a new ‘pedestrian spine’ links Waterloo Station with the river wall where anew pedestrian bridge leads over the river to an inappropriate joint next to a multi-level the sites can be used if the local community is to survive and the loss of an important part of London to a commercial ghetto is to be avoided. GREYCOATS INTERVENE warehouses in Cutler St to yield 800,000 square feet of offices and a £20m. office development about to start construction on the controversial Tolmers Square site. Both schemes have been the object of bitter struggles with conservationists and local communities. Greycoats’ tactics for the Coin St. Enquiry rely on a mixture of ‘public participation’ directed at the local community and, to defuse criticism from professionals, the employment? ofa young but respected architectural Greycoats hope that Rogers’ design will be judged by the general public and the Enquiry in the light of the success of the Centre Beaubourg, as‘... a place where al classes and al ages can participate’, rather than on itsown merits. The bald facts of the apportionment of space in Greycoats’ outline planning application are less attractive to Public Opinion: WSUS THE DEVELOPERS Planning precedents which may arise from Council's propesals for the Waterloo area embodiedinastatutoryDistrictPlan newoutlineplanningapplicationwas lotofpromotingtheprincipalcommercial practicetoplanthedevelopment. mies1,317,670sqft(equivalent trafficjunctiononthenorthbank.Oneither approved in mid-1978, and the local people. represented by their Neighbour- hood Council, the Association of Waterloo Groups (AWG). The District Plan sets aside the Coin Street sites for housing for families and that, argue the local people. is the only way that ‘calledin’byEnvironment Secretary Hesletine, during the course of the Enquiry. Already under consideration were housing schemes from AWG and Lambeth Council and office proposals from the Heron Corporation and Commercial Properties. AWG iscertain schemes has fallen to Greycoats, who have builtupareputationforexpertiseinhand- ling opposition from local groups and conservationists. They are leaders in a new wave of sophisticated commercial developers who have successfully evolved new approaches, inaclimateofpublicopinionandaplanning THEIR ARCHITECTS Richard Rogers and Partners’reputation rests not on commercial buildings but on theirdesignfortheCentrePompidou ay toaboutnineCentrePoinPointsisi:zeoffice Housing: Not exceeding 300,000 sq ft Leiesure/restaurant/shopping/ Recreation: Notexceeding250,000sqft side of the walkway are ten to thirteen storey office blocks with a small area of housing to the south, and the other ‘uses’ strung out along the walkway. The gap between the reality of the proposals and Rogers’ description of them, which has been accepted without question by the architectural press4, gives the lie to the KEY TO COIN STREET AREA LT 1Lendan askend Television IC +Intarnatienal Publishing the "kings: NT +National Theatre want tte site, moved out of Londen Plan of the Coin Street sites showing current uses SLATE14 PAGE12 Larecty sitesi 163 6CarParke SOUTMMAAK SITES 647 4Dereitet 2+Printing werkt 9 5Bark, pub, ofices, incvetey, works! yrelopes te Te oF Elevation from the Thames View of the scheme for family housing submitted to the enquiry by the Association of WaterlooGroups Model of Greycoats’ proposals SLATE14 PAGE13 Offices: Totalling 1,317.670 SqFT CNEWSNEWSNE Heads you win, tails Ilose # NEWS) EWSNEWSMIEWSN systemhardenedagainstcommercial culturalcentreinPlaceBeaubourg, Paris, pour bytheeventsoftheearly70s.widelyconsideredtobeanexcitinganf woof their Successes’ in London are the successful building ina revitalised central progressive demolition of a group of historic area of the city. In employing them. Plan of Greycoats’ proposals suymitted to theEnquiry Head S you win (cont.) New Architecture movement, &s _toreturncontrolovertheirenvironmenttoordinarypeople,andsocial -amentally change the existing system of patronage to return a voice both to those who provide the labour for architecture and those who use it We were pleased to see Tom Woolley’s article “Rising Damp’ in Slate No. 13. But we do have a complaint about the way you edited out some of the information we know Tom included in his copy. Tom mentioned the anti-dampness meeting (the first of its kind ever held) in Birmingham,andsomeinformationabout the worker/tenant committee in Sandwell. As he said, a national campaign against dampness is to be launched, and SCAT is helping the Working Party set up in Birm- ingham to do this. To this end, we are aiming to contact every anti-dampness (ortenantsassociationtakingupdampness, article‘RisingDamp’bySLATEan’ technique that the developer's architect adopts to mystify the real nature of his client’s proposals: the ‘social magnet’, the provision of facilities for the whole city, the ‘multi-pupose enclosed framewor! for working, living, recreation, shopping and bultural activities’, but most of all the idea that the ‘scheme’ hasalife of its own, and ismuch more than aresponse to a developer's brief{ acknowledging, almost with regret that it is ‘offices that are paying for this scheme’. The designitself has been the subject of ‘WORKING IN ARCHITECTURE’ is to be the theme of a conference and exhibition to be mounted in Venice next year. Planned for March the five day conference will form part of the Architectural Section of dampness ANTI—DAMPNESS PACKAGE A set of papers about all aspects of dampnessandcampaigningagainstit has been published by Services to Community Action and Tenants (SCAT) ‘The papers cover such issues as: Canpaignstrategies,demandsand victories; causes of and remedies for dampness; how repairs are paid for; direct works and the private contracting Please send me: others. cases) in the country, and to obtain basic information on every estate with damp houses or flats. Unfortunately your articlehadnomentionofeitherthe contact address for the Working Party, or the set of papers we produced for system; health and housing; joint action by tenants and building workers in can only assume you must have seer: earlier draft we did not possess. Thanks for providing the additicn- informationwhichispr. «uelow: Slate committee. Dampness meeting held in April 1979 will be also sent to tenants associations, anti-damp paigns, law or centres,tradeunionsandotherlabour movement organisations. (Only available while stocks last). SEND FOR YOUR COPIES NOW‘ AND TELLOTHERCAMPAIGNS,RESOURCE CENTRES AND LAW CENTRES ABOUT THIS UNIQUE CAMPAIGNING PACKAGE’ Venice _ Biennale NAM Congress 1979 NAM’s fifth annual congress, to be held in London on the 9th, 10th and 11th November, will be of special interest to people who want to find out more about the views of the movement and to new members as well as to long standing membets. The Agenda has been framed té enable a thoroughgoing assessment of NAM’s aims andprogressinthelightofexperiences from outside as well as inside the Move- ment. The congress opens on the Friday night with a dicussion with leading critics and architectural practitioners and Nothing was left out of 7om Wooll. context with participants drawn from the building industry people involved Boaction over housing, industrial and planning issues as well as from the architecturalfield. In al the debate surrounding the social and aesthetic merits of the various schemes it is easy to forget the issue at stake at Coin Street isnot which of the various schemes will get built, for it is unlikely that any of the proposals will be realised in its present form., The real issue is to what use the land will be put, land most of which was acquired very cheaply many years ago for the building of public housing. Society’ followed on Saturday by work- shop sessions grouped under the headings “Accountability to Building Users’ and ‘Democracy in the Building Design and Construction Industry’. The Sunday sessions are devoted to planning NAM’s future role. Food, a bar and entertainment complete the bill. Conference registration including meals is £8 for earners and £5 for non-earners. Day registration isavail- able for the Saturday sessions for £4 including meals. Entrance to the Friday discussion is free. Further details and registration forms from NAM 9Poland St., London, W.1. Two more papers have now been added to the Package and are available separately to people who already have the other eightpapers—Paper9onobtainingand using technical help, and Paper 10 which is a list of useful publications. A full report of the National Anti- to this tendency in the form of a serrated skyline on otherwise sheer blocks does nothing to accomodate ithe needs of people for intimate. as well as large seale spaces. The design\has been likened to a twelve-storey high Berlin Wall and the Royal 4" international exhibition of radical Fine Arts Commission which advises planning @Pproaches to architecture’and urban authoritiesontheaestheticaspectsofmajor issues.Alsoformingpartofthecircuit projects is said to have serious reservations about the scheme. section of the Biennale is an exhibition mounted by feminist architects It is hoped to organise a package-deal €XCursion to Venice for the Conference details of which will be available later. NOTES 1. Slate 12 ‘Planning System on Trial’ 2. Greycoats’ pamphlet: ‘South Bank Development — Proposals for an “Area in Crisis"’’ 3. Architects Journal, 15th August 1979 4. ‘Bright Future for the South Bank’ Architects Journal, 8¢ hAugust 1979 SLATE14 PAGE14 SLATE14 PAGEIS Venice Biennale. Preliminary dicussions among the considerable criticism, failing, as it does, to acknowledge what progress has been made in Italian organising group also attended by inofficedesigninrecentyears.Thesuccess French,GermanandBritisharchitects of recent designs has been the abandonning envisaged the event as an international of the gaunt, sheer walled slabs of the early >xchange of ideas and experiencesof ; 70s in favour of lower buildings with stepped those concerned with the social, political facades creating spaces of more human scale. and cultural role of the architect's work. courtyardsandterraces.Rogers’concession Thequestionistobeexaminedinawide theoristsonthetopic“TheArchitectin Sandwell; and the limits and p legalactionondampness. ial of Concurrent with the conference will be to return control over their environment to ordinary people ,and social responsibility and accountability to the work of architects. to fund- amentally change the existing system of patronage to return a voice both to those who provide the labour for architecture and those who use it a NTS, Peta Sissons, Services to Community Action & Tenan‘s EWS SfNW aka |] 9, Poland Street, London, W1. Praca) From: Services to Community Action & Tenants, 31 Clerkenwell Close, London EC] anti-dampness campaigns (and which include a description of the Sandwell committee). Dear Slate, Would you like to help us to reach more anti-dampness campaigns through NAM members who may be giving tenants some help, or working in local authorities with dampness problems. You could do this by including the information cut out of Tom Woolley’s article, and by mentioning the Dossier on Dampness form which isbeing distributed to tenants organisations. responsibility and accountability to the work of architects....... to fund- Campaigning against copies of the Anti-Dampness Package at 60p per copy to tenants associations and anti-dampness campaigns nd at £1 per copy to all copies of Papers 9& 10 at 20p for the two. Please make cheques and postal orders payable to Services to Community Action and Tenants. Bulk rates are available for individual papers. I/we wish to be included on the ‘Dossier on Dampness’, please send details. (Delete ifnot applicable) Gut out and sendto SCAT,31 Clerkenwell Clase, London EC1 RIBE [iryoyuouwouldliketboe amember oftheNewArchitectureMovementfililnthfeormbelowanndsond it together with a cheque/postal order (payable to the New Architecture Movement) for £5.00( if you're employed) or £3.00( ifyou're are student, claimant or OAP) to NAM at9, Poland Street || London W.1. || NAME... || | |ADDRESS | |If you would like to receive SLATE without joining NAM fill in the form below and send it together | |withacheque/postalorder(payabletotheNew ArchitectureMovement )for£2.50toNAM at9, Poland Street, London W.1. | | i SLATE abi-monthly magazine about building and buildings SLATE aims to bring together ideas and experiences from people who design buildings, people who build them and people who live and work in them. SLATE concentrates on the social and economic factors that shape our environment and determine the way that ‘buildings are commissioned, designed, built, and used SLATE full of useful information and opinion from workers in building construction and design, tenants, community groups and others interested in ensuring that the construction industry and its products are more attuned to their needs SLATE is an independent magazine published by a group within the New Architecture Movement, which aims to promote effective control by ordinary people over their environment ~ SLATE 2— Can architects help the ‘Community’? SLATE 3 — Myth and ideology in the architectural Profession SLATE 4— Crisis in the construction industry AND Women who are builders. SLATE 5 — Monopoly in the architectural profession SLATE 6— Training architects SLATE 7 — Making public building respond to people’s needs SLATE 8 — Feminism and architecture SLATE 9 — The fight for control of the building industry: nationalisation or private enterprise? SLATE 10/11 People talk about the buildings they use SLATE 12 — Commercial developmenth,e tommunity and the building industry SLATE 13 - An issue on housing Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource NAM SLATE Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/8e871306fcab770f26305efa280aba78.pdf 4431b1759b869b6fa89c35f683cb63dd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 15 Subject The topic of the resource Includes Hellman cartoon on RIBA control of ARCUK Description An account of the resource I THINK THE TROUBLE WITH ARCHITECTS ISTHEVRE ALWAYS DESIGNING MONUMENTS i \ SCKCLZ apotqies 10 WHOSE PROFESSION IS IT ANYWAY?_____ page 3 People think that the letters RIBA signify ‘architect’ — this isn't the case SLATE ISTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, published bi-monthly and edited by the Movement’s Publications Group. News and features of broad interest to workers in the profession, the building industry and to the general public are included to stimulate general debate on a wide range of issues and to bring the Movement's views and activities to the attention of the largest possible readership. WORK ON SLATE SLATE needs more workers, more writers, more ideas and more reps. on order to produce a better, larger and cheaper newsletter. If you would like to work for SLATE, becomea rep., join the group, send in articles or suggest topics itshouldcoverthencontactussoon. The copy date for the next issue is: SLATE is published by the Publications Group of the NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, 9 Poland St., London, WI. (Letters should be addressed to the Publications PublicationsGroup). Printed by Islington Community Press, 2A St. Paul's Rd., London, N1. Trade distribution by Publications Distribution Co-operative, 27 Clerken- well Court, London, EC2. SLATE may beavery slick looking paper but we need money fast! Please send us your donations now! Cheques made payable to SLATE 9 Poland St., W1. Many people think that the initials ‘“RIBA’ signify a qualification in architecture and that only those who wear them after their name are professional architects. This is far from the case, as the ‘unattached’ councillors on the Architects *Registration Council of the UK explain What raelly distinguishes ‘unattached °architects is that they alone have the right each year to nominate and electtheir own representatives to "ARCUK’. You've probably heard little of ARCUK — the Architects Reegistration Council of the U.K. — because ever since it was established by the Arch- itects Registration act of 1931 to regulate the architectural professionin the public interest, the RIBA (whose would-be monopoly of ‘architecture was rejected by Parliament) has stopped at nothing in its attempt to suppress public knowledge of ARCUK and to prevent it from effectively carrying out its role. The RIBA controls ARCUK at present by packing it with owners of architectural firms pledged to follow the orders of a small clique of fanatics associated with the RIBAs ruling council. Although anyone can practice architecture, only people whose names are on the register of Architects maintained by ARCUK may legally call themselvesarchitects.Insomerelatedprofessions hip ofthe rel ,charteredinstitution functions as the as the recognised professional qualification, but the professional qualification for corporate’ membership of the RIBA are no higher than those of registration with ARCUK. Of course no RIBA member can use the title ‘architect’ unless he or she isregistered with ARCUK. UNATTACHED NEWS RIBA railroading of Registration Council revealed NEWS Whose (SAC) Conference was It Anyway Vote for the Public Interest RIBA Snubbed inSurvey THE SLATER NAM CONGRESS “79 Full Report on this Year's New Architecture Movement Congress SUMMER SCHOOL STUDIES URBAN QUESTIONS Report of the Bartlett Summer School which investigated the ‘production of the city’ REVIEWS Two books on Housing LETTERS NAM-—A Way Foward; SAC Conference; NewYorkContacts page 5 page 6 page 9 page 10 page16 page 21 page 22 place. Socalled‘unattached’architectsarethosewho Opinions expressed in SLATE are not necessarily the policy of the New Archi tecture Movement unless stated to be so. afite, ee (colloq.).Gece,wovereyy” (erp.authortareviews),scold Hed over the last few years. ‘Unattached architects work in al sectors and include young and old, employer, employee and self -emlpoyed architects( though like the profession as a whole, 80% are employees). Some ‘unattached are strongly opposed to the RIBAs relentless persuit of the self- interest of the few architects who are employers in private practice,its hypocritical contempt for the public interest, its undue influence over architectural education or its reactionary political position. Others simply find it bad value for money. In 1980 architect members of the RIBA will be asked to pay an annual subsciption of£64. For what? For,a mere £12 ayear anybody can receive the RIBA journal and al unattached can receive the Buiding Design free each week. At the same time fewer architects are interested in having theinitialsRIBAaftertheirnamewhichforanarch- itectsignifiesnomorethanRACafteranameofa licensed driver. responsibility. Some architectural firms or public authorities try to force the architects they employ to join the RIBA. Such undemocratic employer imposed *closed-shop” contravene the provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act of 1975. Any architect facing dismissal, or victimisation short of dismissal ( such as refusal of promotion otherwise justified ), for refusing to join the RIBA( or maintain RIBA membership )should appeal to an Industrial Tribunal. An architect faced with similar discrimination in applying for ajob should enlist the support of his or her Trade union. At present, unattached architects have nine etected elected representatives on ARCUK. Any of the architects listed below, all of whom have represented unattached architects on ARCUK, willbehappytotrytoansweryouequestions concerningtheroleofARCUKandoftheRIBA ‘nominate,proposeforoffietcc,eHi aiueise'd ae Tapp. f.preo.} WHOSE PROFESSION IS IT ANYWAY arenotmembersofthefive ions(includi theRIBA) listed in the schedule 1 of theArchitects! Registration Act of 1931, which specifically recog- nises the right of architects to remain ‘unattached’. Of course ‘unattached’ architects may well be mambers of a trade union, such as NALGO 4x IPCS in the public sector or TASS in the private sector. Many feel that being amember ofa union isamore effective way of defending their livlihood and gain- ingcontroloftheconditionsunderwhichtheywork +responsibilityforrecognisingcoursesinSchoolsof and the quality of the work they do. Architecture as qualifying for admission to the Nearly 5000, or 1inS architects are now Register.For many years however. the RIBA has ‘unattached and the number has dramatically increased prevented it from effectively carrying out that Because itmust decide who will be admitted to the Register of Architects ,ARCUK has by law the me (CIL: CONTENTS Some architects, employers of architects, archi- tectural students and users of architectural services stil believe that a qualified architect must be a member of the Royal Institute of British Archi- tects (and, conversely, that a member of the RIBA is necessarily an architect). In fact an architect need not be a member of the RIBA (and thousands of RIBA members are not architects). More and more architects are choosing to be ‘unattached’, either resigning from the RIBA ornot joining it in the first EDITORIAL CONTACT :‘PHONE 01-703 7775 registering as an architect and being or becoming ‘unattached’. They would equally be pleased to talk on those subjecte to groups of architects , Students, trade unionists and others interested. John Allan,67 Romily Rd, London, N4 (01-734 8577) Anne Delaney, 196 Albany Rd, Roath, Cardiff. (0222 492047) Susan Jackson, 4 highshore Rd, SE15. (01-703 C911) Alan Lipman, UWIST, Cardiff. (0222 24732) Bob Maltz, 14 Holmdale Rd, London ,NW6. (01-340 3288 x281) IT'SRUMOUTRHAETDTHEMUPPARETMEASLY MAMPULATEO DOLLS . John Murray, 37 Landrock Rd, London N8. (01 340 8031 x280) Marion Roberts, Stephen George and Ptnrs, 5 Drvden ST., London WC2 , (01-240 2430) David Roebuck, 25 ST. George’s Ave., London N7, (01-267 5604 x34) Ken Thorpe, 109 Cadogan T., London, E9. (01-985 2676) lan Tod, 19 Wellington Chambers Aire St., Leeds |. (0532 635274) Eddie Walker, Leeds (0532 635274) Tom Woolley, 27 Clerkenwell Close London EC1. (01- 251 0274) RIBA application of any independent criteria to the Register entry qualifications. Alas ho progress in reforming this state of affairs can be reported for the 1979-80 session, thou he Unattached have tabled a question as hether ARCUK appointees to the visiting boards have ever included a non-RIBA memeber. No awards for guessing the answer SPERM BANK IS A LOAD OF PRAP Talking of awards. itn recalled that the 1969 Registration Act established an ARCUK Education Fund for ‘the provision of scholarships and grants ... the furtherence of education and research ... and the disemination of teaching.” (Section! , subscction4) Responsibility for the sdministration of this fund falls mainly on the Projects and Research Awards Panel, Known as PRAP — an unfortunate abbreviation which, in the indifferent accoustics of the Council Chamber can occasionally be misheard. On PRAP’s advice ARCUK has allocated funds to the tune of £56 000 since 1975 to the York Centre for continuing professional aducation (contributions from other institutions such as the RIBA, RICS, 1OB, CIBS efc., have averaged about £200 p.a.) The results of investment in this agency, in effect an RIBA sperm bank* lave been modest, if not invisible, considering the input. Unattached Councillors have been vocal in arguing that funding of the York Centre must be discontinued and putto better use, and were apparently vindicated when, at the October Council meeting it was confirmed that no further grant was expected. With deft footwork however the December Council approved a new BAE proposal to fund the York Institute the sum of £15, 000. An Unattached amendment to reduce this contribution was, of course, defeated. 5 SLATE aims to provide an effective means of communication for the “unattached ” members of ARCUK through these columns and letters page. So if you feel strongly about these issues, don’t hesitate to write to us. For the lay reader of SLATE “ ARCUK ”is the Architects Registration Council of the U.K. It was set up by the Architects Registration Act of 1931 to control the entry of people into the profession and itor their conduct once registered. It is posed of S main constit- uent bodies; The RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), the [AAS (The Incorp- arated Association of Architects and Surveyors), the FAS (The Faculty of Architects and Surveyors )and the AA (Architectural Association ). any part of Council sessions. Quite what would constitute a ‘special occasion’, is not clear but the majority ensured ample license by voting that the Council could resolve itself into committee and place the Press on trust whenever it might fecl reporting to be undesirable. Included was the provision for committee members RAILROAD Following his impressionistic picture of the December 1978 Council Meeting, Hawser Trunnion brings you this round up of ARCUK news over the past year. Councillors representing the Unattached Architects in the 1979-80 session have, as usual, been well exercised in monitoring difficulty that was partly alleviated by andwherepossiblechallenging,the activities of those intent on preserving the status-quo behind ARCUK’S flickering illusion of change. This well trained house poodle of the RIBA now enters the 1980s al st-t to carry off yet again’ the top award for obedience and decorum in the Cruft’s contest for professional dressage. A yariety of issues have predominated in the session from March to December 1980, of which the following are perbaps of most interest. ARCUK SECRETS — THE BLUNT TRUTH The old chestnut of Council Con- fidentiality isalways readilily available for further roasting. Following ‘leaks to the Press’ in 1978 in connection with the Summerland case, the Council has made several attempts to limit Press reporting and the freedom of disclosure of Council business by members. The complexion of the more devout blimps, however, moderated from deep purple to blushing pink when it was realised thet an initial proposal to administer oaths of secrecy on Councillors was too |fatuous to be taken seriously. In the event Council voted 27 to 9. at its June meeting to adopt the following measures for a trial one year period: that except when in its quasi-judicial role (eg considering removals from the Register for crime or disgraceful conduct), or other ‘special occasions’, Council would not exclude the Press from meansoftheannualquestionnaire which has more recently been included in the election mailing. At the October Council meeting a sinister event occurred. With to discuss Council business with their nominating body — no mention being made of those wishing to obtain feedback from their electorate — (ie., the Unattached) This relates closely to the wider issue of communication between Unnattached Councillors and their electors — an ongoing a degree of vulgarity which until recently might have seemed untypical a squadron of RIBA voting fodder — defying Standing Orders with the Chairman’s consent— introduced a motion to prevent the Unattached obtaining their electorates views by means of this questionnaire. The motion was, of course, carried thus closing even this rudimentary channel. In contrast the Council, in June, generously sanctioned Press photography — though as one Unattached Councillor observed, the prominent RIBA insignia that embelishes the throne on which the chairman isinstalled could mislead the uniniated into believing that the panorama represented a sub-committee of the Institute! EDUCATION — DUTY FREE It may not be well Known that the 1931 Registration Act placed a “duty” upon the Board of Architecural Education (BAE — Schedule 2) to recognise siutable examinations for qualification, to recomend the holding of any examinations it considered suitable and, indeed, to hold examinations itself (Section’ 5). An exotic metamorphosis has transformed this stat- utory duty into the chummy excursions of-the RIBA visiting boards, effectively removing from ARCUK itself the The application of ARCUK’s con- siderable rescourcesjto assist prospective students in need of financial help was another important power conferred by the 1969 Act. Unattached Councillors have been concerned at the low take up of such grants, amd at the December Council asked what steps outside actual schools af architecture ARCUK took to publicise their availability, Clearly there must be many a bright school leaver unable to obtain a suitable grant who remains quite ignorant of the possibility of ARCUK funding as wil his career advisors - if the Council does not widely advertise among schools and 6th form colleges. The Regis rar however confirmed that no such information was made available CONDUCT UNBECOMING The accusation that RIBA in ARCUK fthe tail wagging the dog, is ed ‘in disciplinary matters by the observation that its bark is worse than its bite. Feeling itself powerless und angry” at the outcome of the Discipline Committes investigation into Summerldnd , the Council at its June meeting ordered a review of the ‘tasks and obligations of the Discipline Committee”, and of how” ARCUK’s procedures compared with those of other such statutory committees under the aegis of the Privy Council. However, when the report was presented at its Octiber meeting the Council was evidently reconciledito its powerlessness and anger, as an Unattached recommendation to improve the Discipline Committee demonstranly the poorest constituted amongthefourcompared(doctors,DentistselectionofUnattachedRepresentativesto permitarchitectstopracticeas A NEW WAVE of national activity among student architects took a tentative but short step forward at a recent student conference in Sheffield. Challengingly entitled ‘Whose Education is It Anyway?’, the con- ference was organised by the Schools of Architecture Council (SAC) whose chairman since last spring has been prominent radical lecturer Brian Anson. Scen as SAC’s response to the call for greater student involyement in decision making implicit in Anson’s election ,the conference was aptly subtitled “A Wood- stockofArchitecturalEducation’ embracing, as it did, a wide variety of alternatives in Architecture. Events were only loosely tied together and ranged from a seminar with architect, Derek Walker, member ofa newly founded international design consultancy, to workshops put formity across the country and discourage free inquiry und any questioning of the nature and social role of their subject. This view was supported by many of the students at the conference in private conversation: some deplored the narrowness of the ‘training’ that they were given; others complained of a lack of scope tr learn about the building industry, work directly with community groups or simply to learn about the aspects of architecture that particularly interested them. What was to be the solution? Inspite of the conference structure, which was stated and restated as relying on participation for achievement, only the most elementary steps towards progress were put forward in the open sessions. Among the ideas to gain the widest assent was a call for better communication nication between the students in different schools, appealing as it did to both those who felt that salvation could be found by changing to a “better” school. if they could find one, and those who feltitaprerequisite toaconcerted Student campaign for a better deal. In contrast some maintained, atter the example of students from Hull, that Students in cach schoul should deal with their own problems rather than be side tracked in activity at a national level Only two measures were put to the Conference forashow-of-hands vote Anson won support for his proposal to reform the constitution of SAC which currently gives students, staff and the head of cach school one seat cach. I the Sheffield resolution is ratified hy SAC’s AGM, each school would, in future, send three students, two stall and the head of school, giving students an cqual voice, The resolution of support for the staff andstudentsoftheCheltenham School of Architecture, which has recently been instructed to shut its doors to new students with # view to complete closure in about two years, fitted well with the feeling running right through the confer- ence in favour of diversity in architec- tural education. In the discussions preceeding the vote the complexity of the forces that control the schools became eveident as the machinations between the DES, Gloucestershire County Council, the CNAA and the School's parent college were explained. Several speakers deplored the RIBA’s unwillingness to unconditionally Support the School, inspite of the fact that they formally recognise the standard of its courses. In the end most of the participants seemedtotakeawaywiththemmanyofthe frustrations they had brought to the conference venue at the top of Sheffield University’s 19-storey Arts Tower, and to a degree that was inevitable. The organisers it and Vets) — received no support whatever. ARCUK Council. The size of the electorate and the nember of councillors is of course governed by the provisions of the Ofthetwentyorsodifferentevents \ie only a handful dealt directly with questions of architectural education: Anson debated with Architectural Mono- graphs editor Davil Dunster whether courses should include material on the social implications of design or con- centrate solely on developing design ability in an abstract, formal sense; Jane -Darke, a student activist during the 1960s outlined the achievements of the now defunct British Architectural Students Association; NAM members lead a popular seminar aimed at identifying the problems facing architectural education as seen by the students themselves. In his opening talk Anson recalled how, during his first six months in the chair of SAC,hehadvisitedoveraquaterofthe UK schoolsofarchitecture. His impres- sions Were ofa student body cowed by staff who promulgate a formalistic app- roach to design with a remarkable uni- Meanwhile expensive prosecution of architects committing trivial or merely technical Code offenses continues unabated. Thus. while an attitude to fier precautions described as casual in the ex- treme and involving the deaths of 50 persons equitable, however, isthe method of falls short of “disgraceful conduct *being Yes No Undecided 65% 24% 11% engaged as the director and secretary of a company developing abuilding site, although “in fact ho client or other person suffered damage’ therefrom, does not. In the latter case, by a nice irony of timing, it appears that the ‘guilty’ architect may be struck of by the same[ Council meeting at which the RIBA lobby will vote to allow directorships. THEARCUK MACHINE —WELL OILED OR OILY? This necessarily breif resume would be incomplete without noting the hazards of the procedural thicket the Unattached 6 determining how many members exist in each constituency. Every year on the 31st October an ARCUK computer print out provides the names of al those on the Register. The number of Unattached, the seeimd kargest constituency, is, inpractice determined by means of the RIBA vetting a 2. Should ARCUK follow the recommen- dations of the Monoplolies Commission by changing its Code to permit architects the option of not using the RIBA Conditions of Engagement? BAD AT FIGURES 1931 Registration Act and adjoining Regulations. The rule of“one repreesentative per 500 members or fraction thereof would seem sensible sn¢ simple enough. Less -The opinion survey was carried out with the assistance of ‘Building Design’ magazine. We publish the results below: In conclusion, the phrase “casual in the extreme. could, with some justification, be applied to the administration of the annual ST SAG USAC TOS a jeage o eeftheunattachedlistsand a copy deleting Yes No Undecided 64% 30% 6% al those that it claims eee 2 ames, depriving reduce diby theconstituencyofafurtherplace Council and on nominees, adding one extra to the RIBA’s Unfortunately no counter-check is Yes No 2% Undecided 2% carried out, nor are any Bodies RIBAUAAUE 96% ee as its Own members. 3. Should ARCUK take stronger measures to help end descrimination in employmentagainstarchitectswhoare not members of the RIBA? oftheieconstituent AS, etc., obliged to provide the registrar with an updated copy of their membership list. It is obvious that it is disadvantageous to inform the Regis. trar of membership decline — as the Pre SS “ informs us is happening in the case of the RIBA. Equally no strict criteria is applied todetermine when anon- -subscriber actually ceases to be a member of such a body, thus enabling the Institute to carry any number of passengers for the ARCUK count. Disparities between the Institute's own names and subscription income apparently indicate a passenger list of several thousands. CALL TO ARMS — MORE LEG WORK NEEDED Notwithstanding their modest achievemen| the NAM Unattached Representatives — as listed elsewhere in this SLATE — brace themselves for another year of opposition and hostility and in doing so invite the good will and support and interest of al unattached architects in this endeayour. RIBA SNUB IN SURVEY THE UNATTACHED Councillors on ARCUK have recently canvassed their constituency on some important issues facing architects at present. 1.ShouldARCUK changeitsCodeto limited liability companies? on by Glasgow based community archi- tectsgroupAssist,withrepresentativesof U TEAT~ECTA.| TOATT” almost every shade of theory and practice inbetween. EE , must perforce negotiate to register their views. It is well understood in most democ- ~ racies that Standing Orders exist to protect the minority who would oferwise simply be crushed by a majority claim thet ‘might isright’. In the case of ARCUK, standing orders can dissapear taneously created with conjuror’s ease. Thus the requirement of 24 hours notice for motions in Coi#ncil not arising from committee reports can be waived or overlooked to set asude an Unattached motion submitted in proper order (Mach Council), or to introduce a resolution to suppress the questionnaire that is unre- lated to the Committee report (October Council). In december Council a more ingenious novelty appeared, namely that any resolution to ammend or omit a committee recommendation isout of order, and that Council's only power is to ‘refer back’ the entire report. Moreover the Chairman is well versed in the ‘Nelson touch’ when it comes to Unattached Councillors endeavouring to catch his eye. The solubility of democracy iscompleted by the Chairman’s now freq -uent practice of resigning his role of impartial arbiter altogether and asking Council asawhole whether itwishes to hear the Unattached contribution — such enquiry invariably being answered by bovine roars of "NOY By way of explanation the Chairman has often declared himself the ‘servant of this Council’ Unfortunately he is only prepared to be servant when the RIBA is master. —_orbe spon- KEEPING THE NEEDY IN THE DARK ONE WSIDAASNEWSI Whose (SAC) conference was it anyway ? t good intentions to bring together the maximum number of students lead them to rely on an invited galaxy (albeit small) of architectural *stars’, leading personalities in the profession, to attract the crowds. As a result the experience of the conference tended to replicate the experience of the educational process itself, with the students’ role unconsciuosly classified as that of receiving the wisdom of the design ideologies February 7th. annual ARCUK retention feehas just been raised to £7 50) to pay the bills for the RIBA’s pet projects and slow the decline in the Institutes membership. To continue the struggle for a demo- cratic and open ARCUK anda publically accountable profession, unattached architects are urged to VOTE FOR Bearing the burden of the architectural professions’ conscience seems to be getting too much for the RIBA’s Salaried Architects Group, whose increasingly appropriate acronym is SAG. The Group, which purports to represent the interests of employe, as oposed to employ architects on the RIBA’s Council, has always held that the way to liberate their constituency from the iniquities to ditch two of the three main planks of the Code of Conduct which effectively prohibit advertising by architects and their taking of directorships in building firms. As the owners of private architects firms go about restructuring the rules of their game so that they can make more profit the SAGs are stuck in the position of being in dispute with their patrons. Architectural punters who had failed to notice until then the cracking facade of their ‘united profession’ had it rubbed in their faces Foster Imposter There isan old joke about public participation which runs something like this: ‘The Council is seeking the views of local residents about the route ofa new motorway. Please indicate which of the following three routes you prefer: through your front garden, through your back garden, or through your and professional mores of practitioners and academics. Under these circumstances it would have been an immense step for the studentstohavecollectivelyshedtheeffects ofseveralyearscachinthesortof environment that Anson described at the openingoftheconferenceandtohave madeaconcertedchallengetothe NAM members presently hold eight of these nine seats representing ‘unattached’ architects, i.e. those architectswhochoosenottobe membersoftheRIBA,theAA,orone of the other minor bodies cited in the ArchitectsRegistrationActof1931. Theunattachedaretheonly MarionROBERTS professionalresponsibilityasdefined architects entitled to elct their own representatives to ARCUK. controllers| of their education. Some questioned whether SAC, even “balanced” under its proposed new constitution, could be a vehicle for student-centred campaigns for reform and Jane Darke was among several speakers who argued for a national architectural students organisation with no staff membership. Nevertheless the conference did provide the “marketplace” of alternative ideas that had been promised and known to be incraesing in numbers. David ROEBUCK Dave SUTTON Eddie WALKER by his or her Code of Conduct. If this results inaconflict between professional obligations and doing what the boss tells you then the salaried architects’ interpretation of the Code would have to rule. Until recently this policy has been popular with the RIBA’s controlling group, the owners of private architectural firms, who have favoured several SAGs with appointments to high places in the Institute's hierarchy, in return for their support for the Code and hence their reinforcement of the myth of a ‘united profession’. Times change, however, and a 1980's wind of commercialism is blowing through the upper echelons of pennydreadful Building Design, that the proposedchangesare* lusivelythe concernofprincipalsinprivatepractice and the reported opposition of a few salaried architects in public employment isirrelevent and impertinent’. There is little doubt that Bryan Jefferson, fellow private practice boss and current RIBA President, would support this view. Small wonder that SAG leader, Bob Giles, has recently been seen wandering the corridors of the GLC with his head in his hands. The Slater's advice to Bob and thousands of other salaried architects is to get out of the RIBA and show it up for what it always will be and when you need to protect yourselves from the iniquities of employment do it through your union, like the rest of us. Transport site in central Hammersmith is fullocalpeoplecouldwellbe faced with asimilar participation excercise over who should design the scheme. In this case the wording might be ‘The Council intends to permit the building of several hundred thousand square feet of offices. Please indicate which of these two architects you prefer: Foster Associates or Elsom Pack and Roberts’. The campaign lead by RIBA Journal editor. Peter Murray, was sparked off by the dismissal of Foster as architect for the redevelopment of the island site around Hammersmith underground station in the Summer. At the time Foster had little work and the move resulted in extensive redundancies in his office. However, it appears that the people of Hammersmith are not being fooled by the pro-Foster campaigners and are not letting any fuss about who designs the redevelopment to confuse their opposition to the scheme in principle. At a ‘packed’ public meeting called by the campaign, abstentions were the rule of the day; 43 people voted for Foster and 12 actually voted against his reinstatement. Not that Foster himself islikely to be that worried now: his appointment as architect for a multi- million pound bank development in the seeds of questioning ,sowed and nurtured According to ARCUK the RIBA in individual minds may flourish. One accounts for 78% of al people on Sheffield student has been reported as saying the Register. The reality is probably that his school will never be the same again. under 70%. Although around 80% of architects are salaried employees, nearly 80% of architects on the Registration Council are bosses. This We would like to add that, as the question of is because the RIBA Council, which communication betweeh students in yariuos is free to nemniate anyone — laymen schools was one of the themes of the conference, we should remind everyone involved in architectural education that Slate only because of the: presence of NAM is in the libraries ofa good few schools of architecture. Ifnothing grander isforth- coming then Slate would be happy to carry articles from students and perhaps help take the first steps to improving the communication that was called fro so widely at Sheffield 8 ee members representing the unattached that there are even 20% employee architects on Council. During the past year these NAM members have continued to struggle against stepped up harassment, abuse, bullying and obstruction from RIBA’s ARCUKmafia(seereportinthisi to ensure that ARCUK acts in the public interest and not asarubber stamp for the RIBA’s dubious policies and as a means of getting al architects (whose TK HongKonghasjustbeenconfirmed. {Raab Vote for the public interest ‘UNATTACHED’ architects have nominated nine NAM members as candidates for all nine ARCUK seats up for election Ballot papers are being sent out to al ‘unattached’ architects by the Architects Registration Council and are due back by Sagsing |The Slater the RIBA and preparations are underway Although the RIBA publically acknowledges that its membership is in decline and at the rate of at least 2% per year, the RIBA-controlled ARCUK has decided to give the RIBA Council one more place on ARCUK this year and no more to the unattached, who are and to get the freinds and colleagues who are ‘unattached’ to vote for them also. Every vote counts this year as ther is again some reason to believe that some of the nore fanatical membersof the RIBA may be trying to putup @ puppet slate of RIBA supporters to contest this election, despite the total failure of such an effort two years ago. included — to its seats on ARCUK this year appointed 90% bosses. It is John ALLAN NormanARNOLD MickBROAD David BURNEY JohnMURRAY of salaried employment and, at a stroke, thepublicfrom of archi 1 thoughtlessness,istoreform architectural practice so that each architect,bossorminion,hasfull when respectedpastp ofthe frontroom’.Ifanewcampaignover RIBA,EricLyons,wroteinthearchitects theredevelopmentoftheLondon () Ofje p C- NEWSSNEWSNIEWESN Told enc _.RIBA Council member Archie Tekt guns down theSAGs inSLATE 9(Summer 1978) Slates’ address is 9, Poland St., London, W1 Articles and helpers welcome! 10 & aN These are some of the more important campaings and activi ties NAM has mounted or been involved in over the past four years: — The . = - — ~ — — - Reflected in this list is the diversity of interests embraced by NAM. At the time of NAM’s found- ation many of these issues were as relevant as they are today. NAM’s achievement has been to draw together the individuals and groups cncerned into an organisation which can debate and refine understanding of the questions by linking them together, and provide support and a base for widening individual campaigns. This diversity means that a cemtralised organisation with an ‘executive committe’ isinappropriate. NAM has developed a federal structure, for which the only decision making event as far as NAM as a whole is concernedistheAnnualCongress.BetweenCongresses the non-policy affairs of the Movement are co-ordinated by an elected ‘Liaison Group’. Policy and campaigns are the prerogative of separate local- and issue- based groups whose only duty isto report and stand accountable to the Annual Congress. NAM provides for its member groups and indivicuals an opportunity for broader discussion at local and special national meetings and through Slate, financial support for particular campaigns and acchance to win the support of a wider body through resolutions at the Annual Congress. Continuing debate and a widening of spheres of action are essential to NAM’s future. It is currently involved in a process of reviewing and refining its policies and startegies which has become the more vital in the face of recent political clanges. Member- ship is open to al. FORWARD with thought was the message from the 1979 New Architecture Movement Congress held in November last. Speedy react- ions to the grim prospects facing architectural workers and the users of the buildings they design could prove counter-productive. Instead NAM committed itself to a short period of consolidation followed by a a major meeting early this year to launch thought out alternative approaches asa basis for a campaign agianst the feffects of Westminster policies on architects and Architecture. Already one NAM group has started the process. The Public Design Service Group recongnised in their motion to Congress, the importance of demonstrating that Public Sector design is capable of greater sensitivity to people’s needs if staff in public architects offices are to win the popular support they need to ward off redundancies. On architectural education NAM expressed unanimous support for the students snd staff of Cheltenham School of Architecture in a motion opposing any attempts to close the school. NAM members who represent the ‘unattached’ architects on the Architects Regis- tration Council of the UK also won ful support for their efforts to ensure that Council acts in the publis ir public interest. But proposals for action must always be made from from a thourough understanding ofthe nature of the ‘problem’, and, in the informal sessions of the Congress, NAM set in train theoretical work on the relation of enconomic and social factors to the design of housing. Contributions from the NAM Feminist Group demonstrated how design standards tend to reinforce the role of women as housewives and hinder progress towards equality. Others. pointed p out that th motive of the State in financing council house building wasto secure a healthy and compliant workforce for industry rather than any altruism. A stude group to look further into the question was The ‘Green Ban’ campaign between trade unionists and environmentalists to save Birmingham Post Office building. Trade Union organisation within the hitherto largely unorganised field of private sector buildingdesign. Nomination and susequent election of councillors on the Architects Registration Council of the UK and subsequent campaigning: within the Council to ensure that itacts in the public interest. Preparing and campaigning for the reform of Local Authority architects offices and ,more more recently their defence. Working towards a feminist perspective on building design and setting up a cooperative practice to design for women’s groups. Publishing the magazine Slate. Submitting evidence to the Monoplies Commission against the mandatory minimum fee scale promulgated by the RIBA and ARCUK. Working towards an understanding of the relations between architects and building users, particularly in the practice of ‘community architecture’. CONGRESS REPORT set up and will meet throughout this year. Other group discussions considered the effects of design decisions on the health and safety of working people, the problem of defects in housing, the principles of direct labour and the need to strengthen architectural practice through increasing democracy within offices. NAM CONGRESS 79 INTRODUCTION TO NAM People are often mystified by initials. Many readers of Slate will bave been wondering what NAM stands for. The initials stand tor New Architecture Movement. NAM stands for real control by ordinary people over the processes that form their environment, but also believes that changes are necessary in the way that architecture is practised and the building industry organised, These two ideas are interdependent. ‘At the moment the majority of new buildings and other changes in the fabric of our cities and towns work against the interests of the majority of people. NAM sets out to understand why this isthe caseand particularly in what way building design and construct- ion are responsible for this situation. As we see it, in broad terms, building projects are initiated, designed and then constructed and managed exclusively by a tiny minority in society, managers of corporate private enterprises, local authority bureaucracies, private architects firms and building contractors. Quite naturally they work in their own interests, so wider social considerations are neglected. NAM members, most of whom work in the field of building design are no longer prepared to remain uncritical and inactive. And not only because they object in principle but also because they find the conditions of their work implicit in the current set up are unacceptable. Itisagainst this background that NAM emerged spontaneously ataconference inHarrogate in 1975. NAM isprincipally about the process that gives us buildings. Because the majority of its members are involved in architecture NAM’s work has tended to concentrate on that part of the process calledbuildingdesign. ThisisnottosaythatNAM feels that building design is of paramount importance but the last four years have proved how difficult it is to make links through the walls of our social pigeon holes. Things are changing slowly and NAM is beginning at least to talk to builders, housing workers, economists and others. The morning plenary was reported by Sarah Gillam and covered workshops on planning and people, housing form, housing standards and industrial buildings and health and safety. The afternoon plenary was reported by Tony Brohn and covered workshops on housing form, design and build and direct labour, and trade unions and architecture/democracy in architects’ offices cannot be spent on areas other than those stated, so Ee a)thattenant’spreferencesmaybeignored.Itwould tend to see it as a worker's problem, while architects see it as an obstacle to design. He felt that these attitudes desperately needed to be altered so that users could participate at the design stage to eliminate resks. To do this trade unions and architects architects need to co—operate_more fully with one another. One way of achieving this might be to try and demystify the architect's job by producing pamphlets which explain technical building and design terms, the type of problems which architects face and the design process. He wanted to locate someone in an architecture schoo! who might like to do a project along these lines. So if you're interested contact David Gee via Slate. Housing form R E e e ee Jos Boys introduced the workshop and discussed housing form asatypeofsocial control —through housing tenure and the layout of estates, but also questioned whether form is a result of the social structure or vice versa. The group looked at the design process and discussed to what extent class—based stereotypes are transferred from middle class homes to working Classones The second part of the workshop was introduced by Su Francis and based on a slide presentation of women’s quarters through the ages. Su showed how sex stereotyping exists in design guides and housing layout. Although the pre—capitalist economy was house centred, the woman's role was slightly less defined than later periods. In middle class Victorian homes there wasa strict division between domestic servants (mostly female) and the master and mistress. The servant’s role of cooking, cleaning and making the beds was replaced in the 20th century by the wife/mother, whose role it is to rear children, run the home and replenish her husband's needs. The kitchen is now the main spatial area allocated to the wife — previously the servant's domain and this space segregation has tended to accentuate women’s oppressive containment. The third part of the workshop was given by Doug Smith. He explained how housing form is being designed and built around the stereotype of the nuclear family in an inflexible permanent way and criticised the pseudo—scientific approach of Parker— Morris standards which tries to justify a series of minimums. He also described how building form can be used for general social control and gaye Haussman’s radial street design in Paris as an example. Similar radial designs exist in some prisons. Ultimate— ly, the group agreed that a part from design problems there just isn’t enough housing available — state provision is inadequate while private housing is beyond the reach of many people. NRAeaeSCSIGERILCR an SES Housing standards eeeee) Marion Roberts gave the workshop on housing be better if legislation ensured that buildings are wind and weather tight so that tenants may decide their amenities for themselves. Examples were given to show how some legislation isinadequate. Thermal heating standards don’t allow for different weather conditions in the UK, so that money which should go on additional heating has to be spent elsewhere. In new build housing spatial standards are minimised to those of Parker Morris, whilst the cost limits in rehabilitation tend to result in high maintenance expenditure — somethingwhichcouldbereducedbyinvestingmore some initially in building materials and design. The trend ienesw) purchase by the state, and by trade unions through pension funds. While state purchase was seen as a potential area it was felt not to be feasible for the next few years! Trade unions. however, possessed a substantial amount of money which could be used Positively whilst still providing a return on income. Nobody knew quite how this could be achieved but il is certainly an area for exploration. Housing is already being provided by trade unions in Germany and Sweden, so it was thought that thes examples would be good to look at Trade union involvement in local CUM paigns. throughthelocaltradescouncilwasrecommended by several people in the group to widen the issues and gain more support Many felt that architects and planners were still working on amenity/conservation issues either than for the services of a community and questioned why this was happening. A suggestion to include architeet’s fees in Urban Aid Grants might be one way of solving this problem. Some people felt that if social need was to be met at al architects should organise in amuch more radical way, and put themselves at the disposal of those who needed their services rather than continuing alor the lines of existing Structures. standards. She said that Marion said that with rigid statutory legislation, money prevailing attitudes in industry. The establishment towards rehabs has sometimes gone too far, with local authorities preserving the unpreservable. It was suggested that architects should be allowed to conduct comparative feasibility studies of new build and rehabs instead of simply one or the other. Most people thought that large scale redevelopment projects should be planned in phases so that commun— ities aren't destroyed. An example was given where one community was relocated in tact, so that people stil lived next door to one another. The group felt that there was a need for a resource centre which published information on faulty design and standards. This could act as an information service for joint discussion between tneant’s assoc— iations and building workers examining proposed building designs. Planning and people a ) Industrial buildings and health and safety EAE David Gee, ahealth and safety officer, began the workshop byconsidering some of the problems of implementing health and safety regulations. He standards can be used as a represented moral rectitude.explained that part of the problem stems from 5 Martin Lipson from the ‘Planning and People’ workshop outlined the problems of redevelopment on privately owned sites, discussed the possible ways that the state and trade unions could remedy such situations and proposed alternative ways of meeting social need for the future. He illustrated the problems by first giving an acoount of the Battersea Redevelopment Action Group’s efforts to oppose the construction of luxury flats and offices on a site occupied by a disused warehouse. He explained that the area surrounding the site was dominated by 31 high- rise flats, had little open space and was mainly populated by low income industrial workers, who, owing to the lack of industry in the area were forced to work elsewhere. Objections to the scheme grew and an alternative plan for the whole area was devised by local people together with some architecture students. The plan covered a 30 acre site which included 3 or 4 other redevelopment projects and incorporated badly needed oped space They made two planning applications on the grounc of social need but these were both rejected. When a public enquiry was held, people chose to give evidence rather than be represented by a lawyer, feeling that their views should be expressed directly. At one point they staged a mock enquiry as part of their evidence to illustrate the way in which the wholeprocessworkedlikeagameandwouldhave a determined conclusion. Opinion in the workshop diverged at this point. Some people felt that professional help should be enlisted to begin with, and that total participation by the community was only possible once some victories had been gained. Others argued that by participating fully those involved would be far more ‘ware of the whole political process. Martin pointed WORKSHOP REPORTS out that while they had lost the site in Battersea they had gained the involvement of people in the locality as a result of their participation. Others Suggested that this was insufficient and that people’ awareness and strength would evaporate without tangible success. Another area of discussion was the way in which property developers cab bide their time since their Property is ever increasing in value whilst the reverse is true for communities. In Battersea the Project was stalled for 7 years whilst Proceeding were carried out. But during that time both the local council and Government turned to Conservative and the climate for private speculation became far more amenable. The building programme isnow underway. Everyone agreed that ownership of land wasa vital area and discussed the possibilities of and Trade unions and architecture/democracy in architects’ offices There were 3 workshops in the afternoon session: ‘Democracy in the Workplace/Trade Union organis- -ation”, ‘Design and Build/Direct Labour anda continuation of the moming’s workshop on ‘Housing Form’ added to the afternoon programme y popular demand. _rene Murray from N.A.M.’s “Public Design Service’ group introduced workshop one with a 13 political weapon to restrict or enhance and showed how in the 19th century they 14 Having failed to determine a clear course for the future, the Congress resolved that the discussion be continued at greater length at a special meeting to be called in the Spring. All NAM groups were asked to submit papers and proposals to the Liaison Group in preparation for the special meeting. Such a debate on NAM’s future must clearly be fuly informed and the Liaison Group would welcome contributions from al interested parties 4s soon as possible. Written material should be sent to 9 Poland St., London, W.1. that besetts al state spenders: that of fitting a rolling programme of work into the local authority financial year. This Congress supports the efforts of NAM representing unnattached architects on the Architects Registration Council of the UK in their efforts to An interesting question was posed in the workshop: what limits would be i dupona left-ori d department ideologically committed to expansion? The answer given was that the Borough Architect could block the expansion beyond ‘establishment’ size (a scale determined in conjunction with the DOE). At present quite a high proportion of state-funded work is dominated by capitalism and patriarchy as was crisply farmed out to private architects. Considering the policies demonstrated by Su Francis in the morning workshop. expose RIBA abuses of ARCUK. This Congress requests Sltac to publicise the NAM Mate for the forthcoming election in 1980 in carly January of some local authorities this is not an altogether a bad thing but at a time when local authority building is seriously threatened by cuts it provides an easy way for those in favour of privatisation of the State by the private sector without attracting too much attention. The theory is that the private sector mops up the excess that the public sector can’t handle. It was suggested that a local authority department should be able to work for another local authority in order to match shortfalls of work in one with excesses in another. It was proposed that a joint “Fighting the Cuts” conference sponsored by both the public and private sector unions be called to link action on this crucial issue. Cost limits, design guides and their own prejedices confirm their political role. . c. Discussion of building form is dogged by ip terminology used by architects and their commentators. This severely limits public debate to a fairly elitist plane. The professional institutes do little to improve this situation. Public response should be encouraged a great deal more by the use of the popular media. There have been three further open discussions that have developed themes from the workshop. A third is planned for 10th January 1980 at 5, Dryden Street, at 7.00. All are very welcome. It is intended to to publish material to represent these discussions in the form ofa NAM booklet. di the future to be held in the Spring. ies of NAM in The morning’s ‘Housing Form’ workshop had raised so many important issues that an afternoon slot was hurriedly organised. The-interest gener- -ated by this workshop could be partly due to the fact that NAM had up to then consciously avoided entering into debates about building form, principally because the world of architectural journalism dwells extensively on “what buildings look like” to the virtual exclusion of “whether buildings work” or “whose needs do buildings satisfy”. NAM has avoided repeating the obsession and instead has concentrated on the political and social conditions that produce buildings. The‘Housing Form’ workshops established that enough grass-roots interest existed for nettletobeformallygraspedatlast. The afternoon workshop asked firstly in what proportion housing form was determined by architects or economic constraints. Three fundamental problems were rounded upon: a) Archi fi ly fail at the job they are supposed to do, at the level of basic competance e.g. leaks, bad damp-proof course detailing, specification errors like Sumerland, etc. private practice to help the public sector unions in resitsting attempts to cut the public sector. 2. UNIONISATION This Congress urges al workers in al sectors of building design work to join and organise within their appropriate trade union. In the cise of private sector building design, yhis Congress endorses the conclusions of the May 14th b) They cannot opt out of their ideological context The final session of this year’s NAM Congress was devoted to a discussion ambitiously titled ‘Future ' Strategies’. Its purpose was to review the current strength of NAM and initiate discussion on the future direction of NAM sponsored action. In the event discussion remained fragmented and unfocussed but it is clear that such a self examination is now crucial to the development of any future programme. Throughout the last four years NAM has consist- ently developed its ideas on a range of issuesand established its authority as an alternative voice in the profession. Yet its membership remains small and its resources limited. Debate centred on how NAM should seek wider popular support and, in particular, whether it remained realistic to expect it to grow into a mass movement in membership terms. It was proposed that NAM might broaden its appeal by embracing less purely ‘professional political’ issues but it was questioned whether it possessedthemanpower todoso.NAM shouldlook outside of itself, it was suggested, both by addressing itself more directly to those unattached architects who regularly voted NAM-affiliated candidates onto ARCUK Council, and by seeking to make alliances with other organised groups of working people.Inthiscontextthequestionofwhetherand 4.ARCUK members how NAM should respond to the changed political context was discussed and in particular the need to oppose the proposed public expenditure cuts was raised as a potential centrepiece for action. IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL NAM MEMBERS AND GROUPS Don’t forget to send your papers and proposals to the Liaison Group as soon as possible for the Special Meeting to NAM’s 1979 Annual Congress passed the following resolutions: 1. PUBLIC DESIGN SERVICE This Congress endorses the work carried out by the PDS Group in the last year In addition, this Congres« a) supports the the PDS Groujys proposed conference to be held in Spring 1980 to which al appropriate unions will be invited to send delegates, to asses the progress made in the democratisation of publis design offices, and the relation of democratisation to the defence of public architectural practice, b) recognises, (i) the unique potential of publis design offices to provide a democratic design service, (i) the ideological and economic attacks on these offices by the present government, largely supported by the RIBA, and, c) supports appropriate action taken in the defence of these offices by public sector unions and calls on salaried building design staff in Conference that al workers in that sectorshould organise in AUEW/TASS. Tis Congress urges cooperation at al levels between public and private sector trade unions with building design staff in membership to defend and enhance the quality of the workinglives of building design staff and the quality of the design work they produce. 3.CHELTENHAM SCHOOL O1 ARCHUITECTURI NAM Congress opposes any attempt to close Cheltenham School of Architecture, Dbelicving: option that this action would eliminate a progressive in architectural cducation. It expresses its support for the staff andstudents in the school in their fight against closure. description of the reorganisation of the architects’ department.at the London Borough of Haringey where he is employed. The basic idea behind the reorganisation was to create an area-based set of design teams that can develope a good understanding of their locality and a sense of responsibility to the people who live within it. In addition each ‘team Design and build and direct labour leader’ actually partisipates in the designitself. This arrangement isaconsiderable improvement over the conventional pattern of local authority architects’ departments where jobs are allocated to designers on a fairly random basis with the result that there is little continuity over a period of time between designers and users. By making the team leader an active member of the design team they avoid team and group leaders becoming petty bureaucrats dealing mainly with council committees and in the process losing touch with the problems faced by the team. At Haringey each team is offered each new council-funded job in its area and decided which ones to farm out. Inter-team liaison exists although this is not allowed to take on too much power. John Murray touched briefly on a problem workers can come together to discuss projects. They had also elected delegates on an area basis to represent users’ views. A planned building programme gives them the opportunity to work closely and constructively together. (Apologies for the brevity of coverage of this workshop please see SLATE 9 fora fuller description of events at Hackney.) The Design and Build Collective’s Dick Watson introduced workshop two. He saw their work as a genuine alternative to the conventional designer separated from builder set up. It is organised as a non-hierarchical cooperative rotating jobs such as book-keeping, job-running, trade skills, etc. Asa result there is little specialisation and each person gets to know something about every aspect of the job. Gross turnover is in the region of £60,000 to £70,000. They carry out mainly community- based projects such as play groups, day carecentres, craft and trade centres, ahandicapped building centre and private conversions of.which “there is an almost unlimited supply in London.” They encourage people they’re working for to learn building skills and participate as far as possible. Tom Bulley from Hackney’s architects department described the DLO’s predicament there. They are trying to restructure it along the lines proposed by the NAM PDS group. They have ajoint shop stewards’ structure where architectural and building Other matters dealt with during Congress were: SUBSCRIPTIONS NAM subscritions are now as follows: £8,.00 for working members and £3..00 for unwaged members, both annually. Both classes of subscription include copies of Slate. This isthe first increase since theintroduction of subscriptions folllowing the Ist Congress NAM GROUPS The following Groups received endorsements from Congress as required by Working Rule 2: Professional Issues Group, Alternative Practices Group, Feminist Group, Public Design Service Group, Slate/Publications Group. Any other se groups should inform the Liaison Group of their existence immediately to aid communication. Frok each of these groups a delegate is to beapp- ointed to form the quaterly Liaison Group meeting. LIAISON GROUP OFFICERS The following officers were elected by Congress: Mick Broad (Edinburgh), Teck Ong, Ken Pearce, Barry Shaw (al London), and Dave Sutton (Bristol). FUTURE STRATEGIES RESOLUTIONS Freemnmemesrncessoneaca Housing form continued A TWO WEEK summer school was held at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, Uni- versity College London, during the first twoo weeks of September. Called ‘The Production of the Built Environment’, it took a novel and importantly distin- ctive approach to urban issues. Its nove?ty was an attempt to xeplore the possibilities of an ex- planatory framework for questions of urban change and development which related a historical analysis of the construction industry -that isthe changing conditions in which buildings and the physical structure of cities are produced. The schoolwas jointly organised by taeching and research staff from different departments within the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, together with help from and co-operation of others outside the Bartlett. architects, planners teachers, researchers students, etc.. Participants thus together represented the many separate disciplines and occupations related to urban issues, both theoretically and practically. More than thirty people from the UK and abroad attended, hearing nearly the same number of people give papers, and taking part in discussion and study groups. The programme of the School presented material that allowed the possibility of analysing the production of the built environment in terms of the changing relations between land, capital and construction in cities. The physical formof the city could be viewed asa an account of the Bartlett The first week covered three areas: firstly the process of capital accumulation in the construction industry; secondly the relevence of history and of theories of scientific knowledge to environmental studies, and thirdly a critical appraisal of methods and techniques used in the field, drawing on examples at the level of implementation. It was intended to draw up in a tentative way a theoret- ical framework and possible methods of analysis, identifying the levels at which they operate. The second week was more concerned with identifying ways in which this framework might be applied in practice. This was seen in in terms of the organisation of prod- uction in construction, and in terms of State intervention and policies. Throughout the two weeks project groups held working seessions and helped to make the School part od a process through which some of the directions adopted were criticised and clarified, and new lines formulated. It is hoped that the Summer School, together with the publication of its proceedings in January, will be the first step towards developing a coordinated body of work in this diraction. The progress that has been made can be evaluated at next years Summer School. The first has been concemed with processes of distribution and re- distribution of resources within the urban physical structure. Whilst rejecting the explicit functionalism of earlier work it contains inherent assumptions which maintain a dichotomy between social and physical elements as a non-social variable in patterns of access and inequality. The second is an approach to urban studies which has emphasised the relation between social infrastructure and urban development. Harvey’s re-assessment of the relevance and assumptions of previous studies rejected the notion that spatial forms and social processes are in contin- uous interaction. He nevertheless adopted an approach that maintained their conceptual separation, mapping onto the urban landscape the distribution networks arising from the overall process of capital accumulation. His work importantly explored the use of new categories capable of explaining urban change, particularly Marxist thinking, and intro- duced a historical dimension lacking in earlier work and in subsequent work by the French school. Harvey saw ‘urbanism’ as originating in the transformation of economic integration from one based on reciprocity (exclusively associated with egalitarian social structures) to one based on redistribution (existing in rank or strati- fied social structures). This transform- ation was identified as crucial to con- centrating surplus into a few hands and a few places. Processes of redistribution and reciprocity were however in many senses seen as synchronic, since these categories were not taken as historically specific, and the actual process of change was not theorised. That the categories of reciprocity and redistribution were selected as being critical to the emergence of ‘urbanism’ followed from his original starting point of explaining relations of distribution as distinct from relations of production. The same focus led Harvey to stress the role of finance rather than productive capital, in other words the ways in which surplus is realised rather than the means by which itisgenerated. Conflicts based on finance capital in property speculation and land were thus attributed a force dominating the city and supplanting the importance of conflicts in the work- place. The circulation of commodities, including buildings, and particularly housing, together with the finance necessary was regarded not only as primary to, but separate from their actual production. The third approach was associated with the French School and in particular Castells, and viewed urban problems as a phenomena of collective consumption. By this it suggested that the economies of the advanced capitalist countries rest more and more on the process of con- sumption. By this it suggested that the economies of the advanced capitalist countries rest more and more on the process of consumption; that this is increasingly organised ona collective basis controlled by a financial super- structure; and that the purpose of such organisation is to ensure the repro- duction of labour power. Like Harvey, the realisation of surplus value and the consumption ofcommodities issingled out as the main focus for an explanation of urban problems. More explicitly than Harvey though, Castells adopts an ‘underconsumptionist’ view. Suburban development for example, is seen as a deliberate capitalist creation in order to combat under consumption and as an aid to political control. The present crisis of capitalism isinterpreted not intermsof the long term inadequacy of the rate of profit to fal, but as the result of the inability to sel goods and insufficient demand. A growing social, economic and political crisis isseen to surround the financial superstructure — the mechanism of controlling under consumption — which iscontrolled by state expenditure and unproductive consumption. This kind of analysis centres on the concept of the reproduction of labour power, and unlike the approaches typified by Harvey or Pahl appears to incorporate the process of both production and exchange of commodities ratherthan being solely confined to consumption. The process of actually producing Urban studies has too often been a field that has been integrated in name alone; Summer ita disciplines often remain separate. The Summer School was an attempt to change this It was an experimental form of teaching within the Bartlett which, hopefully to be repeated, demonstrated the potentials of much current research work at present without a teaching out- let. It also served as a pilot project fora possible post-graduate course at the Bartlett. The School tried to integrate the the work of individual specialists in a way that went beyond the format of a conference. As a School, the aim was to put the individual contributions in a framework which could give theoretical continuity while at the same time relate to practical issues. Many participants found it a useful form of overcoming academic and professional isolation. The Summer School was taught by people who together represented a wide range of specialised interests: eceonomics, planning, sociology, architecture, geogra- phy and more. It was attended by a complimentary variety of people, 16 product of the construction industry and of the different ways the buikding process is organised in relation to the State. This was not a purely technical view, but one which saw urban change as a social process manifested at the local levek in the physical and social changes that transform urban localities. The construction industry was seen ,as a mediator of the social processes, to be the key to understanding the way cities change. The physical elements of the city, land and buildings, were thus taken together. Thier organisation could then be seen as a reflection of historical changes occuring, for example, between landowners and builders,between building workers and contractors, etc.. The rationale which the summer school has begun to develop although it is not claimed to be a comprehensive theoretical approach to urban questions, can be seen as distinct in the context of existing work. The revival of academic interest in urban studies that has School nt {developed in the 1960's and particularly lin the 1970's has produceda diversity of approaches. To some extent the activities ‘ofstate planning has determined the ‘need for a theoretical framework through which urban processes might be examined, and policies formulated and implemented. Yet the realities of compounding ‘urban problems’, the UK property boom of the early 70’s, continually rising land values, housing and redevelopment issues, etc., demonstrate that there are long standing problems of applicability for those areas of knowledge that deal with urban issues. On one hand there are those practical, instrumental knowledges which daily inform al levels of environmental action ranging from the production of individual buildings to the structuring of large urban localities. Without aconceptual basis these tend however to be of limited use for explaining why cities come to be as they are, and thereby lack an essential precondition for generating effective change. On the other hand, analytical approaches which attempt to conceptual- ise the processes through which cities are transformed, have often in practice generated normative frameworks for environmental action, or functional descriptions too generalised to find application at the level of production. The field of urban studies that developed in the 1920's and 1930's had aperspective that explained changes in cities in terms of a ‘natural’ evolution analogous to biological change. Social processes were empirically observed, described and ‘mapped’ onto urban space. Urbanism became an autonomous object defined through itsobservable spatial characteristics of size, density and heterogenity. Within asimple function- alist framework the Chicago school developed a theory of the city which conferred ideal ecological forms on to the physical products of historically specific social processes. Social relations were often seen to be largely determined by the physical characteristics of cities. In more recent years, urban studies have shared anegative consensus critical of the Chicago School legacy. Emphasis has turned towards developing abetter understanding of the social relations operating beneath observable physical appearances. The view that urban socio- spatial relationships constitute an onto- logically distinct object of study has been challenged from within the field best described as urban sociology. Urban studies isnot atheoretically homogenous discipline. As Ray Pahl has observed, itisnoted more for the cogency of its internal criticism than for its capacity to generate significant con- cepts. It is however possible to identify three distinct critical trends which are typified by the work of Ray Pahl, David Harvey and Manuel Castells respectively. HE PRODUCTION OF THE CITY buildings is not however an integral part of the framework adopted, since by reproduction of labour power is meant the consumption of such necessary commoditiesashousing,togetherwith theconflictsorurban socialmovements which arise from their distribution. At the root of these approaches is a search for an explanation of the way in which cities are transformed so that present urban issues can be better under- stood and means of making effective change developed. But in the form of an implicit quest for a general theory of the city they can often become simply an exercise in classification. Categories are deployed from outside their relation to history and remain unrelated to definite stages of social development. However if the focus of new work, aiming to avoid this difficulty, becomes the historical transformation of the urban rather than the conceptual deployment of given categories, the same problems need to be confronted. As Eric Hobsbawm has noted, the subject of urban history is a container with ildefined, heterogenous, and sometimes indiscriminate contents. It does not have a given unity, nor is it a ready-made paradigm for examining social change. The reason for pulling together a diverse array of urban studies in the programme of the Summer School was to begin to search for explanations of the way in which cities change. As outlined above there have been a number of. attempts to analyse the way in which cities are transformed. These have pre- supposed a particular identification of the source of problems as concerned, for example, with the distribution and redistribution of resources within the urban-territorial structure, with the construction of social infrastructure, with the phenomena of collective consumption. The School, on the other hand, was concerned with overcoming through a production-oriented framework some of theproblemsinvolvedinconfining analysis solely to an examination of the distribution of built form seen as isolated from the process of actually producing buildings. The first problem with confining analysis of the city to particular relations whether these be of distribution, exchange, or consumption —is that social classes, as defined through their relation to the production process, cannot be explained. A social class, for instance, cannot be defined according to its distribution within alocality or by a Particular object of consumption such as housing. Secondly, itisnot possible, by restricting analysis, to explain the relation vecn urbanisation and the general + sess of accumulation of capital. The latter entails an understanding of the multiple determinants of the cycle of 18 reproduction of capital in which the production process, as a generator of. surplus, acts as mediator. With a production-oriented approach itwasseenasnecessarytoviewthe processofurbanisationasahistorical process of generating, realising, distri- buting and consuming surplus. Viewed in this way, urban change is given a material form and is part and parcel of the overall process of accumulation and its different stages. For the city consists of a conglomeration of buildings which are ascribed to a variety of different uses; these buildings are not simply distributed and consumed, before this they must be produced and are therefore basically a product of the construction industry. Historical change in urban development could thus be seen to reflect changes in the construction industry and to be related to the overall process of accumulation. 1. The Process of Accumulation and the Peculiarities of Land What are the peculiarities of accumulation in construction, what barriersdoeslandpresenttothisand whatmechanismshavebeendeveloped by the state in response? This first area consisted of a critique of neoclassical economic methods in the light of a detailed examination of the process of accumulation within the construction industry, and the peculiar part which land plays in this. As an illustration of this, Michael Ball looked at the relation between production and exchange in construction. Complement- ary to the theoretical arguments presented, John Sugden succeeded in demystifying the traditional neoclassical approach by showing empirically that the construction industry does not act in passive response to demand, but that its organisation is oriented towards an active engagement in determining the structure of its market. This active involvement does mean that the industry itself is fundamental to changes in the formation of different localities, to their deployment, to the provision of housing and other social amenities. With the approach to the process of accumulation presented, the construction industry was seen to be a prime determ- inant in the different stages of urban development. This does, of course, raise the question of the part which land plays in development, and Michael Ball pointed out that an explanation of urbanisation which includes the process of accumu- lation in construction is necessarily contrasted to explanations which place emphasis on the importance of land rent in determining the nature of building. Only within speculative development as opposed to building to contract does land rent present a major problem for the building capitalist. History and Theories of Scientific Knowledge Whatbodyofknowledge is tobuildupaframeworkforarationale of production to explain change in the built environment? This part of the course situated theories concerning change to the built environ- ment within the development of scientific knowledge, it outlined a particular approach to historical method and examined examples of change in the construction industry and land in relation to this. John Musgrove began by examining how the concept of change has developed in different theories of knowledge, and the classificatory ideas applied to the environment which have stemmed from these. He argued that, in order to give a temporal dimension, the process of material change must be taken into account in studies of environmental development and that this could not be achieved through a synchronic view. Linda Clarke then followed from this theme by outlining the importance of a particular historical approach in over- coming the opposition between synchronic and diachronic analysis. She pointed out and demonstrated with examples the historical approach necessary to explain why the con- struction industry has developed — through an emphasis on change in the organisation of production not on static description within a uniform path of development. Michael Ball carried this further by examining the impact of changed pro- ductive relations (accompanying the early development of capitalism in housebuilding) on exchange relations. He pointed out that if housing provision is seen only as an issue at the level of reducing practical problems to subsidiary technical ones. James Gough continued thisthemeintermsoflarge-scaleurban modelsappliedbylocalauthoritiesand the ideological apparatus erected to support the relationships which these are used to express, These contrast with the simple less operational optimisation models based on a neo-classical economics. Jenny Thornley, Nick Sharman and Terry Hargraves explored the relation of practical local problems of employment and housing to intervention at different levels of political involvement, thereby re-examining the context in which such models are applied. Jenny Thornley described attempts by the state to merge public and private interests thereby evading the practical problems of the development functions within local authorities. Nick Sharman similarly illustrated the impotence of the state and local authorities to deal with the problems of high unemployment and physical dereliction of Docklands. Terry Hargrave then showed how change can be effected when practical problems are mediated by political involvement, giving examples of the techniques successfully employed by Central Camden Tenants Association. 4. The Organisation of Production in Construction What are the specific contradictions within the organisation of the production process in contruction; between organised labour, the concentration of capital and technological change? And how is the organisation of production acting as a barrier to technical change? This section of the course examined how the organisation of production, Following this general unifying objective a number of questions are raised concerning analysis of urban change. The subject areas of the Summer School were chosen to help answer some of them in the light of the contributions made by speakers. They are set out below. This part of the course was concerned with unravelling the links and differences between the technical and political solutions posed to practical problems at a concrete local level. This included critically exploring a variety of quant- itative methods and then re-examining the local situations in which these are implemented. The subject was first tackled through a discussion by Colin Thunhurst of the relation between practice and technique using the example of operations research (OR). He explained (following upon a theme of Jonathan Rosenhead’s) how the application of OR to planning and build- ing and the approach to it often involves Doreen Massey examined further the questionoflandanditsrelationtothe PROCEEDIN general process of accumulation of capital, suggesting barriers which the private ownership of land could present for capital. Mike Edwards then explained how the immediate needs of capital are reflected in the planning activities of the State, pointing out that the planning and local government system are ofgreat importance in determining the total scale ofpubliccontractsandtheallocationof work. Zoning mechanisms, for example, can benefit the profits on building capital and speculative gains on land. . Methods, Techniques and Forms of Practical Intervention What is the relationship between practical, technical and political problems and their levels of resolution in effecting change to the built environment? “Urban Studies has too often beena field integrated in name alone .the Bartlett Summer School was an attempt to change this. It was an experimental form of teaching.whichcouldgivetheoretical Pleasesendme.CopiesofthePROCEEDINGSOF continuity while at the same time relate to practical issues.” The proceedings of this important event are to be published in January — they will contain al the papers given during the two weeks of the Bartlett Summer School, plus records of discussion and study group material. Name «-sesesnensecones Order now ORDER FORM To: Bartlett Summer School (Proceedings), Schob! of Architecture and Planning, University College London, 22, Gordon St., London, WC1 THE BARTLETT SUMMER SCHOOL 19 exchange then its relation to the accumulation of capital isprimarily idered asa problem of‘finance capital’ and an overemphasis isgiven to tenures. Through examining exchange relations, the paper linked thisearly development of the building industry to changes in the form of land purchase. The speculative builder, instead of a portfolio of contracts (as with the contractor), had a portfolio of sites for steady accumulation so that no necessary correlation existed between land purchases and output of building. This mismatch between output and gains on land was also seen in the early 1970s property boom and the changing nature of land use and ownership which accompanied this boom were described by Alex Catalano. w y 1enclose acheque/postal order, value £......... payable to University College London. Price: £3 00 per single copy ; £2.50 per copy for orders of two or more copies Plus post and packing to UK address £0 30p per copy stemming from the process of accum- ulation, acts as a barrier to: 1. Labour organisation, the reproduction and development of skills, and to healthy and safe working conditions; and 2. technological advance and the co-ordin- ation of construction in terms of the concentration of fixed capital were exemplified both by the levels of development of fixed capital and the results of mergers by construction companies. Janet Drucker’s paper on the history of Trade Union organisation in contruc- tion showed how the different craft traditions in the face of technical re- structuring have influenced the present framework of organised labour in the industry, although the craft/non-craft tradition is now blurred. The case of the ‘lump’, the problems it raises for centra- lised trade union organisation and for standards of training in the industry ~ were discussed by Terry Austrin. Stewart Burchall described the state of training in the industry. Tim Lobstein’s paper on health and saftey on construction sites demonstrated the potential import- ance of this issue for organised labour’s fight to reverse the consequences of casual employment. The poor record of construction in this respect in comparison with other industries was demonstrated with detailed statistical material. Mike Cooley showed the contradic- tions that now existed between the productive potentials of the engineering industry and what it actually produces when serving the interests of capital. Ftr The technological potential of the industry's skills and machinary was not fully used, or used for the best skilled workers were unemployed and plant closed down in the face of pressing needs, for high technology medical equipment; for example many forms of automation mis-applied the potentials of new technology and degraded skills and work; the anti-social use of science and technology had given science itselfa bad name in the eyes of the public. He showed how at Lucas Aerospace the workforce haddemonstrated its potential to overcome these contradic- tions and produce socially useful pro- ducts. A vital issue was shown to be one of the workforce’s control over what is produced, In Mark Swenerton’s case study of the decline in housing standards between 1918 and 1921, the demonstrated poten- tial of the construction industry to produce housing of high quality was shown to be subject to the political calcu- lations of a government which saw that ‘homes fit for heroes’ were no longer a necessity. Graeme Geddes raised the question of design and the control of production in the construction industry, 20 andtothekindsoftheoryandknowledge that informed building design? How might the experience of the engineering industry be related to the contruction industry? Graham Ive showed that contruction is unique within British industry in terms of its relatively low levels of fixed capital. He argued that this sectorial backward- ness could be related to (although not necessarily explained by) the contracting system within the industry, Andy Cullen described the takeovers, aquisitions and joint ventures within building capital during the 1970's. And the industrialisa- tion of housebuilding was used by Richard Hill as a case study to examine the pecularities of construction, in relation to the accumulation process. State Intervention and Policies for Land and Construction What are the differences between political intervention in land and construction at the local and national- levels? And how have local authorities contributed historically to transform- ing the structure of land ownership and use, the organisation of the construction process and the built product itself? The final subject area initiated a discus- sionofthe policies towards public owner- ship as these are manifested and imple- mented, in order to understand the conflicts between public and private ownership of land and construction. John Foster using historical examples discussed the idea of the local state —it was he thought, a weak concept. He argued that the history of local state institutions showed that their emergence was intemately related to class struggles over local ‘environmental’ issues. But that these institutions have at all times been cohesive with national state institutions, iulthough not necessarily in complete political alignment with the latter. Steve Merrett presented a detailed account of the state’s longstanding policies of financial intervention in both the production and realisation of owner occupiedhousingaswellaslocalautho- rity housing, pointing therefore to the complexity of the situation that socialist policies for further intervention in housing must face. Drawing on her earlier paper, Doreen Massey showed on the basis of an analysis of post war state interventions in land ownership, and particularly the Community Land Act, that the specific contradictions between forms of land ownership needed to be understood if successful policies were to be implement- ed. Full nationalisation of land could overcome the problems posed by the private ownership of land by capital, but that political struggle over use would remain although in fundimentally new conditions. Bob Colenutt’s account oftheconflicts surrounding the development proposals for London’s Coin Street Site illustrated the importance of the local level for raising issues of principal over the opera- tion of the land market and the role of local authorities in this process. Paul Lowenberge’s earlier paper also related to this issue. The contradictions within state policies for regional development were analysed by Ray Hudson through the example of Washington New Town. And Graham Ive in a contribution which examined urban and industrial spatial restructuring in Mersyside argued for an understanding of the locational aspects of urban and industrial change which took account of a variable relationship between industrial capital. Both papers raised issues for the development of political policies to tackle uneven regional development. Steve Drewer's criticisms of the tradi- tional approach to analysis of the cons- truction industry were based on their in- adequacy to analyse the range and variety of its operations. What sort of analysis of the industry would show how its often unsatisfactory performance could be improved? A discussion was opened up in which it was suggested that the Labour Party’s proposals for building industry nationalisation — “Building Britain’s Future’ —in justifying social ownership on groundsof efficiency in the industry, neglected the social and political desirability of social ownership. Caroline Bedale, Mike Paddon and Peter Carter argued the case for making Direct Labour Departments a central part of the campain to effect socially desirable change within the construction industry. Against the background of these subject areas there were study groups which met to work on a number of distinct topics which could relate parti- cular interests to the more general framework of the course. The topics were: Land Rent and Development; The Organisation of Production—Design ind Construction; the State and Housing; The Historical Pecularities of Construction and the Position of Labour. The work that thestudygroupshaddonewerepresented at the end of the two weeks, raising more questions than theys olved but suggesting useful directions for future work. It is hoped that the ultimate success of the course will be measured through the theory and practice that it helps to develop. ofEasternEurope,Politicalinesencethis criticism has no substance in fact. Monotony can be alleviated by variations in surface treatment, articulation and landscaping. The authors at times seem to be looking for non-existent problems rather than realizable solutions. Would anyone object to the abolition of al makes of ‘standard’ car ifcheap and economical variations of the Rolls Royce were the only vehicles Challon available? The authors also miss the point that alot of so-called Architecture was, and is, being done by non-architects. These include employees of Local Authorities, engineers, surveyors, estate agents, builders and amateurs of al kinds. The authors flirtation with theories of professionalism and the effects of society upon them is, in the case of the architects, aslightly irrelevant exercise in which the architects apparently are accused of being out of step. Of course itsuits Capitalist society to have ‘professionals in straight-jackets, self made though these garments may be. One might as well blame a mad man for wearing a real one! What the authors don’t seem to have realised is that because of this Straight-jacket -sometimes refered to as the Code of Professional Conduct -they are in an unenviable and humiliating situation. With touting for work ,forbidden, they must and do resort to al kinds of dubious methods of getting clients. Its no wonder that corruption is rife -with onle occaisional exposure. Some alternatives may be worse, of course, but what justification ,for instance. can there be for rules which forbid and architect to do building, or dealin property or building materials? Only that he may be dishonest. The RIBA appears always to hey been in the position of throwing the first stone -ahighly questionable activity. The authors show that, in addition, the Code prevents an architect from publicspirited activity in the community. Ofcourse al professions have Codes of Conduct - but it has always seemed to me that the architects’ Code is the most punitive of al, effectively segregating him within an industry in which co-operation is a paramount necessity and putting him at the top ofa dung heap from which descent could be very mucky. As an architect and planner, |have rushed in where others might fear to tread, since the authors themselves are architects and planners. The status of architect sislow and has been for some years now, not because of questions of design -which, in my opinion are a distraction -but because ofgeneraltechnicalincompetence,alleviated “only by a new ‘low grade’ architect, refered to as an architectutal technician -a vocation which was created by the RIBA after the War and which has effectively weakened and has added nothing to the status of architects, This will be corrected (one day) when Schools of Architecture ,(if they exist) insist ona first degree in Building Technology for all entrants’ The Schools would then become post-graduate establishments -whereatalent for design in the Heavy Crudist Style would be no substitute for expertise in building. - It would then be reasonable for non-archite cts and amateurs to be forbidden to design building -work above a certain cost. The authors point out that -try hard though REVIEW OF ‘WHO NEEDS HOUSING?’ If you are a reformer, rebel or revolutionary, or merely a member of the Conservative Party this book will give you a cbmpendious view of housing problems in Britain. The authors investigate alt aspects of the housing crisis -relevant and some irrelevant. They consider the advantages and disadvantages of the major forms of housing tenure -owner-occupation and council housing - and consider the situation of those on the fringes of the housing market — the squatters, the gypsies and people in institutions. They look at the building industry and explain why building workers are not more militant and . why the large construction firms are so alarmed by the prospect of nationalisation. Planners, architects. housing managers and pressure groups are all-criticised for their limited understanding of the real roots of the housing crisis, The authors, justifiably in my opinion, criticise the unrealistic and unsympathetic Architecture of Heavy Crudism in housing by contemporary architects. They say, ‘‘In the face of the rather marginal contribution that architectural design can make to net human happiness, architects maintain a collective self-image which stresses their social value to society, their role in creating ‘communities’ by design and their desire to serve their clients. In practice, however, most architects are more concerned to impress their fellow architects than to satisfy the users of their buildings.”"It is possible here that the authors have mistaken the dictates of fashion in architecture, the desire of the individual architectto justify his or her existence, to make his or her personal mark in the townscape and a concern to impress alandsundryfortheverylimitedobjectiveof pandering to fellow architects. By hitting out in al directions rather like the proverbial bull in the china shop the authors tend to invalidate their criticism of architects, much of which isjustified. Architecture and Planning could make a substantial contribution to human happiness. Architects coul d antl should be concerned to serve and know the -wishes of the community and of the occupants of public housing. In any event there are those who are of the opinion that the fact sof housing could best be gathered by social workers for inter- Pretation of the drawing board. The authors’ criticism of the ‘standard house Plan’ is similar to the anti-socialist accusations= of ‘monotony’ levelled against the housing estates 21 JaneDarkeandRoy Darke : ‘Who Needs Housing?’ :Macmillan Press :£2.95 :Paper Reviwed by Ivor it wn Socialist Housing Activists Workshop: ‘Socialism and Housing Action: The Red Paper on Housing”: published by the authors at arrogant bastard should be exposed!” So the passions were there al right, but our stage-managed debate wasn’t going to bring them out. have offered to co-operate. Then there was the workshop offered by Portsmouth, and the collection of alternative prospectuses they may -the planners cannot avoid the political implications and influences al around them. I should say, in addition, that though, with hands on hearts, they may be planning for the public good, capitalists and capitalism are planning for private profit and until Socialism arrives to revive them the planners are being counted out of the ring. What is to be done about the housing crisis? The authors, in an excellent final chapter, show how existing organisations, pressure groups and even legislation can be used in the fightfor better housing. The deepening energy crisis is, however, hardly mentioned and it may come to exert the greatest influence on questions of housing and town planning. Altogether Ifound this book to be ful of information which isboth fascinating and useful. A book not to be missed by anyone interested in housing,oneoftoday’smajorpolittval issues. It has always been with us and will not go away and is likely to remain with us for many years hence. To quote the authors: “Homelessness and inadequate housing are endemic in Capitalist society.” REVIEW OF “SOCIALISM AND HOUSING ACTION: THE RED PAPER ON HOUSING” At the end of the Red Paper the collective of authors say: “we offer (this paper) in an attempt to start the debate. We welcome criticism and comment. We welcome anybody who wished to join us to further NAM - a way forward FROM: Mick Broad Dear Slate The fifth congress asked “which way is N.A.M. going?” but where was the member- -ship to give their reply? The answer is of course, onwards, but how. Here isjust one suggestion. N.A.M. has members in Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield and elsewhere supporting the Movement but relying on Slate for contact. It is now time for the membership to invite further contact and generate new activity by forming local groups throughout the country. No great leaders are required, merely contact with thelocalAUEWTASSandNALGObranches Hellman, Thompson and al the other ‘stars’gatheredtomakeSheffieldlikean possiblyadvocatethatwithoutfirst architectural Woodstock. The audiance was having made bloody sure about his social everywhere, hanging over the balcony, responsibilities. There was enough being entwined in the spiral stair, getting up the microphone and generally oozing the question'“when exactly does the revolution begin? ” When itwas my turn Ileaned forward and began........ “Comrades! me and saying “If Dunster was in my school it has expanded and other worthy people vue’ (Well, if this isn’t a struggle what on we wouldn’t allow him to teach”; “That earth is?) Iread aquote of Cedric’s Ihad discovered that morning whenI was eating my cornflakes, It was from an old Archigram of 1970, the one that gave a free packet of seeds. He had written: There isno reason to suppose that itis best to receive between the ages of 17and 25 and to dispense at any time beyond that breathing down each others’ necks, perched participant left with that tingling lecling age, The receiving/dispensing equation is one should never be written, CLASSIFIC- c/o Tyne-Wear Rescource Centre, 13, Swinburn St., the work that has been started here.” It is in the Then there was the big N.A.M. meeting held upstairs in the most wonderfully cramped corner of the studio. We were al ideas born at Sheffield that have every chance of being realised. Well, the Festival is over. In my mind its success was obvious: apart from the heroic scheines I've just mentioned (and there are others), every Gateshead: £1 00 inc. P & P: paperback Spirit of these remarks that Iwish to congratulate the authors on producing a comprehensive, well-researched and gripping document. Itisaclear account of the many issues that confront socialists and housing activists;issuesofgreatcomplexityinvolving economicandsocialtheoryandtheevidenceofour schoolsofarchitecture,aroominapub,and bloodyconvenientforlazyadministrators havetheSameparentageastherevitalised answer: WHERE INIIELL’SNAME WAS Review by Marion Roberts ATION OF PEOPLE RELATED TO PARTICULAR OPERATIONAL MENTAL PATTERNINGISFALSE. However,itis on the edges of drawing boards.... aha! here is the germ! It was clear to me theat the New Architecture Movement should, by the end of the Festival, have an initiativeoneducation.Itdoes,afteral, that something was happening in architect- -ural education that might help to solve some of their very deeply rooted frustrations. One question remains, and as amember Iwouldbeverygratefulforan own eyes and experience. The authors state who they are and why they wrote it. The document is written by socialists and housing activists who wish to bring housing back intothearenaofsocialistdebateandaction. In doing so they meet the issues head on — chapters are devoted to current housing policy, a history of publichousing,capitalism,thehousingmarket whichincludesthebuildingindustry,tenantsand owners, and the family and personal life. The penultimate chapter is a courageous attempt to describe a vision of housing under socialism — an attempt which isnormally sidestepped by the more abstract theoreticians. The final chapter is the one which aroused most sympathy however, and which confirmed some of the doubts and reservations I felt| towards the rest of the pamphlet. The final chapter deals with the way forward for community action. It examines the short comings of community action — the brevity of campaigns, their localised base, and the lack of coherent political perspective. It also considers the lack of interaction between the labour move- -mentandcommunityactiongroups,andthe necessity for and complexity of such an interaction. In doing so, I feel the chapter raises issues which had been simplified out of the earlier chapters S.A.C. in the figure of Brian Anson, and NAM? Slate did carry Rob Thompson’s article “Trained to make a killing” in its 14th notice ofyour first meeting in B.D. or A.J. After that the new group exists and continues to seek further contact while developing both local and national issues. If the answer to the first question is North, thentheEdinburghgroupispleasedto have been chosen to host the sixth annual congress and will be glad for any Suggestiononcongressformorcontent frombothexistingandpotentialgroups during the coming months. See you in Edinburgh witha friend, there’s no better place to take one!’ SAC conference FROM: Thom Gorst REFLECTIONS ON SHEFFIELD, or WHERE WAS NAM? TheSheffieldS.A.C.Conferencewasthe first time in my embryonic architectural career that I had shared a platform with anyone, let alone Anson, Cullinan, Price, and cowardly academics. Here we were, nearly ten years later, grapp- -ling with exactly the same problems. Somehow Sheffield was going to solve them, issue. The notint of radicalism in education New York andIwasn'tkeentoleaveuntilithad. hadbeengivenagoodairingbeforethe That afternoon Igave my little sideshow — Festival began, with advance publicity in the distasteful inner secrets of a particular Building Design and the Architectural Press. internationalmagasineIhadbeenincontact Thequestion“Whoseeducationisitanyway? with,butwealknewthattherealbusiness would be achieved the following day, when we gathered around’ the rostrum again to Pass resolutions, set up organisations, leave the world with our mark. Before this could happen there should be some groundwork: EDUCATION, INCREASED SOCIAL meetings and heated discussions about AWARENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY IN SCHOOLS, UPROOTING US FROM OUR OWN EXCLUSIVENESS and so on. What happened? The mecting started at square one; no assumptions and no direct- -ion. Here was the one mass alternative architectural organisation saying “come on Dear Friends education; Brian wondered how he could our own plans? Ihad found, early in the Festival,thatIwasexchangingalotofideas with Rob Thompson of the Architects Revolutionary Council, and by the middle of Thursday we were together in the Festival office toying with the idea of forming a new school of architecture - a “school without walls’. The idea survives: offered to start the debate of debates, yet only a few members of the audience came forward, timidly. It wasn’t until it was over that Ifound people coming up to wasringingineveryone’smind,theproblems were well known to us al. FAIR REPRE- -SENTATION ON THE SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE COUNCIL, FREEDOM 20 Brokaw Lane, Great Neck, N.Y. 11023 FROM THE RIBA’s MONOPOLY IN FROM: Eugene and Toby Glickman U.S.A. architectural education. apparent when we gathered into our Broupstogetonwiththegroundwork. Was that nothing was going to be achieved. "chaired adebate early on the second Morning between Brian Anson and David Dunster.Wesatinthemiddleofthemarke telN.A.M.we'reinterested!,insteadof Placesurroundedbyaboutfiftyenthusiasts puttingforwarditsowninitiativesand andthetwospeakersworkedovertimeto offeringstrongsupporttoS.A.C.whichso Betthediscussionontotheflocr.Brian badlyneededit.Isitanysurprisethatthosearchitecture,weareturningtoyou. me David a“shallow intellectual”; i Vid didn’t rise to it. David advocated of us who came to Sheffield to achieve samething should find ourselves sitting in tiny offices with like-minded souls making Do you know of any individuals or journals in the United States that we could get in touch with? Ormalism as a useful tool in architectural What became My wife and Iare writing a tourist guide to Manhattan which will have a radical, class- conscious perspective. We know of no architects who have any sort of left politics in our part of the world; yet we believe that the architectural dimension of a city ought to be an important part of our book. Because we ourselves are ignorant of contact Poland Street, London W.1. SLATI to bring together ideas and experiences from ople who design buildings, people who build them ind people who live and work in them SLATE yneentrates on the social and economic factors that hape our environment and determine the way that suildines are commissioned, designed. built and used SLATE : full of useful information and opinion from workers in building construction and design, tenants, ommunity groups and others interested in ensuring that the construction industry and its products are re attuned to their needs SLATE in independent magazine published by a group within the New Architecture Movement, which aims to promote effective control by ordinary people over their environment SLATE 2— Can architects help the ‘Community? SLATE 3 Myth and ideology in the architectural Profession SLATE 4— Crisis in the construction industry AND Women who are builders SLATE 5— Monopoly in the architectural profession on capitalism and the housing market, The chapter on capitalism presents the contradiction of capital in a rigorous and forceful way. However at the end of it one is left with the feeling that the economic system under which we now live came about in an arbitrary fashion and was not the result of an historical dialectic. The progressive elements of early capitalism, the increasing of the productive forces and the increase in the nature and number of commodities isneither recognised nor drawn out. There is no feeling of history as a process, that within the womb of capitalist development the institutions are formed which may become subject to conscious democratic direction and control. Asa consequence the authors offer a somewhat utopian vision of ‘community control’ of housing without reference to the existing structures of local and national government. Council housing isseen by the authors as a coercive means of ensuring the reproduction of the labour force — the progressive elements of council housing are not expounded nor are further aspects of those progressions explored, A similar blank spot occurts in the papers attitude to the Labour Party. The Labour Party has grown up as the political wing of the labour movement. It seems contradictory to me to recommend on the one hand increased links with the ‘labour movement’ (ie trade unions) and at the same time to reject the Labour Party because it is seen as:— “managing and strengthening capitalism rather than dismantling it’. The role of the Labour Party and the labour movement over the last fifty years has been tortuous.and raises contradictions for activists However the Labour Party is the only embodiment of the mass interests of the entire working class a that exists in this country at the moment: it is the party of local if not national government, and the party to which trade unions are affiliated. To dismiss it as ‘strengthening capital’ seems to me (as a member of that party) not only theoretically incorrect but tactically dangerous. Itiswith these reservations that Iwould urge Slate reader to buy a copy of the Red Paper and read it, extend and refine the argument, discussion and above al the action. SLATE 6 SLATE SLATE 8 Training architects Making public building respond to people's needs Feminism and architecture SLATE 9— The fight for control of the building industry: nationalisation or private enterprise? SLATE 10/11 People talk about the buildings they use - SLATE 12 — Commercial development, the tommunity and the building industry SLATE 13 — An issue on housing you'reemployed)or£3.00(ifyou'rearestudent,claimantorOAP)toNAM at9,PolandStreet London W.1. NAME ADDRESS. If you would like to receive SLATE without joining NAM fill in the form below and send it together withacheque/ontpero(spatyaableltotheNewArchMoivemetnte)focr£2t.50utorNAMeat9, mete Pee ger SLATI fy monthly mastzine about building and buildings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource NAM SLATE Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray & John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/347ae90e019ecdd0c63048c4b235ecc8.pdf 79cdb6de72db32a6876899ac43eeb00b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 16 Description An account of the resource ain aaIN: SY Z the TE en d of ide 35p S paghts;ee Pepeoe Sa pe oad: | CONTENTS PUBLIC HOUSING— THE POLITICS OF AESTHETICS a.discussion of the design of council housing HOUSING CRISIS DEEPENED the real effects of the State’s further retreat from housing UNATTACHED NEWS ith, a ~, rid oneself of or renounce obit This is the last issue of Slate to be put together by the original Editorial Collective and, we regret, it shows. After three years and sixteen issues Slate needs new ideas and people to take it to the next stage in its development. At a meeting in March the first steps were taken to bring together a new collective and we have had several discussions about editorial policy and the mechanics of producing the itself then there will be a future for Slate but so far the new collective would be best described as only embryonic.It is in need of several more people who would like to join and take part in editing and producing the magazine and in laying down its future direction, still very open to discussion. The point of this item isto appeal to.any of our readers who want to get involved in any ori every aspect of running the magazine to contact the new collective and come to their open meeting at 9, Poland St., London, W1 on June 18th at 6 30 pm. To contact the new collective ring Nick Coulson 01-607 6061 (evenings) Good luck and goodbye The old editors. Opinions expressed in SLATE are not necessarily the policy of the New Archi tecture Movement unless stated to be so. SLATE ISTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, published bi-monthly and edited by the Movement'’s Publications Group. News and features of broad interest to workers in the profession, the building industry and to the general public are included to stimulate general debate on a wide range of issues and to bring the Movement’s views and activities to the attention of the largest possible readership. WORK ON SLATE SLATE needs more workers, more writers, more ideas and more reps. on order to producea better, larger and cheaper newsletter. Ifyou would like to work for SLATE, becomea rep., join the group, send in.articles or suggest topics it should cover then contact us soon. SLATE ispublished by the Publications Group of the NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, 9 Poland St., London, W1. (Letters should be addressed to the Publications Group). Printed by Islington Community Press, 2A St. Paul’s Rd., London, N1. Trade distribution by Publications Distribution Co-operative, 27 Clerken- well Court, London, EC2. SLATE may beavery slick looking paper but we need money fast! Please send us your donations now! Cheques made payable to SLATE* 9 Poland St., W1. Oo mul. contriu Dluish or, 2. adj. (Made) or - esp.a8roofing;eae { EDITORIAL CONTACT :‘PHONE 01-703 7775 SLATE 16 PAGE 2 SLATE 16 PAGE 3 ions); ~-black, -blue,-grey, modificati cethesetintssachasoocurin~; f~-cl val benefit soclety with small utions; ~-colour(ed), (of) dark vreenishh Brey: hanes slit’y? a, ~3. v.t. Cover with ~= “"sikt'ent n. (MB sola atat') f. esclale, fe: ut. (colloq.). TOrticize Ptvereiy~ vies in reviews), scold,ere Propose for offiectec, Hence slat’mo) n.(app.f.preo.} If the new collective ds in establishi he New Architecture Movement fill In the form below and send | ifyou wouldlike tobe amembeofr¢ If you would like to receive SLATE without joining NAM fill in the form below and send it together withacheque/postalorder(payabletotheNew ArchitectureMovement )for£2.to5N0AM at+ SUBSCRIBE! hi Poland Street, London W.1. Jane Darke is a lecturer atSheffieldUniversity Department of Archi- tecture, She is co- author of the recent book, Who Needs Housing? This paper attempts to broaden the narrow frame- SLATE 16 PAGE 4 SLATE 16 PAGE 5 PUBLIC HOUSING: POLITICS OF AESTHETICS to be said because of the neglect of any thorough discussion of architecture in recent thoeries of aesthetics. Unlike the situation in literature and fine art we would maintain that a building which fails to please its public cannot be regarded as admirable. Yet to rely purely on the opinions of the public could lead to a populist position where we endorse the most gratuitously dressed-up kitsch product of the speculative builder. Instead, we should try to understand the meanings these preferences carry, in the context in which they occur, as social constiucts connecting in a comprehensible way with other values. This is an undeveloped area of analysis: most recent Marxist work on art and media has concentrated on the producers rather than the users (4). Such an analysis might go as follows. Since paid work under capitalism is characteristically limited, monotonous and unsatisfying, the worker seeks an escape in his or her home life. For the wife and/or mother, of course, the home is also at least one of her work- places (5) and the image the home presents to onlookers will be taken to reflect in part her competence at this work. Both sexes we suggest, willwantthehometoexpressanalternative reality to their actual social situation of power- lessness. It is hardly surprising if this home has applied to it escapist symbols such as Mediterranean details recalling the hedonism of the brief fort- night free of work, coach lamps supplying an instant sense of history and referring to the conviviality of the Christmas card scene, or cottagey elements speaking about an imagined organic community in an arcadian past. Of course, the tastes of other sections of society could be analysed in a like manner: their expressive intentions can be expected to differ according to their particular social and occupational position. Architects, we suggest, address their buildings not to the public in general or-the users in particular, but to fellow architects. We maintain that, whatever their stated intentions, architects typically aim at achieving a “discussable aesthetic’ in t! eir buildings, aim in some way to respond to a self-conscious line of development (or perhaps-several different strands) that form the main subject matter of various specialist magazines. This discourse is remote from the aesthetic evaluations of the general public, as shown in the following contrasted quotations on the subject of the Smithson’s public housing scheme at Robin Hood Lane,inLondon’sdockland.Thefirstisashort sample from a lengthy review of the scheme in AD: “Theiconographyofabuilding’ssurfacehasbeen a continuing preoccupation for the Smithsons. It is manifested in their search for a ‘generalising aesthetic’ for ordinariness as a norm. It is seen in the concern to resolve ‘a sort of anonymity of styling. depends for its iconography upon a high degree of resolution in the facade; a resolution of the demands for both a generalising aesthetic and a high degree of internal flexibility. The Smithsons attempt this resolution through the useof a ‘skin’. A ‘skin’ as opposed to a facade should most properly be conceived of as a taut membrane without apparent depth, which seems stretched over the internal frame. The idea of a ‘skin’ is clearly closer to Mies’ aesthetic than to Golden Lane and Le Corbusier's idea conveyed by the image of the wine rack asa cage.....But unlike Mies, where the ‘skin’ is often a complex screen which remains neutral, Robin Hood Gardens Tepresents a search for a ‘skin’ which is at once seen as generalising and at the same time functionally and iconically expressive of the disposition of the internal elements’(6). issocially permitted, for example in the furnishing workwithinwhichpublichousingisusuallydiscussed ofhomesinapersonalappearance. in the architectural journals. It presents the beginnings of an analysis which includes a discussion of the relationship between aesthetics and other aspects of form, the aesthetic attitudes of users andarchitects,andtheexternalpoliticalandecon- omic influenceso’n form which limit the architect's freedom of action. Since these topics have received very litle discussion, the paper is more a sketch of a possible approach thanafinished product, and I hope itwill serve to provoke criticisms and rejoinders that will help to establish a frame of discourse in which such topics can be more adequately analysed. ‘Aesthetics’ as a category We should analyse the notion of ‘aesthetics’ as an aspect of artefacts which can be discussed independ- ently of other aspects. Itis’significant that the discussion of ‘aesthetics’ in this way emerged at the heydayofcapitalistexpansioninthemid-nineteenth century. The polarisation of‘aesthetics’ and ‘utility’ took place at a time of increasing differentiation of many aspects of life: the division of labour, the polarisation of gender roles, the separation of different human needs and their satisfaction in different places (home, workplace, art gallery, school, etc.) the multiplication of building types to meetthesedemands,thedifferentiationofcityspace in zones each catering for a single type of use, the evolution of various academic disciplines with distinctivesubjectmatter,andmanyotherexamples. It was opponents of capitalism who perceived that theextension of _ capitalist economic relations into al spheres of life was depriving the people of creative potentialities. Marx believed that man possessed innate creative capacities which were atrophied by the capitalist system. For Morris, the increasingly ugly environment is seen as resulting from a production system where people no longer have control over the products of their labour, while increasing scale and specialisation rob them of control over their living and working environments. Creative capacities are evident in those spheres. where the exercise of aesthetic choices Williams notes, however, that the differentiation of aesthetic from other qualities leads to the view that it is peripheral; ‘there is something irresistably displaced and marginal about the now common andlimitingphraseaestheticconsiderations especially when contrasted with practical or utilitarian considerations which are elements of the same basic division’ (2). A similar point is made by Berger, who questioned the specialised nature of art criticism by noting that it can mystify rather than explicate the relevance of a work of art to lived experience. “The emotion provoked by the image... (is reduced)... to that of disinterested ‘art appreciation’. All conflict disappears. One is left with the unchanging ‘human condition’ and the painting considered as a marvelously made object’ (3). This elevation of formal qualities above matters of content or the historical context surrounding the artist, his work and its production or the relevance of the artefact to lay observers is symptomaticofanapproachtocreativitywhich corresponds to current notions of ‘great art’. Whose aesthetic preferencies? There are clear examples of the contradiction betweenspecialistappreciationandlivedexperience in the field of architecture.and urban design. A tradition of formal architectural criticism exists moreorlessindependentlyfromutilitarian considerations, social research or public reaction. Although the synthesised nature of architecture is recognised in aphorisms such as ‘form follows function’ or the appeal té ‘firmness, commodity and delight’ the evaluationof architecture is extremely narrowly based. It is discussed in a mystifying way, with specialised jargon to repel the uninitiated, in a similar manner to other branches of the arts. We propose, by contrast, that architecture should be considered as a special case within any theory of aesthetics. This is not because of some special Status elevated above the other arts but because of the inevitable visibility of the architects work which we experience as passers by and users of buildings. Although this may seem prosaic it needs h me Hany H The second isa selection of comments by occupyers interviewed on the estate: ‘It looks prisonified. Too much concrete -it’s like Alcatraz’. “There’s no brightness. It’s drab and dull’. “The designer made a hash of it’. ‘It looks like something from a communist country’. “People would have more pride in itifthe outside was nice like the inside. What was the designer thinking of?’(7). mm H aT il ALT SLATE 16 PAGE 6 Similarly contrasting examples would be easy enough to to collect for other schemes. The frame- work within which architects and critics make their aesthetic evaluations is separated from the users’ evaluations but, we suggest, does mot separate appearance from other aspects of the building: rather their aesthetic evaluations encompasses the way the design integrates different aspects of the architect’s task (e.g. planning, structure, servicing, access, relation to the site, etc.). Richard Hil has pointed out how coherence in the process | one of the things that determines how architects.....design buildings is that their should be a coherence and a structure in the process of design itself.....This coherence and structure, it must be stressed, is in the process of design, not inthearchitecturalprocess consideredasthe interaction of the user with the building. A coherent and highly structured building in this sense may appear incoherent to the user. at one level it is not a question of there being different aesthetic frameworks of values held by designers and users, but rather that often designer and user have been interested in two utterly different processes.....What this starts to bring into focus is the very deeply set values of consistency and coherence which are at the basis of the professional ideology of architecture (post-modernism, eclecticism, etc., notwith- standing), values which accrue to the designer and not necessarily to the user (8). The determinants of form Architects see themselves as particularly equipped to make this coherent synthesis of the conflicting requirements and regulations that condition the form of buildings, and as having some scope for exercising autonomous choice in determining form. Their own perceptions of their degree of autonomy are not necessarily accurate: they too are products ofa professional ideology inculcated during training. Anearlier version of this paper adopted a vulgarised basefsuperstructure model of capitalist society which was based on imperfectly understood ideas from Althusser. This located art in the cultural/ideological sphere which was seen as part of the superstructure, connected to yet enjoying relative autonomy from an economic base constituted by the systemof material production. We would now regard sucha a model as problematic following several critiques of Althusser (9), but stil find it useful to see-artistic creation as resulting jointly from the decisions of the producer (artist, architect, etc.) who exercises some autonomy, and from economic and political forces. The actual degree of autonomy, the limits of artistic freedom’ and the nature of the other forces involved clearly require a detailed discussion of a sort we can only briefly develop here. Architectural criticism has tended to emphasise the architect’s role and to ignore other forces that that contribute to the determination of form — unless it is to deplore the limitations on the architects scope imposed by cost yardsticks, building regulations or develop- ment control. Yet we believe’ that the various styles of public housing since the War can be ‘read’ for the ideologies and political attitudes they express, as well as embodying particular architectural ideas which have developed in interaction with these other forces, The ideological and political forces a@t through the architect by in- fluencing or limiting his or her decisions through constraints such as housing Standards set centrally and interpreted Postwar housing styles and policies To begin to explore some of these interacting influences, we briefly discuss how they were worked out in public housing since the second world war. We would suggest that the immediate postwar period was marked by asense of common purpose with a closer similarity between the ideologies of the government, the architectural profession and the public than than at any time since. Public housing built when Bevan was the minister responsible was to be to excellent stan- dards (space standards were considerably higher than they had been before or have been since) (12). The Labour govern- ment also removed the stipulation that council housing was for the ‘working classes’; it was to be available to al with parity of esteem with the private sector. The amount of building in the private sector was strictly limited. Council housing of this period does not attempt to look like private housing: the appearance is frankly and proudly thatof an excellent public sector. This does not preclude sensitive acknowledgement of regional formal traditions. (13) For a variety of reasons, however, housing output under the Labour government was low. We have not the scope here to give a detailed account of postwar housing policy’(14) A major reason for the 1951 Conservative victory was their pledge to build 300,000 homes a year; this was achieved by slashing standards. With lower standards in the public sector and a relaxation of controls on the private sector ‘parity ofesteem’ quickly evap- ourated and we see a gradual move by both parties and by the public to the view that owner occupation is the preferred tenure and that the public sector sector is for those who are not competent to provide for themsteves in the ‘normal’ way. Stylistically and formally, there was a trend away from the strong, plain semi-detached houses of the Bevan era to more terraced houses, cheaper materials, and the use of gimmicks such as ‘con temporary” style porches or ofdesign isamong the architect’s objectives: SLATE 16PAGE 7 locally, building regulations, cost of materials, components and methods of construction, subsidy arrangements, skills available in the labour force, preferences of elected politicians on thehousing committee, campaigns in the media, the state of public opinion on councilhousing and so on. Clearly these factors add up to a much stronger constraining influence than do any equivalent influences on the other arts (10) giving the architect less auton- omy than other creative artists. Jones and Hill have discussed some of these deter- minants. They attempt to treat form(to use a well known aphorism) not as a thing but as arelation, and unlike thepresent paper are not concerned with the stylistic appearance but with more functional concepts of form. They show how, as a result of beliefs about users, and, more importantly, particular changes insubsidy arrangements and building regulations, the characteristic form of council housing (particularly, it seems, in inner London) changed from the four to five storey walk up block to the six storey block with one lift, then to the eleven storey block and later to twenty of twenty-two storeys. (11) The present writer would criticise their paper for the fact that changes in subsidy’ patterns or legislation are made to appear out of the air, rather than resulting from political pressure and negotiation between local and central government and other interest groups (the. building industry, the farming lobby, academic experts on housing, professional, etc.,) in a series of varying relationships with each other. Thus they fail to discuss the changing political priority given to housing and the different views taken as to who are the potential recipients of public housing. SLATE 16 PAGE 6 Similarly contrasting examples would be easy enough to to collect for other schemes. The frame- work within which architects and critics make their aesthetic evaluations is separated from the users’ evaluations but, we suggest, does not separate appearance from other aspects of the building: rather their aesthetic evaluations encompasses the way the design integrates different aspects of the architect’s task (e.g. planning, structure, servicing, access, relation to the site, etc.). Richard Hil has pointed out how coherence in the process *..:.0ne of the things that determines how architects.....design buildings isthat their should be a coherence and a structure in the process of design itself. This coherence and structure, it must be stressed, is in the process of design, not inthearchitecturalprocess consideredasthe interaction of the user with the building. A coherent and highly structured building in this sense may appear incoherent to the user.....So at one level it is not a question of there being different aesthetic frameworks of values held by designers and users, but rather that often designer and user have been interested in two utterly different processes.....What this starts to bring into focus is the very deeply set values of consistency and coherence which are at the basis of the professional ideology of architecture (post-modernism, eclecticism, etc., notwith- standing), values which accrue to the designer and not necessarily to the user (8). The determinants of form Architects see themselves as particularly equipped to make this coherent synthesis of the conflicting requirements and regulations that condition the form of buildings, and as having some scope for exercising autonomous choice in determining form. Their own perceptions of their degree of autonomy are not necessarily accurate: they too are products ofa professional ideology inculcated during training. An earlier version of this paper adopted a vulgarised basefsuperstructure model of capitalist society which was based on imperfectly understood ideas from Althusser. This located art in the cultural/ideological sphere which was seen as part of the superstructure, connected to yet enjoying relative autonomy from an economic base constituted by the system of material production. We would now regard sucha a model as problematic following several critiques of Althusser (9), but stil find it useful to see-artistic creation as resulting jointly from the decisions of the producer (artist, architect, etc.) who exercises some autonomy, and from economic and political forces. The actual degree of autonomy, the limits of artistic freedom’ and the nature of the other forces involved clearly require a detailed discussion of a sort we can only briefly develop here. Architectural criticism has tended to emphasise the architect’s role and to ignore other forces that that contribute to the determination of form — unless it is to deplore the limitations on the architects scope imposed by cost yardsticks, building regulations or develop- ment control. Yet we believe’ that the various styles of public housing since the War can be ‘read’ for the ideologies and political attitudes they express, as well as embodying particular architectural ideas which have developed in interaction with these other forces, The ideological and political forces agt through the architect by in- fluencing or limiting his or her decisions through constraints such as housing Standards set centrally and interpreted Postwar housing styles and policies To begin to explore some of these interacting influences, we briefly discuss how they were worked out in public housing since the second world war. We would suggest that the immediate postwar period was marked by asense of common purpose with a closer similarity between the ideologies of the government, the architectural profession and the public than than at any time since. Public housing built when Bevan was the minister responsible was to be to excellent stan- dards (space standards were considerably higher than they had been before or have been since) (12). The Labour govern- ment also removed the stipulation that council housing was for the ‘working classes’; it was to be available to all with parity of esteem with the private sector. The amount of building in the private sector was strictly limited. Council housing of this period does not attempt to look like private housing: the appearance is frankly and proudly thatofan excellent public sector. This does not preclude sensitive acknowledgement of regional formal traditions. (13) For a variety of reasons, however, housing output under the Labour government was low. We have not the scope here to give a detailed account of postwar housing policy’(14) A major reason for the 1951 Conservative victory was their pledge to build 300,000 homes a year; this was achieved by slashing standards. With lower standards in the public sector and a relaxation of controls on the private sector “parity ofesteem’ quickly evap- ourated and we see a gradual move by both parties and by the public to the view that owner occupation is the preferred tenure and that the public sector sector is for those who are not competent to provide for themsteves in the ‘normal’ way. Stylistically and formally, there was a trend away from the strong, plain semi-detached houses of the Bevan era to more terraced houses, cheaper materials, and the use ofgimmicks such as “con temporary’ style porches or of design is among the architect’s objectives: SLATE 16 PAGE 7 ee eapcenanlaces aiminiontir i6c oa locally, building Tegulations, cost of materials, components and methods of construction, subsidy arrangements,skills available in the labour force, preferences of elected politicians on thehousing committee, campaigns in the media, the state of public opinion on council housing and so on. Clearly these factors add up to a much stronger constraining influence than do any equivalent influences on the other arts (10) giving the architect less auton- omy than other creative artists. Jones and Hill have discussed some of these deter- minants, They attempt to treat form(to use a well known aphorism) not as a thing but as a relation, and unlike thepresent paper are not concerned with the stylistic appearance but with more functional concepts of form. They show how, as a result of beliefs about users, and, more importantly, particular changes insubsidy arrangements and building regulations, the characteristic form of councilhousing (particularly, itseems, ininnerLondon) changed from the four to five storey walk up block to the six storey block with one lift, then to the eleven storey block and later to twenty of twenty-two storeys. (11) The present writer would criticise their paper for the fact that changes in subsidy patterns or legislation are made to appear out of the air, rather than resulting from political pressure and negotiation between local and central government and other interest groups (the. building industry, the farming lobby, academic experts on housing, professional, etc.,) in a series of varying relationships with each other. Thus they fail to discuss the changing political priority given to housing and the different views taken as to who are the potential recipients of public housing. SLATE 16 PAGE 8 SLATE 16 PAGE 9 Festival-of-Britain detailing, perhaps to distract attention from the poor quality of the product. Particularly after the restart of slum clearance in the mid 50s there was progressive paring and cheapening’shown in the barrack-like five storey maisonettes found in many cities; agrudgingattempt tolimitprovision to the b are necessities. (15) Architects, meanwhile, had become bored with suburban densities and forms; many were inspired by Le Corbusier or had even been to Marseilles to see a building for the new age rising above the trees. The building industry (the large firms at least) were only too eager to develop skills in high building which were shortly to be put to use in a more profitable sector of construction, With the emergence of ‘Brutalism’ and debased versionsof it, popular and architectural tastes parted company, If suitably manipulated, the people, still desperate for more housing, could almost believe that they would like concrete high rises. On Parkhill flats in Sheffield a resident social worker helped smooth over initial problems successfully enough to get the design a massive endorse- ment from occupiers; of its successor, Hyde Park, she said. “ In ten years time there wil be no question of adjusting. Hyde Park will be accepted. That is really the goal we are working for. ” In reality this estate has become a major problem. Userresearchatthistimewasstil concerned with issues such as the number of dayrooms required, whether families wanted:to eat in the kitchen, and the need for a second WC; feedback from occupiers of flats was totally inadequate. A few academic studies, often in rather inaccessible sources, were published in the early sixties; (16) the Ministry of Housing research team did not start their social study of flats until 1963 and this was not published until 1970(17) when flat building was already declining due to the changes in subsidy arrangements, the swings ofarchitectural fashion and the Ronan Point collapse in 1968. User’s reactions to appearance were similarly ignored until another DoE study eventually showed that, of the factors they studied, the one showing the strongest correlation with tenants’ overall opinions of their estates was attitude to is appedrance.(18) Thus the views of the most important peopleinvolved,actualandpotentialusers, were prevented from taking their place among the other influences on the architects’ decisions. The mean maisonettesof the fifties and the system-built estates of the sixties are monuments first to governments relying on dogma rather than observed needs, and then to a government which assumed that solutions were technical matters. The changes in political and architectural fashion that followed the high rise phase were no more soundly based. The architects of tworof the first notable low-rise high-density schemes appear to have chosed these forms for visual rather than social reasons, to cope with the ugliness of parking provisions around tower blocks and to return to atraditional townscape of streets and squares. (19)'The high density low-rise phase had rather a brief flowering period in the late sixties and was soon attenuated when the 1970 Conservative government switched priorities away from new council housing towards rehabilitation, intending to reduce councils’ spending on housing stil further with the “Fair Rents’ legislation. Soon the DoE set lower density norms and the Design Guide movement idealised an aesthetic :reminiscent ofa traditional unquestioned ideology of community (20) giving rise to the rather quaint neo-vernacular estates currently appearing up and down the country. These appear to reflect architects’ expectations of‘what people want’. The mainstream of the profession has torn itself away from the modern movement and has returned to populism, at a time when both major political parties are treating council housing as a residual tenure for the poor or the incomp- etent. Althaigh the new-vernacular estates bear some slight resemblance to the council houses of the Bevan era ( and the implicit Beyanite paternalism has been commented on by Wier) (21) their ideological basis is very different. The yardstick was progressively squeezed under the Labour government and now the Conservatives have abandon .ed Parker-Morris spacestandardsaltogether,so the hontely appearance belies a skimpy reality. Visually these homes are trying to pretend they are not council houses at al. This is not the aesthetic of a tenure with parity of esteem: it is the aesthetic ofa tenure that has become an embarassment. Concluding remarks We have tried to show that, although the aesthetic preferences of the public are themselves distorted by the relations of production and thus cannot be taken at face value, there is an unnecessaty wide gulf between architect and user. Architectural practice in the design of public housing is the meeting point for a seriesof ideol- ogical and political values; to an extent that the architect is an ‘agent’ through which these values express themselves. We should make it clear that we do not adopt a simplistic view that the main problem with councilestatesisthattheyarevisually unappealing: this would be to ignore more important determinants of popularity such as the status of the sector as a whole in relation to other sectors, and hence the social composition of the public sector. The Bevan estates were popular not only because they were to high standards and looked domestic, but because they were available to al classes rather than beirg only for the socially inadequate. It may be that the only possible course of action for architects at present is, firstly, to refuse to design sub-standard shousing, arguing from the lessons of history when standards were lowered in the past (22), secondly, to see the attack on public sector housing as part of a general attack on the social wage, and, thirdly, to support their local campaign against the cuts. These conclusions are more pessimistic than those of an earlier version of this paper, which was written before the last election, and spoke of examples of new approaches to practice by Erskine, ASSIST and SOLON. While architects can liberate themselves from the incul- cated attitudes of professional aloofness and mystique and become aware ot the liberating and fulfilling potential for both designers and users of creativity and collaboration, there are dangers if this relationship is used to secure consent for levels of provision so low that everyone should refuse to implement them. Perhaps others who respond to this paper are able to extract less pessimistic conclusions so that some more positive suggestions can Be offered to those attempting to resolve these contradictions at the drawing board. (23) NOTES 1. This paper isa completely rewritten version of a paper by Jane and Roy Darke given at a British Society of Aesthetics colloquium in April 1979. The author would like to thank in particular Richard Hill, also Giles Pebody and other members of the ‘November 21st’ group for their constructive criticisms of the earlier version, and Roy Darke for his comments on the present version, Raymond Williams: Keywords; Croom Helm 1976 P. 28 (also in paperback) John Berger: Ways of Seeing; Pelican 1972 plz An exception, and not recent, isRichardHoggart’s The Uses of Literacy, Chatto and Windus 1957 (also in Pelican). Media studies must be cited here because of the attention that has been paid to issues that are also of interest in studies of arts, such as ideology and degreeof autonomy of the producer and the degree of economic determination. See the writings of Stuart Hall and Raymond Williams, also john Clarke, Chas Critcher and Richard Johnson (eds), Working Class Culture, Hutchinson 1979 ( especially Clarke's essay); variuos essays in Carl Gardner (ed), Media ,Politics and Culture, Macmillan 1979; essays in Micheal Barrett, Philip Corrigah, Annette Kuhn and Janet Wolff (eds), Ideology and Cultural Production, Groom Helm 1979 (especially the essay by Golding and Murdock). 5 See Hannah Gavron, The Captive Wife ,Pelican 1968 and Anne Oakley, The Sociology of Housework, Martin Robertson 1974, for accounts of the work of housewives ai Eisenman in Architectural Design, September 1972, p.590. Interviews with a random sample of households on the estate were carried out by the author in 1976, as part of her doctoral research. 8. Richard Hill, personal communication, 9 EP Thompson, The Poverty of Theory Merlin Press 1978 see also the references cited under note 5. above. 10 See however Raymond Williams’ comments on limitations to the length of novels in Politics and Letters New Left Books, 1979. 11 Micheal Jones and Richard Hill, ‘The Political Economy ofHousing Form’, inPoliticalEconomy oftheHousing Question, Conference of Socailist Economists 1975. 12 See appendix 3 in Stephen Merrit‘ State Housing in Britain, Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1979. 13 See pp. 106-117 and many of the other illustrations ih the 1949 Housing Manual (Ministry of Health HMSO). This ought to be compulsory reading for al those who have forgotten what an excellent public sector can be like. 14 Fora popular account of this see Jane Darke and Roy Darke, Who Needs Housing? Papermac 1979, especially pp. 24-34; for a more detailed account see Merrett, op. cit., especially chapter 9. 15 See Benwell Community Development Project, Slums on the Drawing Board 1978. 16 For example Center for Urban Studies ‘Tall Flats in Pimlico’ in, London, Aspects of Change, Mc Gibbon and Key 1964; Willmott,p. and Cooney, E W, The Architect and the Sociologist: a Problem of Collaboration in Architectural Association Journal vol.77 no.859, 1962, pp. 172-186; Maisels, J, Two to Five in High ‘Rise Flats, The Housing Centre 1961; Skone, J F, ‘Health and Welfare Problems in High Flats’ in Proceedings of Public Works and Municipal Services Congress November 1962 pp. 225-51. 17 Ministry of Housingind Local Government Families Living at High Density, HMSO, 1970. 18 Department of the Environment, The Estate Outside the Dwelling, HMSO 1972. 19 The author interviewed John Darbourne and Michael Neylan, among others, in the course of a research study to be presentvd asa doctoral thesis in 1980. What was not fully clear from these interviews was whether the architects had any expectations regarding the aesthetic preferences of users, and, if so, whether and how they took these imputed preferences into account. 20 See Colin Bell andHoward Newby, ‘Community, Communion, Class and Community Action’ in Herbert, D Tand J Johnston, R J (eds), Social Areas in Cities, John Wiley 1978, and Alan Lipman ‘Professional Ideology:‘Community Ne iS BN and‘Total Architecture” in Architectural Research and Teaching, Vol 1 pp. 39-49, 1970. 21 Stuart Wier ‘Part of a Heritage’ in Architects Journal, 17th January 1979 p. 124 te seq. 22 See Community Development Project, Whatever Happened to Council Housing? CDP Information and Intelligence Unit, 1976. . 23 There isan excellent discussion on the contradictory position of socialists working for the State in, mand ‘Against the State, London Edinburgh Reform Group 1979. HOUSING CRISIS DEEPENED WHAT ARE THE POLICIES OF THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT TOWARDS PUBLIC HOUSING? During the coming year, due to cuts in capital spending, work will be started on only about 22,000 new flats and houses. This compares with an equivalent number of about 134,000 ‘starts’ about five years ago. RENT Reductions in revenue grants to Councils and Housing Associations will mean increased costs to tenants either directly through rents or indirectly through rates. In Hackney, for example, council tenants face rent rises of about 20% and rates for the whole community, including Council tenants are rising this year by almost 50%. Housing Association tenants will be even worse off. Even with drastic economies in Associations’ running costs, including house maintenance, the will face even greater rent rises over the next two years on rents that are already higher than those of Council tenants. The sale of the most desirable Council and Housing Association houses will also affect rents by increasing the burden of maintaining the older, less desirable housing to be shared between the remaining tenants. Those tenants who are able to and decide to buy a house or flat as a way out of the declining public housing sector that their mortgage repayments will far exceed the rent that they currently paying and that, as owner occupiers, they do not enjoy the solidarity of organisation which has been used to defend the interests of public sector tenants in the past. Owner occupiers enjoy, or suffer, an individual relationship with market forces in the form of interest rates. CONCLUSION Conservative policies on housing are are aimed at stigmatising Public Sector tenure as a ‘second class’ way of life, offering poor accomodation at high prices. The effect of this will be to weaken tenants’ organisations and rupture the links between them and trade unions. It will also disrupt trade union organisation itself as many of the new home owners will be tied down by massive mortgage repayments and be understandably reluctant to lend their weight to industrial action. WHAT WILL THESE POLICIES MEAN FOR THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE? THE INNER CITY build on scarce agricultural land while land in inner cities falls out of use as dereliction spreads. TRANSPORT AND OTHER SERVICES Accelerating the trend to suburban isation will further accentuate the division of cities into different zones. The extension and consolidation of REDUCTIONS in capital expenditure Meanwhile the existing stocks of by Councils and Housing Associations public housing are being eroded by the Recent years have seen the increas- ingly wide acceptance of an ‘inner city problem’ resulting from the decay an obsolescence of the inner Victorian suburbs of our cities. separate ares for offices, shop and on new housing provided either by new buildings or by conversion and modernisation of old buildings. REDUCTIONS in revenue grants to Councils and Housing Associations which offset the costs of managing and maintaining public housing. PROMOTION of owner occupation as the ‘normal’ form of house tenure and encouraging the sale of public housing. ENDING exemption from Develop- ment Land Tax (currently a60% levy on land deals) for land bought by Councils. ENDING Government insistence on minimum space and heating standards for Council and Housing Association new houses, ENCOURAGING private house building by insisting on hatty approval of structure plans and by’ vetoing Councils’ plans for the extension of Green Belts. AVAILABILITY SLATE 16PAGE 10 deterioration of older buildings and by the sale of houses to the private market. It is likely that Conservative policies will result in a net reduction in public housing stocks and that new tenancies will become virtually unobtainable. STANDARDS Over one million dwellings in England alone are in need of extensive repairs costing £2,000 or more. Of these a substantial proportion belong to Councils and Housing Associations, The costs of carrying out these repairs are paid by both Councils and Housing Associations from ‘revenue’ accounts, which currently receive a subsidy from the Government. In the case of Councils, this subsidy, the Rate Support Grant, has been drastically cut, particularly for inner city Councils which generally have large and expensive to main- tain housing stocks. The equivalent subsidy to Housing Associations, the Revenue Deficit Grant, is to be withdrawn altogether in two years. The money available for repairs will be strictly curtailed while the stocks of more desirable houses in good repair will be depleted by the sales drive the Government plan. The result will be to reduce the already limited chances for public sector tenants to get transferred to better homes. The abolition of minimum standards for Govern- ment financed housing willtempt Councils and Housing Associations to build houses that are smaller and worse equipped in an attempt to nee up the numbers of houses built. Councils and Housing Associations hhave played a major role in revital- ising such communities through the redevelopment or rehabilitation of inner city housing, in many places enabling inner city communi- ties to survive. In al but a few cases of particularly attractive and well situated neighbourhoods, the cost of this work is too great for the private sector to undertake it profitably. The reduction in capital and revenue grants to Councils and Housing Associations working in inner city areas will result in accelerated decay of these areas coupled with a collapse in the morale of communities living in them. The ending of Councils’ right to buy land exempt from Development Land Tax will exacerbate this decline. | LAND Conservatives hope that private housebuilders will solve the problem of the shortage of housing in decent condition. Private housebuilding can only provide cheap housing on land that is both cheap and easy to develop.-This isgenerally virgin agricultural alnd situated on the suburban fringes of our cities. The _ Governmentijhas already declared its intentions to encourage suburban development by vetoing plans for Councils in the South East to extend Green Belt areas where no devlopment is permitted. Private housebuilders will be encouraged to entertainment, industry and housing will place additional strains on buses, trains and roads. Private housebuilding on suburban land also involves other indirect costs to the community as a whole, for example, for the extension of drainage, gas, water and electrical services as well as the provision of schools and other welfare facilities. But these services cannot fall out of use in the inner city and the costs of supporting declining inner city communities in terms of policing and social work will continue to escalate. CONCLUSION up about 20% of the building industry’s workload and accounted for the jobs of about 300,000 of the industry’s total workforce of 1.5 million. Although difficult to assess, current employment in the industry could be at least as The cuts in housing ¢Xpenditure and other moves made by the present Tory government may well result in a housing crisis as severe as any this country hias known this century. Here we print in full a report by the London Building Design Staff branch of the union AUEW-TASS on the likely effects of the new housing policies on every aspect of society. TheLondon BuildingDesignStaffBranchisa specialist branch of AUEW-TASS for all workers in private sector building design offices in London including architects surveyors, engineers, planners, and administrative secretarial and technical staf. Conservatives claim that their policies on housing will reduce costs high as 200,000 before the current to the community as a whole by reducing the barden of taxation. Besides the costs of the services necessary to support private house building, borne from the rates and from taxes, considerable social costs interm of dereliction..and misery are likely to result. WHAT WILL THESE POLICIES MEAN FOR THE CONSTRUCTION TION INDUSTRY? EMPLOYMENT IN CONSTRUCTION In 1976 housebuilding and main- tenance for the public sector made capital cuts take effect. At atime when orders for construction work for the private sector are falling off due to high interest rates, the effects of the reductions in capital spending on Council and Housing Association housing islikelytobeadramatic increase in unemployment among building workers. The situation facing individual building workers will be more severe in the coming months than in previous recessions in construction activity due to the run down of other industries, ship- building, steel and motors for example, which have provided alter- native empoyment for building workers in the past. cont.on p.14 SLATE 16 PAGE 1 WHAT WILL THESE POLICIES MEAN FOR TENANTS OF PUBLIC HOUSING AND THOSE IN NEED OF HOUSING? Currently over one million h - holds afe waiting to rent aflat or house from alocal Council or Housing Association. Of theseover 50,000 are registered as ‘homeless’, THE 1979/80 ‘UNATTACHED’ COUN— CILLORS GO OUT IN A PROCEDURAL MASSACRAET THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING OF THE YEAR — SLATE WAS THERE TO RECORD THE SCENE” Briefed to expect a packed Council Chamber for the 192nd ARCUK Ordinary Meeting on March 12th 1980, the last of the 1979/80 (an RIBA nominee) sits on the high bench his head flanked by the rampant lions of the RIBA crest set into the back of his chair. The Registrar, not a member of MOTION NUMBER ONE session, your reporter arrived in good time at 66, Portland Place to secure a good vantage point from which to record the cutandthrustofdebateonthefivemotions Council,scurriesbusilyonthechairman’s ARCUK CODE CRUMBLES — EXCLUSIVE At the last Ordinary Meeting of the year the chairman of each Committee submits his Annual Report of the Committee’s work for Council approval. The first of Thopmson’s eligibility for admission. Speaking the Code. A recent poll of unattached to the motion councillor Walker called on the architects had shown great division on under which section Mr. Thompsonhad applied themselves were not in agreement on all and whether he was eligible. Mr. Thompson’s of the issues but they felt the time had directorship was notrelevant to that question, come for ARCUK to take the lead in he said, and the Admissions Committee debating these matters. Thus when appearedtobeexceedingtheirpowersby askedbythechairmanifhewould refusingtoconsiderMr.Thompson’s application simply because he was a director. As the Committee vice-chairman (by now a deep red) blustered that the ‘case’ was still ‘under consideration’, the chairman ruledelectedCouncillorWalker’smotion ‘out of order’. Whilst elected Councillor Walker thumbed through his copy of Standing Orders to discover how the chairman could manage this vanishing trick, the vice-chairman pulled out the procedural knuckle-dusters and moved ‘next business’. A chorus of RIBA grunts proved sufficient to the chair and the meeting moved on without avote. 1motion down, 4 to go. FOUR INTOONEWILLGO As the dust settled from this opening fracastherelativelyblandreportsfrom the Board of Architectural Education and Finance and General Purposes Committee received approval without a vote.The Finance and General Purposes Committee reported that the total now on the Register is 27,012. The first sign that a total rout of the elected councillors was planned came curiously enough from the Chairman of the Professional Purposes Committee (no irony intended?). He followed a dull introduction of the Professional PurposesCommitteereportwiththe astonishing proposition that the four motions concerning Code changes (to appear later in the agenda) be included in the Professional Purposes Committee report he had just given, as an item to be considered at the next Professional Purposes Committee meeting. Reports on the Common Market (do they mean the EEC?) and Monopolies Commission chance for the elected councillors to regroup in time to suggest one or two improve- ments to the draft Annual Report, the next item on the agenda. submittedbytheelectedcouncillors. ‘The main event of the day promised to lefthandlikethewhiterabbitatAlice’s trial, whilst the vice-chairman and heads of committees (al RIBA nominees) fil Bythistimemanycouncillorswere withdrawthemotion,thefirstofthefour, growingimpatient—the48thAnnual An air of expectancy had been abroad But the RIBA group would have none from the start as councillors filed into the of it. The man was a director and rules are RIBA Council Chamber where ARCUK also tules. Mr. Webb was removed for 12 months meets, If the nine elected councillors needed — votes for 33, against 9. In any event the any reminders of the RIBA dominance of Registrar had thoughtfully dug a ‘grave’ ARCUK theaides-memoirewerealaround forMr.Webbintheformofablank paragraph in the draft Annual Report — to be put before the Council for approval later in the agenda of just the right size don’t hesitate to write to us. Architects Registration Council of the U.K. The 4 motions proposed deletions and amendments to the Code to permit architects to advertise, to form limited Your reporter, however, might have saved First item on the agenda concerned one I L Webb, Architect, whom theDiscipline Committee chairman moved be removed from the Register for ‘disgraceful conduct? on the grounds that he is a director of a company of the kind proscribed by Principle 2 of the Code, Only the elected councillors spoke against the motion, pointing out that alarge section of the profession are now in favour of changes in the Code to permit architects to become to defer al 4 motions to the Professional Purposes Committee..Elected Councillor Maltz protested that this was in flagrant disregard of Standing Orders. Had not Council recently increased the notice required for motions to 48 hours? Did not a motion have to be voted on unless withdrawn by proposer and seconder? Were the rules not the rules? Well no, old adversaries the vice-chairman rose to give the only reply Councillor Maltz was to receive — a valedictory address in praise of the outgoing chairman —in its way a ‘policy statement’ for the coming year. BLEAK PROSPECTS FOR 1980/81 From ine depths of the 192nd Ordinary Meeting the conduct ot ARCUK Council meetings can surely only go up. But 1980 promises to be a difficult year for the ARCUK iseffectively ahome fixture for the RIBA group. In the walnut-panelled chamber portraits of past RIBA presidents adorn the walls, the chairman of the Council to record confirmation of his demise. case,hehadtabledamotioncallingonthe directorsofbuildingfirmsandthelike, ARCUK ANNUAL REPORT Admissions Committee to report on Mr presently proscribed by Principle 2.1 of be a ‘package’ of motions proposing changestotheARCUKCodeofConductto theremainderofthebench.Arounda allow architects to advertise, form limited square table below and in front of the liabilitycompanies,andbecomedirectors benchsitthestenographerandofficers thesewasfromtheAdmissionsCommittee, elected Councillor Maltz refused. Meeting stil to follow on the heelsof this This threw the RIBA group on the horns one would leave precious little time for of a dilemma for whilst they could shopping. No RIBA members raised any in attendance. On either side of this table sit the councillorosri benches at right angles to the Chair. In the back row of three tiers of benches opposite the chair sit the nine elected councillors. A few sympathetic non-RIBA nominees siton the lower benches, significantly close to willed, or held the majority, to do so would be to defy their instuctions — to keep the matter off Council until the RIBA Council had decided what it wanted ARCUK to do. If the RIBA group abstained wasting’ and ‘nit-picking’ by some RIBA the motions would rest solely on the votes councillors, all the proposed amendments of the elected Councillors (unthinkable). were accepted by Council without a vote. For the RIBA group any kind of vote meant of building firms or building materials firms. These are the issues that have run white hot in the profession in the past year and upon which debate in Council was expected to reflect the doubts and divisions and passions felt throughout the profession. Potentially the most important changes in the profession since the 1931 Act, the elected nine. The two or three members time applying for re-admission to the the shit really hitting the fan, and being stil ANY OTHER BUSINESS in the walnut panelling for the next RIBA Councilmeeting.ButMr.Maltzwouldnot Inalaterallyunder‘anyotherbusiness’ theses proposals had never previously been debated by ARCUK. Instructed to await a ruling by the RIBA Council, the RIBA ‘Gang of Forty’ had constantly postponed debate;buttheelectedcouncillors,anxious to ensure a full debate by ARCUK itself, had tabled the four motions proposing changeinordertobringthequestiononto EMBARASSING? the agenda. withdraw his motion. Aftermuchwhispering(wasthisan elected Councillor Maltz pointed out that5motionsstillayontheagenda awaiting a vote. Was now the best time? Would the chairman call ayote? As Council of the Press huddle on a short bench conveniently near to the door to the chairman’s right — they may be asked to leave. Register (see Building Design 7th March 1980: *ARCUK Code Crumbles’) The RIBA boys want to keep him off, but, under the Act he has only to meet the admission require- ments(whichsaynothingaboutdirectors) to be entered on the Register. Elected councillor Walker, a member of the AdmissionsCommittee,voicinghis dissent from the entire Committee report, asked why Council should be denied a report of this application when it was already public knowledge via the pages of Building Design. Was the vice-chairman trying to suppress news of the committee’s work? Was the committe trying to take on a disciplinary role? By now quite pink with anxiety the committee vice-chairman had nothing to add to his report save to ask the gentleman who leaked the story to Building Design to come forward and own up ‘DISGRACEFUL’ OR JUST adjournment?) the chairman conjured anew motion from the mouth of the ProfessionalPurposesCommitteechairman awaitedthefinal‘highnoon’betweenthe the bus fare for, within the hour, the RIBA nominated chairman had strangled debate on the motions by a brutal travesty of standing orders which did full justice to the so-called procedural ‘guillotine’, In fact no debate or voting took place on any of the five motions submitted by the elected councillors as they were bundled clumsily from the agenda by the chairman even before they had been reached in the orderofbusiness,drawinggaspsandeven directors.WouldtheyfindMr.1LWebb’s (derisorysmiles). not any more itseemed. Any further pretence by the chair toimpartiality had disintegrated as quickly as as the IncredibleHulk’sshirtafteraparticularly electedminorityonaCouncilsoreadyto a fewaabstentions from those nominated councillors who could stil remember democratic procedures. SLATE 16PAGE 12 conduct ‘disgraceful’? Mr Webb might be “Bounder of the Year’ but was Council justified in striking a person off for contravening a principle they might be about to abandon? Would the Council then accept this vice-chairman’s minority report complete with full omission of the one major contro- versy before the committee this year? Vote for:33 votes against:8! provoking attack. He would hear no more debate —votes for: 35, votes against: 9. flaunt democratic procedure when the majority sees fit. If S unattached motions are swept from 'the agenda at every meeting, public pressure must suiely grow to ‘clean- up’ ARCUK. recommended in a nervous summary by its vice-chairman. But where, asked elected councillor Maltz, was the Committee’s report on the case of Ian Thompson, recently shouted from the front page of Building Design? Mr Thompson isanother of those wicked architect/directors, this councillors to prevent many errors and omissions (even misquotes of the Act itself) from finding their way into print. Despite muttered-accusations of ‘time- But councillor Walker was not finished yet. Foreseeing the supression of the Thompson liability companies and to become easily defeat the motions thus deferring comments as the report was covered page anychangeintheCodeforaslongasthey bypageanditwaslefttotheelected SLATE 16PAGE 13 UNATTACHED NEWS SLATE aims to provide an effective means of communication for the “ unattached ” members of ARCUK through these columns and letters page. So if you feel strongly about these issues, For the lay reader of SLATE “ ARCUK ”is the It was set up by the Architects Registration Act of 1931 to control the entry of people into the profession and monitor their conduct once registered. It is composed of 5 main constit- uent bodies; The RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), the [AAS (The Incorp- arated Association of Architects and Surveyors), the FAS (The Faculty of Architects and Surveyors )and the AA (Architectural Association ). Committeecairmantocomecleanandreport thesequestionsandtheelectedcouncillors £1,weqofferinglitlethatwasnewsanda (CIL: (CIL: RIBA JACKBOOTS STAMP ON ELECTED COUNCILLORS Thus 5motions submitted by the minority elected councillors, left the order paper without debate or vote. The oligarchy is not subtle but it is effective HOUSING CRISIS cont... NAM SLATE VICTORIOUS NAM MEMBERS haveagain captured seven of the nine elected seats on the Architects Registration Council (ARCUK). In recent elections among nearly 4400 architects whom the RIBA-control- led ARCUK considers eligible to vote — the so called ‘unattached’— the four NAM incumbents standing again (John Allan, John Murray, Marion Roberts and Eddie Walker) were al reelected, former Councillor David Roebuck was elected again after a year’s respite and newcomers Norman Arnold and David Burney join them on the 1980-1981 Council. NAM members have been contesting the ARCUK elections for four years now and have yet to receive anything less than a vote of confidence from the architectural electorate, This vear’s success isparticularly significant for two reasons: Firstly, for the first time, after considerable pressure from the elected councillors, ARCUK sent out ballot papers sufficiently in advance to reduce the number of disenfranchised voters on ARCUK’s ‘voters list’. The result was that the number of voters casting ballots was up 26% on previous years (to 22% of those to whom ARCUK claims itsent ballots). In this relatively heavy polling, and ina field of 15 candidates (up from 13 the previous year), NiMM held its own, itsvictorious candidates obtaining from 400 to 564 votes. Secondly, this year, following a recent change in ARCUK’s Regulations, was the the first in which candidates were permit- ted to include in the information circulated are 907% management, mostly from the to voters a breif statement of views. The NAM candidates, much to the chagrin of thePortlandPlacefanaticswhostil cannotquitecometotermswiththe standing generally on a platform of an open, democratic and publically account- able ARCUK free from the puppet strings Councillors might not so spinelessly follow SKILLSANDMANAGEMENT Building construction still relies extensively on manual skills, esp- ecially in housebuilding and repair, yet, even in times of high unemploy- ment, the industry is dogged by shortages of skilled labour. This problem can be ascribed to two factors, both caused in turn by the unstable nature of demand for building work: firstly, a reluctance by building firms to train appren- tices, particularly true of small and medium size firms, and secondly, the reluctance of men and women to train for skilled jobs which offer little security. Management of building contracts also suffers from the stop-go nature of the unsteady flow of work resulting from the contracting system. Because the demand for housing is regulated by the Govern- ment rather than the market system. Because the demand for Concil and Housing Associations housing isregulated by the Government rather than the market it could offer a steady andplanned workload for the industry and give real incentives for improved training and efficiency. Instead the Conser- vatives are bent on minimising the benefits of a public sector workload for the industry. EMPLOYMENT OF ARCHI- TECTURAL AND ALLIED STAFF sectorofficescombined.In1978 the Government invested about £2,000 million in housebuilding and the repair and conversion of old houses and this work accounted for the work of about 8,000 salaried architects, architectural assistants and surveyors in both sectors. At that time, roughly half this work was carried out by private architects’ and allied offices. If, as expected, the output of Council and Housing Association flats and houses falls to 22,000 units this year that will mean jobs for at most 4,000 architectural and allied staff, a loss of 4,000 jobs in two years or about 10% of al architectural and surveying jobs. Coupled with this will be a corresponding reduction in the number of jobs for secretarial and administrative staff. The effects will be felt worse in local authority architects’ offices where public housing work makes upa large proportion of the workload in many cases. Staff in several local auth- ority architects’ offices have already responded by negotiating, through their unions, a ban on the employ- ment of private architectural or surveying firms on any new projects, This will worsen the plight of private practice which will also be faced with a falling workload due to the effect on private sector clients of high interest rates. CONCLUSION Conservative policies on housing willmean,intheshortterm,a disasterforemployment atall levelsinthebuildingindustry, and, in the long term, a further dispersion of skilled workers from the industry and disincentives for proper training and efficient methods.Thereductionsin spending on public housing are particularly ill conceived DearSLATE, Iwould like to correct two mistakes which appeared in your articles in SLATE 15 concerning ARCUK and ‘unattached’ architects: Firstly, in your introduction to the report on the December meeting of ARCUK you State that ARCUK ‘is composed of 5 main constituent bodies: RIBA, IAAS, FAS and AA’. That you list only 4 is not what concerns me. I am concerned, however, that you should be propagating the RIBA’s totally unfounded ‘model’ of the structure ofARCUK: thatARCUK is‘composed of? architectural ‘constituent bodies’ of which one alone, of course. is of any significance (guess which?). ARCUK issupposed to be constituted in accordance with the First Schedule of the Architects Registration Act 1931 which provides for the appointment of members by various bodies and government ministers as well as for the direct election ofsome members by those architects (mostly ‘unattached’) which it entitles to vote. In fact, 12 not 5 bodies appoint members of ARCUK, the Act gives no greater importance to any nicmber as opposed to any other, and the term ‘constituent body’ appears nowhere in the Registration Acts or ARCUK’s own Regulations. Itisworth noting that when ARCUK was first constituted in March 1932, only 23 ot 42 members were appointees of the four bodies to which you referred and in 1940, shortly after the 1938 Act had made registration mandatory, only 27 of 49 were. Perhaps in those days seats on ARCUK were apportioned in accordance withtheAct. Secondly,inyourreportonthereSults ofthesurveycarriedoutbytheelected ARCUK councillors you stated that itwas carried out with the assistance of Building Design magazine. Although BD had indeed published the results of a previousquestionnaire,itwasinfact of no assistance whatsoever in carrying out or publicising the survey to which you referred. FROM: BobMaltz Four NAM members who had teen representing unattached architects on ARCUK did not stand again: Bob Maltz and Ian Tod after serving for three years, Tomm Woolley after serving two and Sue Jackson/afterone- phe mu non-NAM candidates elected this year were incumbent Peter Cutmore and newcomer Peter Howe, both of whom are unlikely to fal into line behind the RIBA Council-appointed majority which stil rules ARCUK. Thisyeartheannualretentionfeewhich every architect must, by law, pay to the Architects registration Council (ARCUK) goes up to £7-50. How much o, that is being chanelled by the RIBA- controlled Council, through investments, into right-wing political organisations? As reported at its December meeting, half of ARCUK’s £63,000 worth of investments are in 16 private-sector companies. The list of companies bears astriking resemblance to the list of major company cotributors to the Tory Party and right-wing bodies like the Economic League, Aims of Industry and British United Industrialists which, in turn, channel funds to the Tories. Topping the list of ARCUK investments was Commercial Union, 15th on the list (topped by construction giant Taylor Woodrow) of company donors to the political right. Second on the list was Marks and Spencer, 13th on the list of donors Imperial Tobacco was third on both ARCUK” ARCUK’s list and the list of donors to SLATE 16PAGE 14 at a time when interest rates are at record two NAM candidates who failed to get elected were Dave Sutton ,who didn’t mention his NAM affiliation, and Mick Broad,whofailedtosubmitastatement of views. high priests of Portland Place, who have conspired for'fifty years to subvert the Architects Registration Acts. Portland Place isthe street inwhich the RIBA headquaters are situated. levels. i WSONEWSINIEWSON oftheRIBA’sarchitecturalemployers.The thepartylinehanded downbythe While the ‘unattached’ architects are obliged by the Architects Registration Act 1931, which establisehed ARCUK, to nominate only ‘registered persons’ (¢.g., ‘architects’), the RIBACouncil isfree to appoint anyone, lay or professional, RIBA member or not to the 41 seatsthatARCUK apportioned it this year. Once again, however organisations. But, whether a statutory however, the RIBA Council has appointed exclusively RIBA members and again these body such as ARCUK should similarly private sector, despite the fact that over support the right wing through its investment of the annual retention fes isa more dubious matter. Slate readers will recall that, two years 495,pressurefromNAMmemberselected toARCUKforcedtheCounciltodivest itsofeslhafresinConsolidatedGoldfields. apillar of apartheid in South Africa. Consolidated Goldfields, which also operates in the British construction industry (ARC Conbloc etc.,), isnow 11th onthelistofcompanydonorstothe political right-wing, contributing heavily not only to the Tories but also to the infamous National Association for Freedom. Is now the time for ARCUK to further limitits‘undesirable’ investments? 70% of the RIBA’s members are staff, with halfthesefromthepublicsector.Ofcourse theRIBACouncilcouldallowitsUK these seats but, no surprise, has never chosen to do so. Perhaps elected the Economic League, known for its blacklists of trade union activists. Shell, which tops the list of Economic League contributors, isalso amajor ARCUK investment. Other major Economic League contributors among ARCUK’s investments include Legal and General 'Insurance, GKN (7th among the contri- butors to the Tory Party) and National WwestiitasfenBanie The RIBA, as a private club, has every right to support right-wing political SLATE 16PAGE 15 IWS SUBS. FUND RIGHT WING INTERESTS widespread support for the NAM candidates members freely to elect people, lay or let alone the idea of an independent ARCUK professional, RIBA members or not, to The reductions in capital spending on Council and Housing Association housebuilding are likely to hav an early effect on employment in architects’ and allied offices. Statistics are not readily available for the workload of these offices but it is likely that, in 1976, public sector housing accounted for about 20% by value of the workload of public and private THE NINE architects elected to the Architects Registration Council to represent their colleagues who do not belong to any of the professional institutes have won a masssive vote of confidence in their policies in a recent opinion finding questionnaire. O rganised by several of the councillors the questionnaire was circulated in the Architecs Journal and elicited over 500 responses. Most forceful of all the trends underlying al the responses were the differences of opinion on professional matters between employee architects and their bosses. The elected councillors and NAM continuously argue that ARCUK is unrepresentative of the majority of architects, let alone lay people, who also have a crucial interest in the standards of architectural work. The Council is currently’ in the pocket of architectural bosses who, through nomination arran- gements, fil the vast bulk of the 41 seats allotted to the main professional body, the Royal Institue of British Architects (RIBA). Employee architects are clearly not happy with this situation: 91% of them responding to the Questionnaire were in favour of direct elections among architects for al the seats allocated to architects and 80% were for proportional representation on the Council for employee architects. Architectural bosses were more cagey about direct elections (64% in favour) and opposed to proportional representation (36% in favour). Attitudes to the policies of the ruling group on ARCUK showed up the results of this lack of representation: 93% of employee architects wanted the circ- ualtion of annual reports and surveys from the elected councillors to continue, a practice recently ruled out by the RIBA group. A substantial majority of The chairperson should be neutral. Council business should be conducted in an impartial manner. The chair of all committees should be rotated among their respective members on a meeting by meeting basis. All Council meetings should be held at a neutral venue, not at RIBA headquaters. All ARCUK committees, visiting boards, selection panels, delegations and other bodies should be so constituted that their representation reflects accurately the composition of the Council, that is, elected architect members, nominees of professional associations, Government nominees and non-architect members from other professions, and other bodies. The Council should strictly observe its standing orders and its Regulations, for example those governing the apportioning of seats. Votes taken in Council and committees should be properly conducted, with the names of those voting for, against and abstaining accurately recorded. Full minutes of the preceeding committee meetings should form part of the committee reports to the Council. ARCUK should provide elected councillors the facility to report back to and obtain the views of their electorate in order properly to discharge their responsibilities. The Council’s Annual Report should include a minority report when necessary. Past reports have not accurately reflected diversity of opinion within the Council. The misuse of ARCUK funds to subsidize RIBA activities should end. ARCUK should ensure that it takes the leading role in all activities that it sponsors and for which it has statutory responsibility. All Council meetings, committees, boards and panels should be open to the public. SLATE 16 PAGE 16 S\WSNEWSNIEWSN NEWS| ARCHITECTS CONDEMN ABUSE OF REGISTRATION COUNCIL them were in favour of changes in the ARCUK Code of Conduct to permit architects to become directors of building and allied firms, an issue the RIBA group is not even willing to debate at at present. But the most swingeing indictment of RIBA group policies came in two questions concerning whether their continuing domination is in the interests of the public and the prof- ession. An astonishing 87% of employee architects said no in the first case and an even more astonishing 83% said no in the second. On both counts boss arshitects held the opposite view. In the long term the majority of the elected councillors aim for reform of the Architects Registration Acts so that the spirit of the original legislation which set up ARCUK can be put into practice :the regulation of theprof- ession in the public interest. In the interim the domination of the Council by the RIBA effectively ensures that the main interest that isserved isthat of private sector architect-bosses, argue the elected councillors. Only since the election of the first NAM members in 1977 has the extent of RIBA manipulation become fully apparent through the unravelling of the Council’s Byzantine procedures by the elected councillors .Matters came to a head at the March meeting of ARCUK, reported elsewhere in this issue. In repsonse to what can only be seen as sharneful abuse through the undemocratic administration of a public body, the majority of the elcted councillors have now put their weight behind a ten- point programme for immediate reform of'the Council’s procedures. What they wantisforARCUK tofollowaccepted fundamental democratic practices and to carry on its affairs in an independent and open manner. This is their Ten Point Plan: Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource NAM SLATE Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/f6b1c8aea67361c5316074820e0aac11.pdf 6976000df5a72cf0a21ac85fc825d74d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 17 Description An account of the resource SLALE THE RADICAL PAPER ON ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILDING INDUSTRY ISSUE No17 TS BETVER From Edinburgh Liateon Group Member, Mick Broad, Dave Jenkine and Dave Lookhead Dear Slate This year's NAM Congress marked the start of the movement's sixth year, in itself evidence that NAM is here to stay and to continue its radical opposition to the minority interest of the established professional bodies, and to actively seek and promote alternative design services. The Edinburgh members of this year's Liaison Group feel that the policies being pursued by this government threaten the quality of life for many of our population. We in Edinburgh, who are incidentally representative of architecture, planning and landscape architecture, wish to build an organisation which can actively campaign against these destructive policies. We trust that such a campaign will help consolid- ate NAM, clarify our aims and objectives, and encourage new members. To this end the Liaison Group will give its full support to all indiv- idual members wishing to promote the establishment of new groups. We call on existing members to use the pages of Slate to campaign against lower- ing standards of provision and to bring to the attention of the Liaison Group issues on which NAM can make national representation in the fight against cuts in quality.In addition we urge all readers to fight the cuts in quantity through the appropriate trade unions, and in conjunction with construction unions, councillors, tenants and ratepayers associations and other pressure groups, in a broad alliance. Finally we wish to hear from the Liaison Group representative of each Issue and Local Group,and from all those interested in the formation of a@ new broad based Edinburgh Group. Mick Broad, Dave Jenkine and Dave Lockhead PI Grou Eight of the councillors elected (on.a 24% turnout) onto ARCUK by "unattached architects’ are NAM members - one more than last year. They are : JOHN ALLAN, NORMAN ARNOLD, MICHAEL BROAD, DAVID BURNEY, PETER CUTMORE, GILES PEBODY, DAVID ROEBUCK, EDDIE WALKER. The other two unattached members are Peter Howe and John Gibb. There has been some questioning by NAM members of whether or not John Gibb, who is a member of the RIAS should be standing as an unattached candidate. The annual meeting of the ProfessionalIssuesGrouptook inrelationtoNAM'sbroad andbybuildingallianceswith slate Slate has been going through a period of transition as a, new editorial collective has taken over fromthe old. ‘the first ixteen issues of Slate which the previous collective produced have provided us, by example, a magazine’ to follow. However, achange of editorial collective will inevitably have implicat- ions for the content and style of Slate, and continual discuss- ions about its future has delayed the appearance of this issue to such an extent that it perhaps is only of historical importance. After all, it's better late than never. The struggle to produce this issue has enabled each member of the collective to reformilate degrees of commitment to Slate and to its deadlines. It must be obvious by the delay of this issue - 'the 1980 NAM Congress issue’ = that the necessary self- discip ine to meet production deadlines has yet to be developed. Now, however, the future is ass- ured and subscribers can sleep happily in the knowledge that future issues will be produced regularly and frequently. Future Slates will, we hope, stimulate dialogue and radical political and asthetic theory,” generating new creative energies amongst building workers, design- ers and users. ‘That may be a tall order, but we can begin by broadening our definition and understanding of the function of architectureandtodothisa (apmeemrbearttheoe collective with varied interests is necessary. The new collective's members share an interest in architecture and society, and individually are socialists, marxists, feminists and any offers of distribution. code. The fundamental institutional ARCUK. changes resulting from this have revuer..... and anarchists working in the fields of architecture, design and build, landscape architecture, architectural education, community radio and development, and comm unity architecture. : Slate will tend to reflect the anterests of the collective and so, to counter this, editorial/ evaluation meetings will be held regularly on the first and third Monday of every month(starting in October), at the Islington Bus Company, Palmer Place; London, N.7., to which all inter— ested persons will be welcome. Already agreed areregular columns on hazardous materials and dangerous work practice, defective detailing and bad work- manship(invaluable for both the installer and specifier) - issues over which we would welcome close liaison with building workers, trade unions, Direct Labour Organ- isations and tenants federations. Slate will develop an alternative trade bibliography and directory of radical organisations within the building industry, eg. design Co-ops, building co-ops, design and build, unionised rTJaS bys in practices etc. We will continue with the News from the Unattached(ARCUK) to work within ARCUK was the most profitable way to achieve NAM's aims. The Group took the opportunity of restating its objectives : that ARCUK should be a public interest body and not a front for the RIBA; that lay representation should be strenghened to ensure public accountability of the profession. In the long term this would NAM councillors aimed to bring the consequences of these changes out. Some argued that they were beginning to do this and to drive a wedge between ARCUK and the RIBA. The result is that ARCUK has now recognized 'de facto’ the unattached constituency as the second largest and most powerful group. Consequently NAM councillors incorporation and support was needed for any substantial changes. and News from NAM. With architectural education there is mich to be said and Slate intends to cover the debate and be educational features of historical and theo- retical relevance to us today. wet all, "those who do not itself, with Other PIG members argued that the work as ARCUK councillors tied up NAM's more senior members at the expense of the development of NAM. The emphasis on working within ARCUK and on ARCUK's terms tended are condemned But for now, think about attend- place at the Islington Bus Company on St. Valentine's Day. The background to the meeting was one of a significant ARCUK year but a rather uneventful NAM year. The question that was central to most of the day's debate and left unresolved was whether the resources and committment devoted objectives. Discussion focussed on associated bodies, this argumentbe ARCUK's close involvement in the continues. ARCUK status should status, form and content of its used to pursue objectives new to ing the editorial ing in October, send subscriptions meetings start- 5 require a reconstituted ARCUK (and one where architectural representation more accurately reflected the composition of the profession as a whole). In the short term we should be attempting to strengthen lay representation of to distort councillor's overall the Board of architectural perspective, some argued. The ARCUK education, one third of whom are objectives should be pursued nominated by lay organisations. Other initiatives must be assessed through the press, privy council by arguments over the rights and wrongs of and been camoflaged advertising, directorships limiting liability. UR The group would welcome the views of NAM members in order to set out priorities and objectives for the coming year. OMY LOGE sketches out a for sadical architects a9 nun 1 ie i or are economic argunents enough. The role that oth factors such as our environment play ae not neutral. They are an’ essential sSuprport totonethe edo!nonic notivesiof the But the major'contradictions can only be resolved by a transfer of power to the blocks with cottage-type housing may reduce Buildings profit 3. Nor is there anything italist in propo alternative produc ily raise of'market economic >ffects the producti It effects the way of the systen to respond to us. The envizonrent as a whole is planned in a way that doesn't respond to our needs. Instead it reinforces divisions and helps to contro] isolate and segregate people. Often they a act to define and restrain the sort of ~ activities that can happen in a particular space.MostrecenthousinginBelfasthas been planned 2o as to breakdown the close links necessary for retaliation against — the state; almost all housing is designed are used inherent anti-cap- For people working in architecture this means examining ip to the people priorities and initi & major shift in our We are all designers We are led to believe that design is a skill learnt only through years in college WE ARE ALL DESIGNERS. The planning and use of technical knowledge in the production of a neal follows, to use an example everyone masters, the same process as any other design activity. One difference lies in the raterials and tecniques used. Whereas "meal designers’ rely on direct experience of the ingredients, mst building designers feel quite confident atout selecting naterials for their buildings without any 4rst hand experience ( and without consulting material specialists ). he contradict ent in the builc one hand and ina tation; they ifuse tobeclearstoutthepoliticalrole roposals in making us more avare of + impossibility in a talist society unded by demoralization and insecuri Aty what can people in architecture do ? Obviously we must organize against 1: offs and threats to our employnent. We have to organize for better conditions of work. Aid at the same time we have to remenber the implications of our struggle for other workers in the industry. How can ve extend our denands and breakdown ‘visions which isolate us from each nitiatives which bring together d eraups : tenants, housing S, design and building workers like COUNCIL HOUSE SALES a dity of the contradictions Detxeen the needs for work and decent for the British Standard fanily. Bosses rule Is Hi nthe other. nce with Council or landlord. There are good reasons for not letting experts have the sole prerogative of desi- ging. Deaigning is intriguing, creative, and fun. It is away of making alot of ante on these issues the importance of good ©of us with technical The planned fragmentation of our surround- ings leolates women in the hone. We should be thinking of ways of organizing our hones to support ideas atout sharing donestic work and childcare - we should challenge the view that this is the blolog: ical mother's role by including men, women low tech dreamlands or foisted on us their work collectively. llect the necessary adirect it atthe right clear to ourselves and others. It gives forced to working class. There sltematives for running capitalisn. Only a creche and somewhere to meet and chat. ....and at home panacesas avoid and obscure the political assumptions which they toth incorporate. It is easy to fall into the trap of consun- erisn which concentrates on the product and not on the alienating nature of production. Overemphasis on the product can lead to a sort of architectural opportunien ( in a socialist countries as well ). There is to change society through the preducts of designing and planning. Self-appointed ex- aged, to make decisions and plans and to perts have given us their visions of hi tain their fight for are no socialist for decent living Ort At work.. usefulwecan esoate put our misplacedsentimentalitybyrevvingthe B On and use the letters ; If we can learn to share Alls, we too can lear with "geod old days’. By pretending to know consciousness ts far ganize together. politics 5 z stock of housing. It works to legitinise who gp®s on the housing list, who gets a mortgage, and who ts rejected by both. It makes collective housing almost inpossible When wo ng forced back into the dathe @overnnent's solution to ation is used to ration the nt is to tell us tomve our home to where the work is, then we cannot ignore fousing as an urgent yolitical question. socialien the changes we want. But, unless we rehearse and make plans which will become the basis for change, the only precedents can provide the opportunity for ARCHITECTURE are just as appresive if we impose then on others. The only solution is to radically change the product and the production proc- ess and the way we design buildings. : reinforce status. It could probably be smaller and closer to hone. It could include the synptoms of high-rise living. But these andchildreninourplans. While we decorate our homes we ne glect the environment of collective activity - accept- own class interests. ing fourth rate surroundings. We neet in the back roons of pubs or in institutions acce- pting a totally inadequate environment for important political initiatives. iiding ‘aestetically interesting’ factories surrounded by gardens, may give the people inside a better view. Replacing tower what For those who have spent years learning divine right and all the answers, it means rejecting this individualism and seeing our own exploitation as it really is. Our fidelity to the system 1s tought with promises of professional status which If we throw out the iies, then we can see behaviour or alleviate social problems. Bu- Alternatives are only viable politically if that we have interests in common with But good or bad buildings do not deternine they develop fron the pressure of working other working people, toth blue and white people and are under their control. However collar. If we can climb dow off our well meaning socialiat designer's ideas, they shaky pedestals we have a lot to gain. opportunities which are usually discour- conflict. ‘ARCHITECT’ The title impresses asvailabnle) to us are capitalisstt and reflect long history of architectural utopias aiming our ideas concrete, and making then more 4s good for others they are protecting their to be ‘professionals’ with some sort of Options under capitalism st0winneverseniors. British Standard (B.S) nuclear family “nen putting demands to theauthorities we ought to bebe clear aboutt the limitation SEEEE The places where we work reflect the interests of the bosses and it follows that Been ace nunea to maxinise productivity. xeeacties are provided for our well- Hs ng, it is ir version of what is good or us. In other words: an indirect invest~ maa to prevent absenteesisn or reduce job puro ery ete. Space is also used to rein- Pee hetrachies and on a larger scale to Mer erseely, )cut us off from our conn- rate ive should extend our notions of ae ves to work to include the work “vironment. It doesn't have to be dirty, Foisy, dangerous and inhunan. It doesn't have to cut us off fron one another and DIRECTLABOUR neal pownalll of the direct ai. yon readers labour of slate construction becomes a possibility. The existence of a seperate architects’ department is only needed under the contracting system. Design and production can be integ- rated within the building department." As long as the Tories are in power the prospects for planned building programmes are remote. But there are a number of steps which involve local authority architects which should be taken now, both to prepare for the possible election of a Labour Government committed to expanding public housing and to minimise the harmful effects of the Act. I. Joint Trade Union Committees number o oca jority trade unionists have found that the best way to discuss defending local auth- ority services is to form joint trade union committees involving representatives from all trade unions organising local authority workers. These are usually completely independent of the joint consultation structure, and do not place a high priority on discussions of wages and conditions. 2. Joint Tenant-Worker Groups n increasing number 0 oca authorities now have groups consist- ing of representatives from tenants’ organisations and trade unions where a wide range of problems are discussed without the intervention of bureaucrats or councillors. arts andsociety Scruton and Watkins are histerians who have come out of the bach current revival of consery tismUntil recently there has been 1 way of analysis and criticism of their work.On mayy29th over 5! ple heard 6 critiques of their position at the Bartlet School of Architecture. Tim Benton explained their links with Geoffry Scott through some of the buildings conveniently le:ft out o Rodney Mace attempted to undermine the technocratic education,but Richard Hill pleaded for chnology to agenda,arguing that the right deliberate], The day was organised by the Art: been going for 3 years,‘and the links between art and society from hoping to organise an exhibition at the Fift. at Brighton Polytechnic in November. The theme for this will be the way in which B tish Inper its ceremonial space, comparing Lend on with Calcutta,Del the way the Brit interested in the workshop get in touch with Hannah Mitchell Ae ana government servi see Meals on Wheels to make as much money as Trust House Forte, and even architects’ departments having to all their work in open come and make profits Of direc oncern to local authority departments is the way ch the Act will affect their tionships with DLOs. Until now, most DLOs have rarely pursued claims against architects' department because the only result would been a book entry in the authority's accounts, transfering costs from one department to another. June 1976: Camden DLO workers’ dty ofxction egeinst the Lump, altewnative ARCAID Of the organisations making architectural skills available to community and tenants groups ARCAID is the foremost in the York- shire/Lancashire area. It is the one most closely and regularly involved in giving advice to tenants groups campaigning to get repairs done. author- a and authority: a) have a safety policy approved by the council; bd) train at least the same proport- ion of apprentices to tradesmen as the DLO; c) do not use labour-only sub- contractors; d) submit tenders based on the design-and-build principle. receive'all source "funding, grants from charitable sources, itwild with DLOs under threat of re by the Secretary of State th consistently make profi expected to pursue architects’ depart- _vigourous sly, because ; lues based on tender plus agreed claims will make nue side of the profit THE! WAY FORWARD utiding with Direct Labour argued r planned local authorit TOgraianes such a system "the rch= genuine community groups and (sometimes) individual Activity is mainly directed towards those initially lacking finance and/or organisat- probably be necessary to constitute two don and whose fall outside the scope of aspects of ARCAID : advice and service. services provided by the local authority or The advice agency will be registered as 4 the conventional form of private architects Charity. A service company could be establ- practise. ished as a wholly owned subsidiary ( trad- IS ARCAID AN ADVICE AGENCY OR AN ARCHITECTS ing arm ) of the advice agency, but with ical Separation t of design andnd prod- There is at present no national joint union campaign to defend direct a: Provision of free advice in an area not labour. If such a campaign does come funded by public authorities or private into existence it will have to be built up from local groups, and b: Provision of full conventional architect ARCAID CONTACTS : Norman Arnold, Eddy uction (with architects having.pro *inai say) is no the architects committed to the provision ural service, funded by payment of fees of public housing designed and built (probably by a grant or trust fund). by local authority workers will be essential members of these groups. ‘THE NEED FCR ARCAID +: This is widespread. Walker, Tan Tod at 4 Corn Exchange, Leeds LSI 7BP. Tel. © 0532 445795. longer necessary. integration of design and their standing orders to defent the ona voluntary,basis; the |DoE having with- Employees will be architects and associated people who will be exployed by the manage- ment committee. STRUCTURE AND FINANCE : ‘The arthitectural advice aspect of ARCAID will be dependant on external support .Therefore gains made by DLOs in health and safety, training, and the eliminat- ion of sub-contracting. This would involve insisting that any contractors doing work for the local to work with ( rather than for ) local WHAT IS ARCAID : Areaid is an organ- dzation that has evolved over the past four years in response to the need for community MANAGEMENT : Management will buildings in Leeds. We aim to provide prof- essional, managerial and technical skills, enabling groups to build or buy accommodat- don and to maintain it, together with the be by committee ( a steering group having already been established ) incorporating substantial representation from build: user-clients acting together with relevant 3. Using Standing Orders Either or both of these types of groups are now in a position to put pressure on their councils to change surrounding landscape. We operate largely professional andpublic interest bodies. drawn ‘Inner City finance’ awarded to us by the City Council in 1979. WHO DOES ARCAID AIM TO SERVE : Arcaid aim SERVICE ? There are two distinct as- peots of practice, both of which ARCAID has been asked to fulfill by community groups and to which it has responded. These are = practice. Separate management, possibly co-operative. ARCAID LATEST : Arcaid has again been awarded an Inner City Grant by Leeds City Council ( Septenber 1980 ). This time of £2000 Capital costs and £12000 revenue. But the DoE has yet to approve this. far more than we can cope with while ing adequate finance. We ave asking for letters of support from those with whom we have already worked and others who could use ARCAID if 4t was fully operational. An organization active in Liverpool under the name COMPECHSA Ltd ( ty Technical Services Agency )is funded by Liverpool's Inner City programme. lack- SIXTH CONGRESS ‘80 EDINBURGH "NAM seeks through the collective action of architectural workers and other concerned people,to play an active role in radically altering the system of patronage and power in architecture.It seeks an architectural practice directly accountable to ail who use tts products and democratica-— tly controtled by the workers within it, thereby to promote effective control by ordinary people over their envtronment and by architectural workers over thetr working lives." QUESTIONS Now that we in a period of economic recesSion,practical proposals for the restructurir oS the system of patron- age are nec y and these need to I presse dec herently in order to ritiate action to build a democratic environment.The question then for NAM waS;is NAM to be a movement or is it to remain a pressure group.If NAM was a movement ,what issues would it’ order for the future to be discussed the several points to in common with other confronting the present and unity need to draw us together and build a socialist movement. What attempts have their been at co- e exercised operation between socialists and what can we learn from them. What immediate tasks can be undertaken locally and nationally. etal quicker ion.Sinc of ironment eds and asp- belief in grass roots democracy and that by involving the users the disasters of the past would be avoided This stuned potential critics into questio 1g whether the Labour party able to respond to this type of democracy and could parliamentary institutions respond to democratic grass roots socialism.This argument for a radical approach ue housing and the environment was taken up by Jim Stocks UCAT Edinburgh Regional Organiser who declared that"extra Parliamentary politics will undoubt- } getting back to wh government left off. WORKSHOPS The Workshops were arranged into broard areas to try and av limiting discussion to narrow fields of int ich may be of concern to NAM activists but at large. buildings The opening key debate of the Congress edly looked at the state of the nation and count in particular the state of the building opposed industry ending up with possible to build senarios for the future.George Roberton There M.P.Opposi n Spokesperson on Housing it in Scotland began by the cuts will hit Scotland.When questioned on housing provision,remote housing management SRAiReE It was could > government. After and hostile housing types(a legacy of the boom and high rise)he reafirmed his point in expendir which did not at first sigh which face today.The Congre was yided into three areas;The relevent the problems building industry OPENING DEBATE s= ) The Building Industr Action.It became orientate building quanitiy D1¥ of producers with such groups were seen as an was a congenital handicap to work architectural designers who found they had to acquire skills and know- ledge as best they could from practice, having failed to find them in the schools. sive dsolation of the schools from the community and th constuct- ustry.It was agreed that part group. T a t be for,and if carried out will be a‘giant ste; to the workers of life which had their working lives', adop the following cognises that we have now ectural _practice- wholly out of touch with the realities of architec- tural workers in the construction process.Democratic change within the schools was blocked by the hierarchic Aneueerys and the Trade Union movement EDUCATION MOTIONS has no eon maaice in tructure of and calls of the nee solely ° i is been struggled ull entered a period where the welfare structure of control lead by a despo- ate is under the greatest attack ds its inception. Cuts in public tic "head of school'.The schools were BSS oE, programmes for the provis- insulated from outside influence and healt h and education freed from public accountability by ing the qual- the system of'self certification’ of workers whereby the RIBA-who effecti ives of ‘unattached ARCUK and the ard of Architectural Education to work for a return recognition procedure to the of Architectural Edu ation, and for all vi ng boards to be fully representative of the membership of the board in Architects Re, The existing schools of architecture students should be acively ‘en- CUTS werecriticisedaspurveyingrestri- Ae heduce MOTION In order to further NAM's ote effective democ ected and inadequate knowledge - especially lacking in the areas of community needs and the construction process. Whilst many students and staff were aware of the deficiencies, the schools resisted change, Debate on architectu has been contained wi Alliances reward movement. and by all de 1and construction é gst educationalists,staff and students and it was felt that NAM the conference Slate. This congres system whereby given to archi on the basis of the recommendat siting boards. T congress calls upon the MOTIONS DEFENCE y &11 people over their environment enforcing a model of the profession = the RIBA ideal of private archit- hould in future widen its for. nto lude practice he ‘construction EDUCATION UNATTACHED ded are worth resisting att in the i further ed together of CNAA degr certification bandoned in favour of aStudy be Education related both involved in vision of public services nd with the people ent provision of rvices he appropriate a union olitical and commun- ity groups with all those who produce ma ind use housing and public buildings WORKSHOP The "Educ tion workshop discussion at the Edinburgh Congress found congress ca on the whole ership, indi idually and through This Congress Supports the efforts t with most aspects of the i structure of architectural Cups to; Encourage far greater career guidance in girls' education towards careers in the building industr. To prom with the building unions to fac- ate more opportunities for tical training for women and 2 on site. _encourage more mid-career ing and flexible working eon architects who are NAM members represen’ unatta ched L ects on the Archit Regi stra~ tion Council of the U.K.in their efforts to expose RIBA abuses of ARCUK and to promote the public fuction of Tl but seanee there hele lenty of energy ive to be tapped within the and sufficient of both within NAM to demand the re-forming of a NAM education group to work towards an alternative policy for architectural education. Thé education workshop arose spont- aneously from the ‘official’ Building Industry workshop which began the day. The estrangement of design education from the construct- ion process was so often referred to by the participants in the general discussion of the Building Industry that education was chosen as a topic for more detailed discussion in the afternoon session. The ‘profession- alisation' of architects as a monopoly group with supposed mystic abilities unconnected with methods of construction or community needs greater communication control the their dards y idea of an enti new indepenc i d popular,and at lingered on- ri Tuc funding. Tt was concluded that y Bartlett as of knowled evance of a 5year full-time tectural education was questio- ned, being seen largely as a social- ising process responsible for the a ing the following pprinciples That the present artif ictal limits of architectural nqu ni commendation i dents provi ce with the on Act. ywas “De gn to the requests the Liaisor Group to encourage a broad education 8 @ way ‘to the Con: y Training Board w This AGM requests the incoming Liason This Congress supports the work of the Group.te@ report back to the members: Professional Issues Group to explore sufficiently in advance of the next aang upon men students, arch- the professional issues ra by the Congress on; ts and builders to support unattached representativ n ARC women colleagues in peveks and specifically requires it to promote an ARCUK code of conduct independant of the R The Congress mandat a further year co'opt nd to take in furtheran the proper preparation of motions £ the AGM and their re on tothe Congres the ques of whether NAM ution ought to be altered to to affiliate to other organisa r m and pleasant land. insupport and special inter Scene RCP ENENReemeentansnecseemeen women 1s vit that presented an alternative educational environment for. women to the largely capit- alist patriarchal schools of planning, architecture and the building trades in the U.S.It is not a typical year round School in a set location rather it meets for two weeks anually in differerit parts of the country,networking throughout the rest of the year. Previously the majority of the participants have been from the U.S and Canada.However this year two of its past co-ordinators attended the Mid-Decade Forum on Women and Development(U.N. International Womens Decade) 4n Copenhagen Julyl4-24,1980 and began an international network of women involved in the built environment field.Such a network will help WSPA to better carry on the dialogue that it began at its 1979 session on personal and professional ressorces to (98,400) were 30 per cent down o 1979. This compares closely itheeL 33 per cent drop starts (53,600). in public sect mann ee and no ess,” obs in China, ’ the rive: r bi Proposal and a number of gehaee developments getting approval recently. He's even been awarded We are working mostly with womens groups a crumb in the shape of the vast of muted groups and especially of women. The ways we work are defined by our under- ‘The reason we became involved with particular standing of socialism and feminism and the groups is never straightforward.Each project relations between.then.They are not based on is an experiment in some way or another wld I should watch closely to see readers they try getting into continues in this downward if he the last NAM Congress,the feminist to tap available resources,to enable them to offer our experience to help other women. acql the power to change their own circum- stances.We are working on two fronts-offering AG Bashing is not a favoured NAM pursuit. But its members do sometimes get up to things that set in the Guardian mentioned "The the morals a-quiver. Ms.Frankl was Jarvis Lecture Hall, 66 Portland elected on the SAG ticket,to the RIBA Place". Now why wouldn't they {ficient professional service capable ~gthe bureaucracy on the client's ed on our experience in conventional Baltinore,Maryland 21218. BUILDING DESIGN STAFF The Building Design Staffs section of TASS/AUEW London branch have rejected a motion which called for the branch to cease and amalgamate with STAMP,the white collar section of UCAT.In rejecting this winding up motion the branch passed an amendment which opened the way for investigation and co-operation with other groups of Building Design workers.The reasons behind this motion of dissolution lay more with the dissappointingly lowmenbership- within the union,of building design workers dispite the years of campaigning within the NOT FOR REA council. +hen was appointed the SAG us it was the RIBA. Surely theytell practice,and nlso as a responsive team which involves the clients and users in the implic- ations of decision making. architectural scene is fairly abysmal for a so called radical magazine. First of all we had the puff for Bofill ( Thanks to Hellman aoe chewing their ear off in their letter page ). The latest issue contains this comment on the RIBA's Current exhibition of a few British eens ‘Thiscountryhasalarge SAGgers?Inaword....yes.TheSAG REPORT WSPA As with all the groups we work with,we ere architects. Now Daddy has tossed him wo believe that the way in which buildings very aware of the impact of cuts on building the global transitions which need to be Docklands new Press) scheme on Surrey Docks. production.However it is essential not to are planned and their appearance,reflects stop thinking how buildings can and should made if the world is to survive and truly ‘develop’ for all hunan kind. A proposal has been put forward to fund an 4nternational WSPA session in 1982-probably 4n Germany .Since many of the current devel- opments in the built environment-in both urban and rural areas,in both industrialised as well as underdeveloped countries-have a photos showed him sinking mud came up round-his neatly as and reinforces patriachal social organisation being Polished black shoes.Slate notions on offering proffessional services to community groups.Beyond struggles for equal particularly negative impact on women as a rights for women lies the opportunity to define class,there 1s a need for women.who share a feminist world which is radically different in the ways we organise and how we relate to ‘a concern about those developments to define direction. HELTER FR STORM especially in discovering sympathetic ways of working with groups-of using drawings, of talking about buildings and of making collective decisions. MITRA Both groups are now engaged in seperate grou] hes changed its emphasis from an open projects.Mitra is holding small dis who now both wish to consolidate their our energies in the development of our own to an expansion of theissues,the is We wish to develop an architectural service group,and at next years Congress we hope to and the strategies.For further information on which will give women's groups the expertise report on our successes and failures,and maybe the session write to:WSPAs;250lErdnan Ave,B u sbbtuilding, would seerm to be each other. and analyse them and develop counteracting strategies.Anyone interested in shaping the agenda for such a session in a socialist feminist direction should contact Mary Vogelc/oMary Sell;223eKalmia Ave, Boulder, Colorado80302,U.3.A. For those wishing to sake more immediate contact,the next session of WSPA will take place in Weshington,D.C.in co-operation with the National Congress of Neighborhood Wornen (a ner Pp a working class,neighborhood activists).Topics will inolude;Commnities:housing and women; Transportation:impact on woren;Influencing Acaderia:towards a feminist perspectives Alternative TechnologysAccess to Moneytecon— omic development.While this session will 11 wongoube the first step will be to bgarionresstiacAscquiescen. ce of the buiilding ITELLA YA Q. Oh I see, private sch Wonen's: Project in Brixton to find premises the property- We hope to involve the client intimately in projects.The two groups are now called Watrx and Mitra.Our group,Mitra,is concered with the developing and understanding of our- the design and also involve as many women selves as women, a8 socialists and as archit- as possible in the building process. ects,and being small enough to establish a We want to maintain our links with NAM alth- many of our problems under a declining working group based on trust and mutual ough we have little fully formilated to offer capitalist system are similar.International support. at present.Over the next year,we will employ participation will be welcomed and could lead In the summer, the Clapham Battered Wives Project has been completed and 4s running successfully.The Lambeth Womens Project has been completed,and there have been proposals for the Stockwell and Vauxhall Neighbourhood HealthCentreinwhichbothgroupswereinvo- industry.Itwasrecognisedthatsuccesslaywithorganisingdesignstaffin lved. Fellow SAGger Mike Moxley next moved in to work with Frankl, forming a partnership, and they are now working on “a number of projects” as a private firm. Are they still These projects,in which we worked as a larger group,changed our attitudes to methods of working.Problens arising from our working together and communicating as a large group made us rethink the feasibility of trying to change our attitudes to the client,users and ourselves in sugh a large group. ome union and dispite an active BDS/TASS branch this has not happened. The branch will meet with design workers in other unions within the private sector offices to push for a union for the private sector. - ‘Ser of unusually imaginative architects like Richard Rogers ppeaubourg and Lloyds= to be its eendon equivalent), their main ane Foster Associates, Farrell The Voren's School of Planning and Archit— ecture(WSPA)is a feminist network of women dealing with built environment issues.It originatedintheU.S.in1974asaschool Privatesectorstartsin19800S likely focus on U.S.institutions and policies Recent DOE figusurres haheve Smashed the mpybtihaintheat cuts in co)council house SONOF SEIFERT couslaughing would be made up b increases in private } - i drast cally reduce building e to standards HESELTINE'S WORK EXPERIENCE architecture A. Well sort of. NORTH OF WATFORD ime out‘s awareness of the old guard might be forgiven a bleat at the way they have so blatantly been used to gain an entrée into the gentleman's club of the RIBA council for the furtherance of their careers. Perhaps someone should put a black ball into the sagbag next time such opportunists court it. can't be ashamed of Opening their doors to the nuclear shelter lobby. et srinshaw, now split into two ch Hopkins and Neave Brown’. 3Se Midlands rep.However while this was happening she applied to and got a job with Hackney, and resigned her Birmingham job. Did she resign her post as SAG's midlands rep. In a word... no. ioddy's imprimatur in the Guardian 5 @ second Robert Adam. But age prongs the question of a successor © pass the empire on to. As Dadd: retires to his home and gar D attractively illustrated re the colour magazines) cently in pondering the he ma wisdo; mo: e fy? o Son of Seifert ieee eer rish, narrow minded at the Bartlett. He Kapbalccercee his fellow students, bringing his Own sandwiches so that he didn't have to mix at lunchtime with other The RIBA was very coy about of its facilities. The ad. fonts Brains Trust" on nuclear shelters FEMINIST GROUPS MATRIX the ideas of the Womens Movement means real- ising how we can make our skills useful as un-arrogantly as possible.It 4s easier on us because we do not stand to loose much= but harder for the groups we work with. So it is important to go carefully but it {is also important to discuss and make known ‘womens 'experiances of buildings.That woren think differently about buildings comes from our own experiance-but it 1s being continually strengthened by working with other womens We are currently working on a touring exhi- bition sponsored by the Arts Council on Women and Housing.It is partly analysis- looking at conventional housing design and the muclear fanilyjand partly trying to form- ulate alternatives by working with four very aifferent womens groups and seeing what they need in their situation.Working with these groups is leading us beyond the exhibition and into practice. Matrix de a collective of women all active rent ways in the women's movement ernea with buildings.We three work ther women working on part- ‘This support from other to our idea of what Matrix Looking for ne? ways of working which reflect We have made a definite choice to support ourselves mainly from work outside Matrix mudlding,tenching and research)rather than take op conventional 'private'architectural work.We feel good about this because these commitments,together with involvement in other ns,political and community eroups are essential to the evolution of our work as feninist designers and builders.This also reflects one of our basic aims is to breakdown the division of labour between those who think and make,and between those ‘oduce and consume buildings. oppressing and obscuring the needs and demands be changed. nUnG) q Pe,duri et se FROM THE TORIES that P-R. blurb about Lioyds London's Beaubourg again — co: Suggest that the building Be Heseltine axe again..... P+aHcowisdoarchitects withOutwork A. By their employees...ur..1 by their students. ae cussion group to two smaller working groups groups and fs involved in helping the Asian positions by immersing themselves in practical and mobilise Inner City Funds to renovate For a Government dedicated to when it's finisshed. I bet it'll have e s o us ap W e e e r e m p l o n n y 5 oc c ep tme o ing publ e i n “than“there arg eo ease p r i p ( i y ol i t e Eue a Si t o c a l l en,e t nor s yees heee i f e r t 's: o f f i cie. g it Sei u ar d Oh for lateral thinking. archi will never beinempl aed if tee think laterally. Isn't it wonderful the way we're all génning up about nuclear shelters. There have been pal ee dozen seminars in so many acnatchsi.a..at Leed S school,C and CA Eds. note: Oh Michael, don't for. to tell the RIBA so that they ora recognise these courses. (B.A.Seifert ?). Readers interested to know which practice offers educational facilities’ should write to Slate enclosing S.a.e. SHE FRANKLY RANKLES NEWS It appears as if the g ent! calculations that a raigiareenneis house building would increase dena d in,and therefore stimulate the private sector, are completely failing. "The private sector,” explains Valerie Karn from the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, "will not Provide housin; if a profit cannot be made- no . matter how adversely affected the public rented sector becomes F matter how numerous the honed overnment shoul a ali that to attack the Rue reece itis pEesens form may be as counter- presuats for capital as it is for reducing public expenditure and to The Heseltine axe works cutti buildingwork,-andsetentteoes left for architectural competition. The military library competition, the second of these, is pulling in unemployed architects by the ane Oe Over 450 architects visited fe site on the two permitted days and hundreds more are expected to enter. We offer them our commiserations. Can nobody f more worthwhile activity eae : architects than designing a library (events officers in the arts 8. of war, and then seei drawings With a 99.8% cerca consigned to the SCrapheap. Ass 4sstillpresentinthousandsof Councdl flats warns Shelter's housing magazine. All forms of asbestos - blue, brown and white- can cause cancers if they are disturbed and the dust breathed in. The suthér of the article, Alan Dalton, 48 a lecturer in industrial health and safety. He explains how easily asbestos fibres can unknowingly be released into the air with some case histories. One tenant didn't mich like the corrugated surface of the fire- place panel in his sitting room. Bit by bit he sanded it down, releasing deadly asbest- 96 fibres into the air. Yet no evidence was for at the time to connect this with uent death from cancer. tells how workmen arriving at y 1979 to install central holes in asbestos panels der her windows in orde: fix radiators e didn't know that the dust left on the know the US government were making a study of PCP let alone that it would conclude that the chemical can cause cancer. They are now going to examine the US study. PCP is extensively as a wood preser- ¢ in Britain. Nobody manufact- 5 it here but over 400 tonnes were imported in 1979. Its most common use in the home is for the treatment of timber for dry rot and woodworm. PCP is the main ingredient ain consistuent in such’ well S as Rentokil, Protim and most worrying feature of the spread use of PCP is its entry © the human foodchain. In 1977 an international symposium discussed the environmental effects of PCP. The participants agreed 'Contaminat- ion of human populations with PCP at a level of 10 to 20 parts per lion is quite general in industr- ised countries.' The most likely rce of this contamination appears to be foodchain exposure to PCP treated wood products. Monsanto manufactured PCP in Britain until 1978 when production was disc- ontinued for health and commercial reasons. The company agrees that PCP is contaminated with hexachlorodiox- in to a level of 10 parts per million and with octochlorodioxin to the much greater level of 5 ta 10 thousand parts per million. Other countries have acted on PCP. As early as 1970 Sweden became alerted to its hazard when its use @s a control agent in paper manufac- turing was shown to be upsetting the ecological balance of nearby rivers and lakes. Its use for this purpose was banned. Later Swedish studies revealed that timber workers were being affected by PCP while dipping wood and inhaling PCP in sawdust. Since the beginning of 1980 PCP has been banned in Sweden as a wood preservative. W © through site ve feirly well understood, and i es not appear to be display © environmental effects.! Yet less than two weeks later the American government announced that the ingredient, pentachlorophenol CP), causes cancer. The US Envir- ital Protection Agency are now vely considering withdrawing PCP's licence for use. The tests undertaken by the National Toxicology Program of the US Depart- ment ‘of Health and Human Services, released on 9 December, revealed the contaminants found in ail commercial PCP caused liver cancers in male and female mice and female rats. Comp- es found to be carcinogenic in @ are generally regarded by the overnment a8 causing cancer in humans. ADDRESS TELEPHONE H W IN ADDITION TO OR IN PLACE OF BECOMING A NAM MEMBER I WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE s WORK.I ENCLOSE A CONTRIBUTION TO NAM I WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE TO SLA SIX ISSUES.I ENCLOSE £3.00). tog, and along with the had the same work done the mess taking no special estos is a costly operation ls find difficult to afford now pudget has been slashed. housing work. ghborough Estate with asbestos. it by the L.C.C. in ties end early sixties were built to fons. The work of remov- " y beginning. Fox, then Secretary for esked whether had any plans to use of an active ingr- Rentokil to treat dry rm. Fox said no. The sehaviour, he replied WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT IN SELLING PROMOTING AND CONTRIBUTING ACL? The contaminants are various forms of hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (HCDD) a close relative of textrachlorodio- in. In Britain DoE officials admit when they answered the parlia- mentary question they did not even NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE H OVERSEAS SUBSCRIBERS PLEASE ADD POSTAGE FOR SIX ISSUES. CONTACTS NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT 9,POLAND STREET,LONDON WIV 3DG. LIASON GROUP 4,COCKBURN SQUARE,PATHHEAD,MID-LOTHIAN,SCOTLAND. EDINBURGH ditto LEEDS 2,StMARTINS TERRACE,CHAPPLETOWN ROAD,LEEDS 6. LONDON 127,FAIRBRIDGE ROAD,HOLLOWAY,LONDON,N19. BRISTOL 149,LOWER CHELTENHAM PLACE,BRISTOL BS65ZB HULL 238a,SPRINGBANK,HULL,E.YORKS. PROFFESSIONAL INTEREST GROUP 9,POLAND STREET,LONDON W1V EDUCATION 175 ,HEMMINGFORD ROAD,LONDON N1. NOVEMBER GROUP 54,SOUTHWOOD LANE,LONDON N656B. MITRA 6/7b,LANGFORD ROAD,LONDON SW 6. MATRIX 33,DAVENANT ROAD,LONDON N19. SLATE 57,CARLETON ROAD,LONDON7N. future issues REGULAR COLUMNS IN FUTURE ISSUES WILL DEAL WITH HEALTH AND SAFTY MATERIALS SPECIFICATION,A DIRECTORY OF RADICAL ORGANISATIONS IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY. WE INVITE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR INCLUSION IN THE DIRECTORY FORM ALL GROUPS INVOLVED IN RADICAL ACTIVITY FOR EXAMPLE DESIGN CO-OP's, BUILDING CO-OP's etc. WE ALSO INVITE PUBLISHERS TO SEND PUBLICATIONS FOR REVIEW. THE FORTH COMING SLATE WILL FEATURE ARTICALS ON,LUBETKIN WRITTEN BY JOHN ALLEN, FINANCIALLY TO NAM Pat" i iiia scm ameaancrteiaaanataeian, | i AL HOW TO JOIN NAM Th uilding Industry is one of the ats ; ee ways to earn a living. e common due to poor ions and the daredevil ion workers T WOULD LIKE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT AND ENCLOSE THE SUM OF £8.00) or £3.00 FOR CLAIMANTS sSTUDENTS ,OAP' s. ONE YEARS SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES SLATE FREE FOR THAT YEAR. NAME SUBSCRIBE TO SLATE TE.A SUBSCRIPTION ENTITLES ME TO SUBSCRIPTION TO OFFICES ,LIBRARIES ,AND ORGANISATIONS etc £6.00 FOR SIX ISSUES BACK COPIES 2-16 £1.00p EACH COPY To eo AND ARCHITECTUROEF THE SPANISH REVOLUTION COMPILED BY THE SLATE COLLECTIVE. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO AVOID DISSAPOINTMENT ing Industry is one of the us ways to earn a living. due to poor recautions and the daredevil Yet less than two weeks later the American government announced that the ingredient, pentachlorophenol (pcP), causes cancer. The US Envir~ ntal Protection Agency are now ely considering withdrawing licence for use. The tests undertaken by the National Toxicology Program of the US Depart- ment ‘of Health and Human Services, BOOK «SQUATTING REVIEW A review by Marian Biernat. s of construct the imp y building workers OWN» at. the architect is sDBES Tes: Asbestos ig still present in thousands of Sounc4} flats warns ROG elter's housing magazine. All forms of asbestos - blue, t and white- can cause cancers if they are disturbed and the dust breathed in. ce and female rats. Comp- ound to be carcinogenic in : Jou whie, Sauat The suth article, Alan Dalton, 18 lecturer in viustrial health and safety. He explains horm easily asbestos fibres can inknowingly be released into the air with some ease histories. One tenant didn't mich like the corrugated surface of the fire- place panel in his sitting room. Bit by bit stells how worknen arriving at flat in July 1979 to install central drilled holes in asbestos panels er windows in order to fix radiators read use of PCP is its entry human foodchain. In 1977 an asbestos is a costly operation eils find difficult to afford now ~ housing budget has been slashed. be foodchain exposure to PCP reated wood products. it doesn't treat squatting simply as housing politics and economics. Squatting wos and is about much more than waiting Squatters, this book should nevertheless be essential reading for anyone contemplating direct action action in housing. For the rest of us, it will make an excellent addition to the bookshelf- between the VW manual and the vegetarian cookery books. —— money has been found work has held up by the ban on housing work. Monsanto manufactured PCP in Britain until 1978 when production was disc- ontinued for health and commercial The company agrees that PCP edwithhexachlorodiox- evel of 10 parts per million and with octochlorodioxin to the much greater level of 5 to 10 thousand parts per million. Other countries have acted on PCP. y as 1970 Sweden became erted to its hazard when its use control agent in paper manufac- turing was shown to be upsetting the ecological balance of nearby rivers and lakes. Its use for this purpose was banned. Later Swedish studies revealed that timber workers were ng affected by PCP while dipping d and inhaling PCP in sawdust. ce the beginning of 1980 PCP has nned in Sweden as a wood preservative. properties, and statistics of housing need and provision. Many people were attracted to squats because they allowed them to develop a lifestyle unrepressed byBuildingSoofeties,privatelandlords, and Councdl Housing Department officials. Mary squats, became the sort of thriving 2 to the Loughbi hEstate is riddled with asbestos. owned by others. Nevertheless, as is made Clear, certain political developments in 1968 combined with the hysterical media reactiontothehippysquatsof1969,set the tone for the events of the last I2 years. It is on these events of the last 72 years that the book concentrates. There and dynamic communities planners and ‘News ON eOfwer tatesbuiltbytheL.C.c.in and early six e seme specifications. The work of remov- asbestos is only beginning. are nevertheless, chapters on the history of squatting, and,a regretably short, chapter on "the rest of the world”. Despite the consistent raw deal that squatters have had from the media, one gets the impression after reading this book, that it would be wrong to see this Sirply as the natural reaction of a right- wing press against the threat to property rights, and against a "dangerous " alternative lifestyle. In fact, some of the most objectionable anti-squatter tactics were perpetrated by solid Labour Councils such as Lambeth and Camien. These included the gutting and demolition of houses specifically for the purpose of keeping out squatters. architects often dream about, yet usually fail to achieve. Yet large sections of the Left fafled to See anything positive in these develop - ments. For them, direct action and self- help, were merely a nuisance which hindered development plans and upset the sanctity of the Council Waiting List. The fact that many squats attracted more than their fair share of drug-pushers and petty criminals, and the atmosphere of tolerance to these people, did nothing of course to improve the squatters’ image. Add to this the reaction, in sone cases, of local residents conditioned to expect squatters to be anti-social bums, ami we can see why yet another natural alliance of the Left never came about. ix weks ago Marcus Fox, then ry Under-Secretary for npent was asked whether d any plans to 2 of an. active ingr- over pecif EDITED BY WATES CHRISTIAN WOLMAR jour Cy home to treat dry id no. The he replied 4 on 9 December, revealed the ts found in ali commercial d liver cancers in male and the real story » ‘Ousy sate\(oe t e are generally regarded by the US government a8 causing cancer in humans. of hexachlorodibenzo=p-dioxin (HCDD) a close relative of textrachlorodio- xin. In Britain DoE officials admit that when they answered the parlia- mtary question they did not even e US government were making a study of PCP let alone that it would conclude that the chemical can cause cer. They are now going to examine the US study. PCP is extensively as a wood preser- in Britain. Nobody manufact- it here but over 400 tonnes e imported in 1979. Its most common use in the home is for the treatment of timber for dry rot and woodworm. PCP is the main ingredient and main consistuent in such’ well prod! as Rentokil, Protim and BANNED SWEDEN ost worrying feature of the Compiled by Nick Wates. Published by Bay Leaf Books. Dec I980. Paperback £4.90. Hardback £11.50. ",..parasitic deviants who steal people's houses and constitute a threat to everything decent in society..." As one might expect, this book tries to question and undermine the popular myth of squatting and squatters Mercifully, {t stops well short of proposing an alternative mythology. Indeed, one of the things I liked about this book was the way it's structure and presentation undermine the lie implicit in the title, that there is a "real story" of squatting. The book is a compilation with contributions from nineteen authors (most of them squatters at one time or another, and therefore mostly sympathetic to the Squatting movement), yet writing from a variety of perspectives, and in a variety of styles. The written contributions are well supported by a lively melange of poems photos, graphics, and newspaper cuttings. We are thus, not presented with a single image, but encouraged to see the “truth” of squatting, as never more than the sum of images which we absorb at any one time, whether these are the images Presented to us by a reactionary and sensationalist press, or by leftish Journalists. ther THE PRESERVER 1€ contaminants are various forms international symposium discussed ronmental effects of PCP. The participants agreed ‘Contaminat- n of human populations with PCP at el of 10 to 20 parts per on is quite general in industr- lised countries." The most likely urce of this contamination appears One of the successes of the book, is that Not intended as a D.I.Y. guide to NICK & you \Maereaway Squatting, we learn, "is the oldest form of tenure in the world", and "We are all descended from squatters". Squatting is certainly nothing new, the essential ingrediants being simply the existence of lists, redevelopment plans, empty homeless people and empty buildings Mette, wipe tickt Het nH nih ¢ ii } eH ithtuey Hk i re ] pal ae i tu ea From Melman ArchitectsFormal NAM holds hisite of any ong architect- meani Pu a er either the condit- nd organise ir appropriate Trade reflects, in its hierarchy, ed by the first 4 n s nico i te then, th are in venent among 980 Annual Congressarchy dominates the Registration economic term: of their work is »such agitation 5;as employ- that all hould join king peo A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED by Giles Pebody Council by a hugh majority and makes just further policy remai the intention -New Relationships their living ~ to urge that ectural work on the me houl round around the concept of pyeunnse service, in s% is practiced. m outside the profession 1 architectural their fellow their's is an society at large. for any camp- reorganisation of working and the re- ms of control and between architect- d people affected by architects These groups aim to resist the process by which professionals exploit their claimed body of specialist knowledge to secure aprivileged social position by being painstakingly open about the reasons benind the advice that they give. The object of architectural func= NAM became compulsory in Britain in ly3d. Many of its political supporters Saw the Bill's arrangements a5 4 form of ‘This last and most complex set of issues under pins the others and embraces the ways in which the attitudes of arch- itectural workers are moulded to ensure their acceptance of the material and intellectual conditions of architectural work.Schools of architecture play an important part in promoting the value systems necessary for the current forms of architectural practice,but they do not train the'technicianswh'o make up a sizeable proportion of the architect— ural workforce;neither do they have an extended relationship with pract- joners in order to influence the contin~ ual reformation of values and attitudes. Activity for these groups is centred on the architectural journals and the so called*learned society'functions of the RIBA through local and national meetings and conferences.NAM recognises the importance of these questions but has found it more difficult to formulate an approace to them,probably because they are more complex thoeretically than the other areas of the movements activity. Conversely the lack of ability to address adequately the question of achitectural ideology has hampered NAM's success in its other campaigns. What work has been done in this area has been by way of providing'alternatives' to established activities,open meetings andthe publishing of a magazine. NAM is currently attempting to Set up an education group.iIt is envisaged that this group would organise around a rejection of the uncritical methods of architectural education practiced in most schools. Giles ir in the issue of work. It ig Practice are, or have been, associat- NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT only way to restore the true of Registration, would be to i a Council in which lay inter- hold a majority, rather than & t n role. Again, such a change will not come through the agitation of architectural workers alone, but it is important for them to work to reorganis— actice in cres a climate for change througn ty expe g the inadequacies and contra- dictions of the workings of the con- temporary professional institutions, and supporting and encouraging lay pressures for change. tat the outcome of the current ©° with NAM. Generally speaking, n architectural work can only they offer services to the users environment and, while the right to carry out such transformations rests almost exclusively with dominant social interests, architectural work carried out for working class groups becomes part of a wider political atruggle for resources and social justice. These new relationships throw into relief the political nature of all architectural work, a reality generally obscured for architects by the fundamental coincidence of their interest with those of building owners,and for working people by the claimed'neutrality'of profess- ional advice. AM'S aims are an interpretation lof socialist principles applied practice of architecture. public control over the profession. ver, 2 ethat i 1 fone This spirit survived into the Act in the camp=- the form of the arrangements for the is more t change pressure by ar composition of the Council(ARCUK), set up to administer it, which, alth- ough somewhat dominated numerically y architects, does have lay members. fessional association among architects,’ the hier- employment in the profession, s. NAM takes the view that the concept of registration of certain groups of professionals is reasonable, provid- ing the process ensures that they pratice with particular skill, com- petence and care. Otherwise registr- ation can, and has been, exploited by architects for protectionist ends. The Royal Institute of British Arch- itects, now the most powerful pro- such exploitative use of it. workpla aries of traditional architectural r architectural workers if i r Y - and, in particular, to tenants in in working class neighbourhoods. In so doing, they are instrumental in beginning the redistribution of ex~ pertise in society, both through the fact that they are serving working class clients and by their way of working. They also frame the problems and issues to be faced by acchitectural workers generally as they move to- wards increased public accountability in their work,and the groups practicing in the new relationship hold out technical and organisational models for wider consideration. Training and Ideology eral architects and groups of be baseaarchitects who work outside the bound- rather than the owners of buildings the public sector and community groups istration of work is the transformation of the NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE 4H NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE 4H CONTACTS W W HOW TO JOIN NAM I WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE TO SLATE.A SUBSCRIPTION ENTITLES ME TO SIX ISSUES.I ENCLOSE £3.00. OVERSEAS SUBSCRIBERS PLEASE ADD POSTAGE FOR SIX ISSUES. SUBSCRIPTION TO OFFICES LIBRARIES AND ORGANISATIONS etc £6.00) FOR SIX ISSUES BACK COPIES 2-16 £1.00p EACH COPY IN ADDITION TO OR IN PLACE OF BECOMING A NAM MEMBER I WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE FINANCIALLY TO NAM’s WORK.I ENCLOSE A CONTRIBUTION TO NAM SUBSCRIBE TO SLATE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT 9,POLAND STREET,LONDON WIV 3DG. LIASON GROUP 4,COCKBURN SQUARE ,PATHHEAD, MID-LOTHIAN ,SCOTLAND. EDINBURGH ditto LEEDS 2,StMARTINS TERRACE, CHAPPLETOWN ROAD, LEEDS 6. LONDON 127,FAIRBRIDGE ROAD,HOLLOWAY,LONDON,N19. BRISTOL 149,LOWER CHELTENHAM PLACE BRISTOL BS65 ZB HULL 238a,SPRINGBANK,HULL,E.YORKS. PROFFESSIONAL INTEREST GROUP 9,POLAND STREET,LONDON W1V EDUCATION 175 ,HEMMINGFORD ROAD,LONDON NI. NOVEMBER GROUP 54,SOUTHWOOD LANE,LONDON N65EB. MITRA 67b,LANGFORD ROAD,LONDON SW 6. MATRIX 33,DAVENANT ROAD,LONDON N19. SLATE 57,CARLETON ROAD,LONDON7N. I WOULD LIKE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT AND ENCLOSE THE SUM OF £8.00) or £3.00 FOR CLAIMANTS ,STUDENTS ,OAP's. ONE YEARS SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES SLATE FREE FOR THAT YEAR. future issues REGULAR COLUMNS IN FUTURE ISSUES WILL DEAL WITH HEALTH AND SAFTY ,MATERIALS SPECIFICATION,A DIRECTORY OF RADICAL ORGANISATIONS IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY. WE INVITE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR INCLUSION IN THE DIRECTORY FORM ALL GROUPS INVOLVED IN RADICAL ACTIVITY FOR EXAMPLE DESIGN CO-OP's, BUILDING CO-OP's etc. WE ALSO INVITE PUBLISHERS TO SEND PUBLICATIONS FOR REVIEW. THE FORTH COMING SLATE WILL FEATURE ARTICALS ON,LUBETKIN WRITTEN BY JOHN ALLEN, AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE SPANISH REVOLUTION COMPILED BY THE SLATE COLLECTIVE. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO AVOID DISSAPOINTMENT WENEEDYOURSUPPORTINTON PROMOTING AND CONTRIBUTINGSate Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource NAM SLATE Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray & John Allan (2) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1981 https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/f6a1dfc37651ce05b2aa8b00dc02a770.pdf 5684cfc91e1e83bb0b4a2fd2d1635d57 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource NAM Calendar 1977 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource NAM SLATE Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977 https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/67bf42b336728d76884def3b6009c8e3.pdf 18efd6224d1c11fd1feea0fd1e8b145b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource NAM Calendar 1979 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource NAM SLATE Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979 https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/65e0c1a88a49b06a90212303287a154a.pdf 82f5b0a93f021644c81fc9ee1fbf6d71 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 3 Description An account of the resource ISSUE No 3 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT BDS:TASS MUSTERS TS FORCES JULY/AUGUST 1977 \ sp ial recruiting leaflet aimed at workers in architecture, surveying engineering and planning has just been published by the TASS Building Design Staff (BDS) ‘national advisory committee, which iscoordinating the organising drive nationally and which consists, at present, of ten architectural workers chosen by the May 14 conference. The new London ‘BDS’ branch of TASS has now had three meetings. Understand- ably, the main topic of discussion has been organising continued on page 3 INDUSTRY STILL BREATHING! FOLLOWING THE NEW ARCH ITECTURE MOVEMENT SPONSORED CONFERENCE ON MAY 14 which choose TASS’ the Technical, Administrative and Super- visory Section of the AUEW* as the vehicle for a long-awaited trade union organisation drive among private sector building design stat, a steadily- growing core of active union members have begun quietly laying the found- ations for a major organising effort in the autumn. Wek EEF Le Slate‘s exclusive inside story of the takeover of Architectural Design magazine over the last year...... 1. ARCUK: THE SHEEP {N WOLF’S CLOTHING the parliamentary debate around the registration acts. 2.PROFESSIONALISM: THE MYTH and the IDEOLOGY the dubious rationale behind the professional associations. 3. ARCUK: INSIGNIFICANT OR Does ARCUK need a broader set of objectives? PART IL OF “ A COMMUNITY DESIGN SERVICE” - Cardiff NAM group’s attempt to set up a local ASBESTOS RECENT ‘PUBLIC HEARINGS’ of the Government’s Advisory Comm- ittee on Asbestos, held in London from June 27 to 29, may have done little more than give anti-asbestos campaigners their ‘day in court’ and give an increasingly concerned pub- lic the impression that something is being done about the health haz- ards of asbestos. Asbestos ind- ustry management will now be breathing a sigh of relief and getting on with ‘business as usual’ least for the moment. Twelve groups and individuals were allowed to give evidence at the hearings and be questioned by Committee members Questions from the public were not allowed Earlier, the Health and Safety Executive had published the writ.1 evidence submitted design service continued on page 3 a ie slite!, n., a., & v.t. 1, Icinds of gres, gren, or bluish-purple rock easily split {nto flat smooth plates; pleco of cuch plate used ns roofing-material; piece of It usu. framed in wood used for writing on with~-penTorsmallrodofso~f(ctlean th of 0 WORK ON SLATE SLATEneedsmoreworkers,more writers and more ideas. This issue was put together by a committee of seven. A larger committee would mean a better newsletter; so would more writers, illustrators, cartoonists and photographers, and simply more suggestions for stories and features. Ifyou would like to work for SLATE, join the committee or suggest topics it should cover, then please write in soon. The copy deadline for the next issue is Friduy 26th August 1977 OUR HIGH PRICE 40p is a lot to pay for a newsletter this big.ThefundingofSLATE isconnected to the funding of NAM as awhole, and last year the Movement ran up substantial debts, This year’s liaison group determined that that situation should not arise again and fixed the subscription rate accordingly, both to the Movement and the newsletter, in the knowledge that insolvency would never help the Movement to grow, and in the conviction that NAM’s strengthwilllieamongpeoplewhoare prepared to support its activities to the full. The annual subscription to SLATE, for five issues, is £2 00. If circulation rises then the choice is open for SLATE to become larger or for the subscription to fall, but for the moment it must not get into debt. ADVERTISING Atanearlymeetingthecommittee decide not to take commercial adver-- tisements in SLATE. Advertisements from alternative groups and personal small ads are, however, welcome. A small charge would be made but the committee reserves the right to turn down any advert COPYRIGHT Any article or part of an article or part of an article in SLATE may be freely but accurately reproduced, providing that SLATE is credited as the origin of any material used. awards Slater's award for self-publicity this yea goes to Charlie Jencks for his out- standing review of his own bestseller *Post ModernisnyY’ in the Sunday Times Colour Section Charlie’s two page spread folded discreetly between ads for the Ford Fiesta und Harvey’s Bristol Cream explained with wonderful clarity and the advent of a new bourgeois confection, Post Modern Architecture and convince the newspaper's five figure readership how PM was now the topic of heated debate in architects offices throughout the land. It obviously took over from redundancies and how to pay for your season ticket without us noticing. TASS Continued from page 1 Reportsfrommorethanahalfdozen offices where organisation is making real progress suggest that the first employer recognition of BDS-TASS may occur later this year. Recognition would provide the Opportunity to begin to demonstrate what unionisation in architecture can achieve and is expected to give a big boost to nationwide organising. anemployertodenyrecognition. Organisation is also progressing in several other towns, including Cardiff and Edinburgh, where architectural staff are joining ‘general’ TASS branches, many of which already have building design staff members. As membership grows, it is expected that special BDS branches will be set up wherever justified by eachoffice. Itisthis‘shopfloor’ organisation which must do the vital, “grass roots’, person-to-person organising and in which members can ‘together decide the policy they wich to pursue and the means they wish to use to achieve it.’ Each group of TASS members in an office can choose a ‘corresponding member’ (to liase with the broader union structure) andan‘officecommittee’torepresent them, when necessary, in dealings with the management. _—_‘Full-timeunionofficials can be called in for advice or aid in neg- otiations, or when seeking recognition, at the request of the members in the office. On the other hand, the companies will be putting a major effort into salvaging the huge asbestos-cement products market for a much longer period. They will try to draw 1 dubious distinction between these products containing containing roughly 12% per cent asbestos and ‘soft’ products )like insulation board) containing 30 per cent. They are already getting support from the leadership of some trade unions involved in the manufacture of asbestos cement products who may find this more convenient than fighting for alternative, safe employment. The Green Ban Action Committee in conjunction with the Birmingham Hazards Group of BSSRS, has recently produced a four-page leaflet, ‘The Asbestos Hazard’, available from GBAC, 77 School Road, Hall Green, Birmingham 28, for 10p, postpaid (£3.00 per 100). NAM’s contributions; ~-colour(ed), (of) dark Dluish or gree grey; hence slat’y? a, 2. adj. (Made) of ~. 3. y.t. Cover with ~s esp, 03 rofing; hence slat/en' n, (ME before achieved recognition in a private architecturalpractice. Thereisnorule as to when to seek recognition, but it is usually done when a majority of staff have joined the union Under present legislation, it is difficult in that case for As the new leaflet points out, however, ‘thekeyunitintheunion’sstructureand the means whereby staff can democratically and collectively have a real voice in all the decisions which affect their work ‘is the organisation of unionised employees in fc, fern.of esclat SLAT*) Qs). Cr severely 2reviews),scold,rate; nominate, propose for oifice etc. Henco slat’ssX1) n, fapp. f.pree.} SLATE IS THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, published bi-monthly by the Movement’s Liaison Group and edited on its behalf by an adhoc committee set up in January 1977.. News and features of broad interest to workers in the profession, and the buildiag industry and to the wider public are included to stimulate debate on a wide range of issues and to bring the Movement’s views and activities to the attention of the widest readership. . help build SLATE’s readership . help to build NAM . subscribe to SLATE .show ittoyour friends . become a local rep to distribute SLATE in your office, school or town . ask for SLATE in your local bookshop . get your school or office to subscribe. .AND THE FUTURE For SLATE to grow asalively reflection of the views of radical Architectural Workers and others concerned with the processes which shape our environment, accountability of editorial decisions to the members of the Movement is essential. This year two further issues areplanned. Each one will be proceeded by an open meeting with the Editorial Committee. Come and express your views and criticisms at these meetings or through the letters column of SLATE . Next year itissuggested that the adhoc committee should be disbanded to be replaced by an editorial committee elected by and directly responsible to the annual congress of the Movement. SLATE 3PAGE 2 by 24 groups and individuals. from asbestos industry management, their front groups like the Asbestos Research Council and their allies like the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, to anti-asbestos campaigners like Nancy Tait, the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science (BSSRS), and Socialist Worker. In the middle were groups like the Comsumers’ Association and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, who presented a breakdown of the uses of asbestos products in construction and the current cost implications of alternatives. The RICS did recommend that ‘savings in medical and other costs should be taken into account wheb considering additional construction costs, even though they arise in different sectors of the national economy.” In its written evidence, the TUC noted that ‘the present Asbestos Regulations and Hygiene Standards are totally inadequate to provide protection against cancer risks,” called for the progressive banning of al use of asbestos within the next ten years und recommended an immediate lowering of the maximum allowable concentration of asbestos dust to 0.2 fibres per cc from Occupational Safety and Health has already called for a level of 0.1, the least detectable. Management spokesmen from the asbestos industry claimed they would close down their UK operations (Turner and Newall employs some 10,000 asbestos workers) if the 0.2 level were enforced. The TUC apparently backed down at the hearings from the surprisingly strong stand it had taken in its written evidence. in on the act Now the dust has settled after the NAM sponsored trade unionism conference architectural workers busy getting on with organising their colleagues into TASS may be surprised to hear that UCATT’s STAMP section is setting up its very own National Advisory committee for architectural workers. An astonishing turn about for that union who, as late as the beginning of this year, expressed, quite candidly, that to the trade journals promoting the cause workers in private sector offices were and incidently, his new book, ‘Fight Blight unorganisable. We can only take it NAM wins a mention in this worthy tome, then that UCATT/STAMP’s new committee Mr McKean assures us. Readers of asuitable is being set up to serve the interests of the disposition should turn to his page 166. the present level of 2 In the United few building design staff they already have in membership in the public sector. We haven't received our review copy of ‘Fight Blight’ yet, which is a pity, because without it we can only surmise on its ARCUK Registrar isbeing selected by a committee composed entirely of RIBA ‘heavies’ and drew attention to ARCUK’s chauvinists — eee ee TheSlaterhears attitudestothosepoorworkingclass that Rod Hackney - communities beset by office development the RIBA’s front runner in the Community grim council flats, derelict land and so on. Architecturecooptionstakesisreluctant YoubetitsagoodPRjobforthe‘New to employ women in his o} Profession” of sensitive caring architects out Second prize to the book’s publisher, Andreas Papadukis for similar efforts in his other publishing venture this month Architectural Design, which this month carries SsOn new style. You called, you guessed it, Post Modernism. be fighting a rear-guard action to keep their highly profitable asbestos ones on the UK market longer than would otherwise be possible. They will also be stepping up sales to ‘third world’ countries. is more readable and updated version of her earleir pamphlet and is available from Exchange Publications, 9 Poland Street, London, W.1. back seat driver? The community architects bandwagon ARCUK VOTES FIASCO rolls on, Charles McKean the RIBA. Community architect supremo, is hoping to climb into his driving seat , it would seem, from the recent letters each. Following the Council’s decision to maintain secrecy, vote totals are being revealed only to the individual candidate. SLATE is published by the LIAISON GROUP’ oftheNEWARCHITECTUREMOVEMENT, 9, Poland St., London. W1. Typesetting by Debbie Coates, Maggie Stack PrintedbyWOMENINPRINT,16a,Illiffe hisviewsaresharedbytheunlikely sponsoredpovertyprogrammes,__Itsfine TheCouncilputitselfintheabsurd Asitturnedout,theUnattached RIBAmembers.Itisprobablethata Yard, London, SE17. company of Colonel Siefert to fight blight so long as you stand no. position of refusing to reveal, in the standing for election to the committee few RIBA nominees disobeyed the ‘whip’ ‘Itisbelievedthatnounionhasever potentialmembership. These ranged States, the National Institute for Asbestos industry management now appears to be pursuing a two-fold strategy. On the one hand, they realise that despite their massive, slick and deceptive advertising campaigns, more and more people now know that al forms of asbestos can cause asbostosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma, even from the slight exposure to which members of the public are subjected, and that so-called ‘precautiors’ free two page leaflet is still available are ineffective, impractical, unenforced or unenforceable. The major companies have begun producing asbestos-free insulating insulation boards and will, at the same time, Nancy Tait’s ‘Asbestos Kills: New Facts’ The six NAM-affiliated architects elected to the Architects Registration Council (ARCUK) in a postal ballot of the more than 3,100 ‘unattached’ architects earlier this year have already begun to make the RIBAplaced a ‘three-line whip’ on its questioned the procedure whereby a new their presence felt, injecting into the nominees, who dominate the Council, to Council’s June 22 quarterly meeting a prevent the election of unattached ‘NAM’ strong note of dissent against the customary members. RIBA steamroller. Even before the elections, RIBA members ‘double standard’ under which, for example, Faced with increasing economic had been assured, for example, of filling RIBA branches are allowed to advertise pressuresontheprofession,theRIBA twelveoffifteenplacesonboththe whilegroupsofUnattachedarchitects machine appears to be running about Purposes and Finance and General Purposes are not. The next Council meeting is on in a gradually increasing panic trying to Committees. On the Board of Education, October 12. jamitswell-fedlitlefingersintoanever RIBAmemberswereassuredofholding48 TheMarchmeeting,atwhichthe growing number of holes in its erstwhile seats, while the Unattached, who held two, voting took place, had been attended by tidy system of ‘professional’ dikes. were contesting two more. S7 Council members, of whom 45 were Rod may be interested to know that to make their fortunes out of government chance of besting it. accepted democratic manner, the votes vacancies got, on the average, twelve votes on the secret ballot. in the previous meeting’s elections for vacancies on ARCUK committees. A NAM motion to do so was defeated by 28 votes tol2. ‘It was before those elections that Representatives of the Unattached also (send stamped SAE, please), and BSSRS will soon be publishing a pamphlet aimed particularly at shop stewards. SLA3TPAEGE3 ASBESTOS Continued from page 1 FaneS+ rt SLATE 3PAGE4 SUBVERSION OF A.D. In April 1976, the editors of Architec- tural Design Magazine, Martin Spring and Haig Beck, proclaimed jubilantly that they were taking over the equity of the magazine. Butnow,lessthanayearandahalfhence, the tables have turned and the magazine’s new publisher, Andreas Papadakis, has wrested absolute control of the magazine, both in terms of financial and editorial interests. AD’s world-wide reputation as a tearaway avant-garde architectural magazine is well established. This profile, however, com- prises two components: the one is a eulog- istic showcase for whatever glistening gadgetry, style or conceptual ‘ism’ has been newly purloined from neighbouring discip- lines by breathless architectural young turks; the other is a radical and independent stance that takes an iconoclastic view of the exces- ses of building development and architect- ural conceits in their social and political contexts. The intention of the editors in taking over the equity of the magazine was to promote the latter approach: the magazine’s natural tendency towards edit- orial independence could be secured by its egalitarianism would match the editorial message of the magazine, Spring proferred Beck an ident- ical shareholding of the company as himself work of the five editorial staff. Further- (for no capital investment on his part) and more he closed down the editorial office —— es riding the magazine on the crest of the present wave of formalism. The poingnancy of the overthrow of AD’s independence has been accentuated by the strategy of which was employed. If Papadakis had bought out the magazine outright and simultaneously announced plans for revamping its image, the people involved would have known where they stood, and could have lumped it or left it. However, the campaign of behind-the-scenes manipulation that was conducted over the last year had a most unnerving effect on nearly al editorial staff and consultants. nightmare For the editorial staff, it was literally a nightmarish situation in which to work. The previous owners of AD, Standard Catalogue Ltd_, decided to hive off the magazine as they were moving out of London. They offered the magazine to the incumbent editors under a convient arrangement whereby the purchasers would financially guarantee the vendors for the publication of the 12 months’ issues of the magazine which had already been sold to subscribers by the vendors. Spring and Beck quickly decided that this proposition seemed an attractive one, but that they didn’t want to directly take on the responsibility for the magazine’s subscriptions and accounts. They there- fore joined forces with the only person they knew who had experience of running subscriptions for international architecture Papadakis enters magazines, Andreas Papadakis, who owned and controlled a burgeoning art book emp- ire in Kensington and was a publisher to boot. Papadakis was interested in AD and showed a sympathy for the editors’ principles of editorial independence. Although he professed to have no ready capital to invest in it, he demanded the controlling interest in the new company. SpringandBeckbelievedthatiftheedit- orial department was agreed about the editorial policy of the magazine, the pub- lisher could be kept at bay, as he could not sack both editors without bankrupting the company. A sum of £16,000 was agreed between purchasers and vendors as financial guaran- tee to cover the publication of the magazine for 12 months. This sum would be lodged in a special bank account and released incrementally as each of the 12 months’ issues was published. The £16,000 was gathered from Spring and his sister (£8,400, courtesy of a recent inheritance), a total of 26 ad hoc patrons of the maga- zine (£6,100), and Papadakis, (who topped up the final £2,500 with a short-term loan). In the idealistic spirit of egalitarianism that publisher in any dispute, thereby blowing any possibility of editorial independence. In the event this is exactly what happened and with terrifying precipitousness. Beck found it more to his liking to confer with Papadakis rather than with the other editor, the editorial staff or consultants, Papadakis demanded a tight ship, and with Beck eagerly assuming the role of henchman, his plans for revamping the magazine revealed themselves in a variety of indirect ways that rapidly succeeded in inducing a high state of paranoia in the staff. Payment for overtime work, always an integral part of AD’s staff’s skimpy earnings was banned; the Editorial Assistant was barred from writing for the magazine; the Editorial Secretary’s workload increased dramatically as she was expected to go through a myriad of checking and counter- checking procedures of expenses; the Prod- uction Editor found that the whole creative component of her work, designing page layouts, was taken out of her hands and commissioned to a freelance graphic desig- ner (at considerable expense). _In general, al editorial decisions regarding the running of the editorial department and the content and style of the magazine were made out- side the office (it was quite clear by whom) and issued to the staff with contemptuous brusqueness by Beck. Papadakis claimed that the magazine into the red Was running into the red and drastic re- arrangements were called for. Since he controlled the accounts, there was little scope for disputing his diagnosis. How- ever, his strategy for improving the financ- es of the magazine were entirely at the expense of its employees, as he favoured farming out the work to freelance journal- ists and designers. Naturally the staff sought aid from their respective unions (the National Graphic Association and the National Union of Journalists). The situation was brought to a head last Febr- uarywhen Papadakisannounced thatthe laying off of the Production Editor ,and that the other staff would have to take on promotion work and even volunteer to work work part-time. The staff responded by demanding the reinstatement of the Prod- uction Editor, threatening industrial action with union backing. The situation was complicated by the fact that the financial guarantee on the magazine still had another three months to run, and this money would be forfeited in the event of any failure to publish the magazine during that peroid. Half of the guarantee money was Spring’s, which very effectively held him hostage to Papadakis’ plans. The situation was resol- yed in a meeting between Papadakis and union officials: the three members of staff were laid off with three months’ compen- ices. After a few more months of stag- nation, Spring was bought out ofhis job and his equity of the magazine for 14 months’ compensation. (He had a two- year contract of employment). Papadakis’ game is obviously to strangle AD as it has been, claiming that it is finan- cially unviable, so that he can then build it up in the image he has planned for it. He would then have in his possession a magazine title of world-wide repute,a list of subscribers and a magazine that conforms to the image he wants- all for next-to-no capital outlay. impressario Papadakis isapublishing impressario: he revels in the reflected glory of the cult art books he publishes. His instincts are absolutely capitalistic, and he has a shrewd ability to latch on to the latest cult figures - his paperbacks of prints by Mucha and Beardsley, for instance, have been superb money-spinners. He sesa similar potential in architectural publishing -monographs on cult architects consisting mainly of photos and plans with accompanying texts that are bland and eulogistic. AD’s prime interest to Papadakis lies in its service as an international network of contacts from which he can draw off suit- ably fashionable architects to publish mono- graphs on. At the same time the magazine provides readers with tasters for these forth- coming books. Since he has become interested in architectural publishing, Papadakis has been developing another periodical alongside AD under the editor- ship of David Dunster, provisionally entit- led Architectural Monographs. Framed as a quarterly periodical, each issue is devoted to a famous architect from the present or recent past and is aimed at students who a are looking for a cheap and simple run-down down of architectural heroes. Issues have been drawn up on Robert Venturi (inevitably) (inevitably), Mies van der Rohe and Victor Horta. Thismagazinewasduetobelaun- ched at the beginning of the next college session in September, but he has been keep- ing open his options of merging this new periodical with AD. Papadakis is eager to steer AD back into the mainstream of international architect- ural magazines, emulating the hecticly competitive Japanese and Italian glossies such as A+U, which are feverishly leap- frogging each others’ attempts to glorify the latest architectural prima-donnas. prima-donna The current movement in architecture is, of course, a return to formalism. It is an understandable -and to a large extent welcome -reaction to the anaemic function- alism and the mindless technological build- ing ‘solutions’ of the 60’s, but it is also a swing away from the slow dawning of political consciousness among architects. In the way-out architectural cliques in Japan or London’s Art Net, this formalism is pushed with gay abandon to a mannerism that can be outright neo-fascist in effect. To the architect, the spectator is all-import- ant, while the basic human and social needs of the users are negligible. But the new formalism is not left at that it must be packaged and presented in the most esoteric of philosophic rationalisations, continued on page 13 ihMANNERISM. financial independence as an autonomous sation each. Papadakis then expected the two editors, Spring and Beck, to carry on doing the wor company of limited liability. Now, as one Mn simultaneously appointed himas joint leaving them to muddle along from home. strand of Papadakis’ glossy art-book empire, the policy of the magazine has lurched towardstheotherextreme. Amanwitha shrewd eye for cults Papadakis is now editor. A meeting of the magazine’s eight editor- The flaws in the arrangement are quite jal consultants was called, to which Papad- obvious in hindsight: the purse-strings of akis announced with crocodile tears that the company were held by Papadakis, who the magazine would have to go through also had the controlling shareholding, and an ‘austerity’ phase for a few months. there was no safeguard against one of the When the consultants responded with editors crossing over to the side of the scepticism, he dispensed with their serv- SLATE 3PAGE 5 aleh ARCUK: The | since this body at best occupies the dustiest corner of the practising architect’s conciousness, and forms the most tenuous link between society and the profession including its trainees. included the dubious boast that voluntary registration of architects was mooted as far back as 1791, and that even between 1888 and 1913 thirteen Bills had been put forward without sucess, The arguments against were more argument that the assumption that the numerous and more diverse in origin. The public interest would be safeguarded was any existing lawful means of livelihood. More than this, however, from reading the pages of Hansard one sees the debates becoming more repetitive and irritable. And one senses a strong undercurrent of suspicion that beneath the sponsors’ ‘altruistic’ intentions lay the self-interested attempt by one section of the community to align itself with the powerful forces of industrial and landed capital. The opposition showed surprisisng foresight in questioning the equity of mandatory fee scales - a development which which was clearly expected to follow hard on hardontheestablishmentofthenewCouncil: Still more surprising was the sponsor’s bald reply: ‘I can assure the Rt. Hon. Gentlemen that there has not be = any compulsory scale of fees fixed by the Institute and there never will be.” sheep in wolf’ vain when one could see with ones own eyes that RIBA members were already responsible for some of the least disting- clothing The answer is that this currently supine body does indeed amount to the only statutory agency regulating the profession, The RIBA success in occupying the professional limelight is an historical anomolyanditisARCUK alonewhich constitutes the official link between architects and the parliament of the land to summarize the principal arguements familiar Arts and Crafts Movement’s objection to legislating in matters of ‘art and creativity’ was dusted down after its last period of prominence during the exams uished buildings in the country. Conversely The reasons why NAM has interested itself in the Architects Registration Council, were spelt out in the Private Practice Group’s Progress Report to the 2ndNationalCongressinBlackpool, November 1976. Nonetheless they deserve to be summarised here before embarking on this more general SLATE feature, for the benefit of those readers who have become interested in NAM since Blackpool - if for no other reason. Whilst it would doubtless take many hours of argu ment to agree the form of words -the concensus must surely accept that there are two broad fundamental ideas at the centre of NAM’s work. The first -the need to achieve ameasure ofself-determination by Architectural workers -the body of the profession: the second the urgent need to introduce real accountability and social responsibility on the part of Architects towards building users and the public at large. The duality of these preoccupations is essential if NAM is to avoid swerving into mere ‘fringe benefit’ type self-interest on the one hand, or vague populist do- gooderyontheother. Amajorstepin pursuit of the first idea has, of course, been NAM’s work on unionisation culminating in the free choice of TASS as a potent vehicle of organisation. debateattheturnofthecentury. To those who believed in the artistic and emotional primacy of the design process any system of registration on ‘objective’ standards was both arbitary and repugnant. However, the content of this argument is probably less significant than the likelihood ative of the profession as a whole. Nothing that its proponents, several from the AA and short of a referendum was felt adequate to andtheFacultyofArchitectsandSurveyors justifysuchasignificantclaim,andthe The second aim ismore exclusive, moving from passive understanding, through all of which contribute to our feelings of the critique of patronage, to the formulation of immediate courses of action. While the outlines of the belief remain blurred, we must continue to approach the target from several different avenues - of which the National Design Service, the analysis of architectural education, and live projects such as the Cardiff JCP Programme or Birmingham Green Ban Action Association are but three currently in train. disorientation and irresponsibility. Meanwhile the process of change would help to scramble the heirarchical structure of the profession reinforced by RIBA domination. Before diving into history let itagain be saidthat ARCUK represents just one appropriate instrument for attacking the Status quo and that the many other and deeper problemsof accountability -going back to source, so to say, from the specifics of contractual obligation, through public control of resources, consumerism, local and national government procedures, to the broadest notions of social justice, equity and freedom- that these problems [ADMISSIONS] advisory panel DISCIPLINE A fourth is NAM’s involvement with ARCUK which developed directly from the discussions of the North London/ Private Practice Group/between Harrogate 1975 and Blackpool 1976. With NAM’s instinctforthedangersoftokenismitsoon remaininneedoffurtheranalysisand PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES reg. 14) Euntaroecesepeatestasensanacode ofconduct title (1938 act) Educ. Fund (1969 act) Educ. grants |Projects & awards FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES reg 10) houskeeping fee became clear that blueprints for a model practice were little more than idle spec- ulation if the wider professional and social context of architectural practice remained unchallenged. _Itmight well be asked what relevance ARCUK could bear to a radical democratization of architecture SLATE 3PAGE 6 debate. BIRTH PANGS: the fifty year filibuster Part of ARCUK’s recent submission to the Monopolies Commission's ..No statutory basis established b act of panliaryent —~— @iablished by regulation ~ (Privy Council) SLATE 3PAGE 7 If a major aspect of NAM’s aim is the forging of new and revitalized links between the profession and the lay public a primary role must be restored to the only agency relating the two. The RIBA, as an internal professional society is technically gratuitous to this relationship -ARCUK as the registry of professional legitimacy is indispensable. At the same time it would be naive to concentrate solely on our draft proposals forareconstitutedARCUK asasemi-lay institution excercising the professional control which by default or stealth has passed to the RIBA, ignoring the dynamic political spin-off derived from the very process of mounting the challenge in the meantime. _ Nonetheless the reformed ARCUK postulated elsewhere in this feature would confer two-way benefits: for the public an opportunity to penetrate and hence dispel the exclusive ‘mysticism’ of the profession currently the source of much suspicion and resentment; for the practising architect a rescue from the limbo of non-accountability, currently glossed over by bogus social science, a toothless code or mere wishful thinking: for and against, that were raised in the extraordinarily controversial passage of this legislation. The ‘first’ Architects Registration Bill (ARB) was presented for Ist Reading in the Commons on llth February, 1927 after the RIBA had recovered from a position of disarray the previous year when draft proposals for making the employment of architects mandatory on al building projects over a certain value were abandoned as unattainable, The Ist Reading accomplished, the sponsors, a group of Conservative MP’s friendly with and advised by the RIBA - of course the prime mover - presented this private members bill for 2nd Reading on 8th April, 1927. The ensuing debate stretching through 80 columns of Hansard raised almost al the arguements for and against which were to reappear again and again up to Royal Assent on the 3lst July, 1931, and, indeed thereafter, when the second principal Act of 1938 was introduced. The double premise on which the proposal was based consisted firstly of the aim to protect the public from imposters- i.e, men claiming architectural skills who were in fact inadequately trained -and secondly of the desire to distinguish and thus protect properly qualified architects from others, The legal mechanism adopted to exercise this control was the protection of the title ‘Registered Architect’ denoting one whose name was set forth on a public register to be administered by a new Council, who would also supervise entry standards, As ARCUK’s literature boasts, ‘Thus, any member of the public commissioning an architect will be dealing with a person who has at least met a required standard of professional training, experience and behaviour, ARCUK can in this way claimtobeoneofthefirstconsumer protection organisation’, (ARCUK Booklet, p.3, March 1976) The need for such a measure at all Was attributed to the increasing volume of the construction industry, the complex- ity of modern building practice and the new scale of responsibility falling on those involved in their design, (FAS), were already suspicious of future RIBA dominance should al constituent bodies be absorbed into a statutory council. A similar motive may be detected in the objections of those representing the Incor- porated Association of Architects and Surveyors (IAAS) foremost among whom was the MP Robert Tasker who argued from the outset that Registration was simply a protectionist measure for the RIBA’ Meanwhile lay sceptics in the House, most of whom started uncommited, became preoccupied with the dual RIBA leadership’ action in forestalling one was construed unfavourably. investigation of the mandatory fee scale We take up the story around 1926 when a new phase of activity began which eventually culminated in the passing of the Architects Registration Act in 1931. The functions of this and the subsequent Actsaredetailedelsewhereandthis historical note chronicles and attempts iftheRIBAaffixwasasolidguaranteeof fitness any additional registration was surely superfluous, There was further lay objection to the credibility of the sponsors’ claims that their desire for Registration was represent- Likewise there were serious misgivings as to the composition and confidentiality of the Discipline Committee (Section 7, 193] Act) virtually a kangaroo court capable of depriving a man of his livelihood with few of the normal standards of accountability 2 March, 1926, Col. 777 or appeal expected of a court of law. This last objection may be taken as a specific example of the more general principle that only with great reluctance will the British Parliament introduce legislation likely to remove or endanger This astounding quotation faded into history when after reaching no conclusion the Bill passed from 2nd Reading to Select Committee -there to die on the 26th continued on page & DIAGRAM SHOWING THE STATUTORY BASIS OF ARCUK riba code PARLIAMENT 1931 Reg. act. Sir C. Kinlock-Cooke (Con.) Hansard, FeaturePROFESSI NAL | GOVERNMENT continued from page 7 July 1927 when a vote of 5 to 4 decided against its recommendation back to the House, Little over 6 months later a new Bill (ARB2) was introduced to the House of Commons - this time with even less sucess, ds the Bill was ‘counted out’ at 2nd Reading on 2nd March 1928, By now the lay tobjectors to the ‘closed shop’ aspect of the measure had become more vociferous and ensured that by 11.00 pm no conclusion of debate would be achieved. Disappointed at their fortune in the Commons, the RIBA next sought to introduce the Bill into the House of Lords and there achieved a measure of sucess to Passing to Commons on 23rd December, 1928. ‘Thence back to the Commons where on 30th January, 1929 the Ist Reading of the 3rd ARB took place. Again a motion by Robert Tasker to ‘adjourn debate for 6 months’ -and again on 2nd Reading, Sth March 1929, an adjournmen‘tat 11pm, thus killing the Bill for the third time. The tracks of ARB4 peter out, and Uansard’s next entry is for the introduction of ARBS First Reading on 3lst October 1930. By now irritated and impatient Parliament apparently felt disinclined to jabour the matter much further and after a 25 column debate on 2nd Reading (2nd November, 1930) and a swift passage throughtheLords(passed16thJuly1931) the Architects Registration Bill as we now know it received the Royal Assent on Bist July, 1931. PROFESSION; unattached architect does: hang a myth & the large notice from your drawing board try to ignore those feelings of ALISM: The deprivation and do what one local ideology The RIBA would have us unattached architects believe we are at a dis- advantage in not having the backing of their club. If your RIBA colleagues at work are prominently displaying their RIBA certificates of membership, reading ‘ALTRUISM FOR SALE’. Now this may provoke from your professional colleagues attempts at justification of the £38 p.a. these certificates cost them. Point out to them that £38 is in fact a reduced tate for architects. It is a small price compared to the price that members of the public are forced to pay for the function the,RIBA purports toperform. This article attempts to show that professions put a price tag on their THE GRAMOPHONE: AO years in the groove The 1934 Architects Registration Act concerned a merely technical amendment a and was passed in a matter of weeks (19/6/34 -25/7/34), and it was not until early in 1937 that the RIBA, now under the guise of ARCUK, tooka second bite at the cherry. Now the aim was to complete the unfinished business of 1931 and restrict the protected title still further to that of ‘Architect’ alone, the argument in favour being that an element of confus- ion remained in the public mind. In the 2nd Reading debate 17th December, 1937, al the old wounds -and some new ones - were reopened, and in a particularly incisive speech Robert Tasker referred to ARCUK, after some 7 years of existence, as having deteriorated into amere h When the 193] Act came into force, he correctly stated, the first thing the RIBA did was to seize control of the Council, They next seized control of the Board of Architectural Education, such that these became known as the ‘gramophone’, as whenever a member of that ‘honourable institute’ made a proposal there was a chorus of ‘Agreed, agreed, agreed!, just like a gramophone, On the 29th July, 1938 the measure to further restrict the title received the Royal Assent, but 40 years later the metaphor of Robert Tasker seems, if anything, even moreapttothoseNAM memberswho currently occupy the unattached Architects’ seats, Whilst the RIBA may have suffered a ‘technical knockout’ in being prevented from itself becoming a monopolistic statutory body, the substance (if not the spirit) of the Acts has enabled it to exercise most of the control over the profession with little of the reciprocal public responsibility and accountability. With somewhat misplaced candour, ARCUK declares, ‘All the bodies repres- ented on the Council can influence decisions, but in practice, in matters relating to the profession of architecture as distinct from those concerned with the protection of the public -the RIBA has the greatest influence because of its large membership on Council, on the Board of Architectural Education and Committees of Council.’ (ARCUK Booklet, March 1976, pp 3 -4.) Forty years in the groove has led ARCUK to i ini ities of p dure in almost every department -as the unattached Architects have already found to their detriment, The question remains: Can or should ARCUK’s primary role a protector of the public interest be salvaged, or might it as well remain an RIBA sheep in statutory-wolf’s clothing, leaving this urgent business to the Department of Fair Trading, the Consumer Association or similar agencies? The question requires an answer -and soon, The ARCUK electoral session lasts but one year and before long the NAM representatives will be forced to evaluate theircontribution,notintermsofplans- but in terms of action, HAWSER TRUNNION ‘altruism’, and takesa critical look at just what this ‘altruism’ means. The technological developments of the industrial revolution accelerated the growth of industry. Development of elements of the capitalist mode of production - competition between capitalists, exploitation of workers, division of labour - accelerated correspondingly, (1). Competition between capitalists hotted up in early 19th century Britain in an age of laissez-faire and individualism, and the need to compete in order to stay in the market led the capitalist to more intense exploitation of workers, increasing division of labour, and hence the removal of labourers even further from the end result of their labours One consequence of this was the recognition by workers that the one thing they possessed, their labour power, was a commodity like any other and subject to the same market forces, They began to recognise that their interests could best be protected by grouping together. Grouping gave them afirmer basis from which to attempt an improvement in wages and conditions, and offered the possibility of preventing any further dilution of their skills and the consequent threat to their livelihoods. The early 19th century was also the period in which members of ‘professional’ occupations began to group together.(2). For what reasons did ‘p 8 They were not subject to quite the same threat to wages and conditions, since ‘professionals’ were in a better position foom which to negotiate their own terms, largely due to their class position (professions were considered suitable occupations for the second sons of the upper classes), but their dependence on industrial owners as employers was becoming more and more more akin to the dependence of labourer on factory owner. With the decline in noble patronage and the growth of industrial wealth, ‘professionals’ were increasingly employedbythenewindustrial new industrial bourgeoisie bourgeoisie as opposed to the aristocratic patron. As new skills and areas of knowledge arose in response to the needs of industry, the traditional fields of expertise of the ‘professional’ occupations were increasingly invaded by those possessing these new essential skills. In the architectural field, the main threat came from the engineers, whose tapidly expanding knowledge of the nuts and bolts of construction was much much more relevent to the industrial bourgeoisie than the architects preoccupation with style. Architects, seeing their territory being eroded by other skills, and fearing a consequent threat to their livelihoods, responded similarly to other ‘professional’ occupations in this period. They defined the area which they considered to be their concern, and attempted to control the practice of skills which operated within that area. As Tawney says, ‘It is significant that at the time when the professional classes had deified free competition as the arbiter of commerce and industry, they did not dream of applying itto the occupations in which they them- selves were primarily interested’. (3). In an age where free competition was ‘deified’, how did ‘professionals’ so successfully manage to organise to protect their own interests? In the same period, similarly motivated attempts at organisation by industrial labourers met with powerful and sus- tained opposition. Organisation by ‘professionals’ also met with some hostility (based ,Barrington-Kaye believes, on the experience of physicians and i ,and the ‘exclusiveness, selfishness, and sloth- fulness of their fossilised corporations” (4).) but this hostility was certainly not of the same extent as that met by the growing trades unions. How did ‘professionals’ get away with it? This has something to do with their class position and (as a consequence of that) a lot to do with the way they went about organising. Largely asa result of their class position and their previous mode of employment by artistic patrons, ‘professionals’ did not identify themselves as a group whose interestswereinoppositiontothose of theiremployers (as did industrial labourers). Rather, they identified their interests WITH those of their employers, and used this ‘common interest’ as the basis for their organisation. They held that, by organising, they would be able to offer employers a ‘guarantee’ of competence and integrity. They could guarantee competence, they argued, by setting down certain minimum qualifications, without which practitioners would not gain entry to the organisation. They could guarantee integrity, they claimed, by setting down a code of conduct, which those gaining entry to the organisation must undertake to comply with. In Barrington-Kaye’s words, ‘...professional association thus represents an attempt by persons Ifyourefuse to negot- iate withus then our | union TASS will negotiate for us--- considering themselves qualified in their vocation, to ensure that their services shall be rewarded adequately, by excluding the unscrupulous and the unfit.’ In other words, they recognised that the market for their services, already threatened by the inability of the old-style ‘professions’ to meet the new demands of industry, would be further threatened if the ‘unscrupulous and the unfit’ were unscrupulous and the unfit to be seen to erode the credibility of the‘profession’ still further by bringing it into disrepute. So, although the methods of organisation of industrial labourers and ‘professionals’ differed greatly, their MOTIVATION in organising was identical -both were attempting to counter the threat to their own livelihoods. Let us look more closely at these ‘guarantees’ offered by the professions. Professions are not the only occupational types to attempt to limit entry to those holding certain minimum qualifications, nor was this anew innovation. Guilds and apprentice- ships had existed long before the industrial revolution. It is the ‘guarantee of integrity’ which is the main distinguishing feature of the professions. Barrington-Kaye: ‘Non- professional occupations may have associations, training schemes, and tests of competence; they do not have, for they do not need to have, codes _ ofconduct.Itwouldbeamistaketo attribute Zincreasingly altruistic motivation’ to the professions on this score, however; the adoption of a code of conduct was a necessary condition of their existence in the 19th century. ‘Laissez-faire’ and ‘caveat emptor’ were acceptable as principles of commercial activity because it could be assumed that the customer both knew what he wanted, and was able to recognise it when he saw it. In the case of professional services, neither of these assumptions could be made.”. ‘Caveat emptor’ (let the buyer beware) is inapplicable in a in a professional context, argues Barrington-Kaye, since *..in a professional/client relationship, since the client does not know exactly what he wants, he cannot be sure of getting it. The professional is not only the bs e Ca Sree FAN-tass.TIC aEa SLA3TPEAGE 8 Clea Ee cz ah i =of 2 Angus| SLATE 3PAGE 9 | SLATE 3PAGE 10 SLATE 3PAGE 11 The rationale behind the ‘professional guarantee’ was well formulated in the terms of those it needed to convince, and the process of professional organisation was able to proceed. At first organisation was through ‘voluntary association’ in professional instiutions. Membership was not compulsory and very many of those practising in a particular ‘profession’ did so outside the relevant institution, but the very existence of such institutions enabled their members to operate as the ‘elite corps’ of their profession. For this reason, the aqquisition of a Royal Charter of Incorporation was, during the 19th Century, much sought after. But although membership of a professional institution could be held up to clients as a ‘guarantee’ that their interests would be served competently and trustworthily, thus protecting the market for a particular service from erosion through the incompetence and lack of integrity of its members those outside such institutions were still able to compete with members for work. The tendency ot the ‘voluntary association’ was towards monopoly of that profession, through compulsory registration. Now, in the 19th century atmosphereof * laissez- faire’ and the ‘deification’ of free competition, voluntary association had been the only feasible method of organisation. By the beginning of the 20th century, says Barrington-Kaye, involuntary altruism ‘the involuntary altruism of mankind had been disproved, (and) rules for the control of his egoism could be openly discussed...Th.e trend towards monopoly, welcomed in 1851 as enlightened self-interest, had, by 1901, to be presented as an act of self-denial, designed to protect the public from the fraud of competitors. But in professionalism, as in many other institutions, it is noticeable that onlytherationalizationschange;the trends remain the same. The trend in professionalassociationfromthefirst has been towards closure. That statutory registration could be an openly avowed aim in the new professions by 1901 was due, not to any change in motivation, but to a new social philosophy’. Compulsary registration was achieved in the architectural profession by 1938. Well, you might say, what does it 1 matter whether the motive for professionalisingisoneofselfinterest, ifthe ‘guarantees’ offered by professions stem from what is, arguably, a need for ifasked would probably say that itfunc- insignificant process, But this is not the only omission, and indeed,itisimpossibletovisualise a professional code of conduct which could be more than an outline in general terms of the sort of behaviour the profession expects from its members. The effectiveness ‘figleaves’ covering the profession’s less of the code can be judged by the profession’s palatable effects, and offer smokescreen record of prosecutions, almost all for trivial cover to professionals while they go about tious. What is the Council’s common purposeandisitreleventtoday? To answer these questions we must look into how ARCUK is constituted and carries on its business, Present constitution ARCUK’s common purpose could come from one of several sources: one, from a higher authority, which would then impose it on the Council; two, from some mirac- ulous common instinct of its members (note that in both these cases there isan absence of conflict, the common purpose being either imposed or recognised by all Without dispute); or it could come from a third source, from the divergent private because the skill and experience of RIBA members willbeessentailtoanyrecons- tituted Council. reconstitute Why bother to reconstitute ARCUK? First; it is the only body which contains representatives from outside the confines of the profession, Second, the powers delegated to it by the Registration Acts are no longer adequate; And, third, in all aspects of its work its response is distorted by the preponderance of RIBA members, It is for the first reason, i.e. the presence of lay people on the Council, that I feel ARCUK may be worthwhile. a Council for the Review of Architecture) andgivenabroadersetofobjectives. It is obvious that in order to achieve this rejuvenation ARCUK must first ‘un- scramble’ itself from 40 years of collusion with the Royal Institute of British Arch- itects, Perhaps then it really will be significant. A pamphlet is published by ARCUK, “Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom’ (March 1976), and is available from the RIBA Bookshop, price 50p, It is recommended by the RIBA to all practices and schools of architecture.), offences, while the large scale flaunting of the code by Poulson et al goes unnoticed (or unchallenged) until criminal prosecutions are brought; The professions attempt to control competition between members by the setting up of mandatory minimum fee scales and by prohibiting, or controlling the explanations in shortening them, and I extent and form of, advertising. The Monopolies Commission is currently investigating these practices, and the report presented to them by the New Architecture Movement (7) shows up as fallacy the rationale used by the profession, i.e. that the setting up of a minimum fee scale protects the quality of service, in that professionals will not then be tempted to shoddy service offer a shoddy service in order to under- cut their competitors. Setting a minimum fee scale in no way ensures quality of service. Professions claim that by offering ‘guarantees’ of competence, integrity, and non-competitiveness, they can offer protection to those seeking theirservices. But I would argue that professions are in no position to offer such guarantees, and that in any case they are offering no more protection to their clients than is now available in law. The NAM report to the Monopolies Commission spells this out, and points to the legislation which exists to protect the consumer of any sort of service, legislation from which those offering professional services are certainly not exempt. So professions are not only offering worthless guarantees, they are offering guarantees which, even were they effective, afford their clients no more protection than is already available to them in law. But more than this, by claiming to be able to offer such ‘guarantees’ in the ‘interests of the client” (and, it is increas- ingly argued by the professions, in the ‘interests of the public at large’) the professions are provided with the legitimation for practices which they claim are necessary to enable them to provide such ‘guarantees’. don’t think I’ve made any assertionsI wouldn’t be prepared to back up with more detailed arguements. 2. ‘Professional’ is used here as short hand to denote those occupations which later became professions. At this stage (with the exception of medicine and law) professional institutions had not been formed. 3. R.H. Tawney, The Acquisitive Society, (1945). Why is ARCUK so very insignificant to the profession, the industry, and the nation, and yet too significant to continue to be dominated by the RIBA? To answer this question we must look at the nature and and scope of ARCUK’ 4, i Kaye, The Di of the Architectural Profession in Britian, (1960). 5, Here Barrington-Kaye makes two assumptions I would challenge: 1, that the clients do not know what they want (I would dispute this at the present time especially where ,for example, anaarchitect is engaged to design a speculative office interests of the members througha political where the clients most certainly know exactly what they want and the most sucessful architects are those who know best how to provide it) and 2. that ‘technical solutions’ are value free (Idoubt that this has ever been the case.) 6. NAM Monopolies Commission Report (available for £1.00 from NAM) It needs, however, to be reconstituted upon an even broader base if its state- ments are to be received as fair and authositative by the general public, ARCUK’s basic concern with registr- ation is still relevant but no longer adequate. TheActsdonotenableitto take account of changes in the structure of the profession, in patronage, and in the social climate. It should be able to concern itself with broader social and political basis. It could be renamed say, the ‘Council for the Review of Arch- itecture’, which would report periodically on the state of the art and the profession, We need a new social organisation toTep- resent the profession to government, industry, and the general public. We need a new ARCUK’ In October 1975, when the Council were considering the draft of the new Code of Professional Conduct (the purpose of which was to bring it into line with the recently redrafted RIBA Code!), a representative of the ‘unattached’ architects proposed the following two principles be incorporated in the new Code: one, that the public interest, expressed particularly in terms of work for the underprivileged members of society, should take precedence ensuring competence and integrity with- in the profession, and for limiting the effects on clients of the professionals. This depends not only on whether you feelitisDESIRABLEto ensure competence, integrity, and non competitiveness, but also on whether you consider itisPOSSIBLE to ‘guarantee’ these through a professional mode of organization. Let us examine this possibility on the grounds mest favourable to the ‘professional’ standpoint, and assume for the purposes of this article that it is desirable to attempt to foster these three elements. Is it possible to do so through professional organization? Professions attempt to control by limiting entry to those who satisfy their minimum entrance requirements and by instituting, or giving their approval to, courses of education and training culminating in qualifying examinations set by or approved by the professional institution. While this system could be said to guarantee that every member of a profession has been through and satisfied the require- ments of a course of study approved by the profession, it does not guarantee the subsequent competence of that member. Competence arises through a combination of education, which should aim to equip the practioner with the range of knowledge from which to make theoretical choices, and experience, which should make the practioner better able to chose between the range of choices available in a given non-theoretical situation. So setting ever higher minimum entrance requirements will have no effect other than that of barring entry to the profession to a large section of those already working in related fields. Technicians, building workers, and other occupations integral to architecture, have a large and relevant experience which the architectural profession is only too happy to rely on but is unwilling to admit to its ranks. Professions attempt to control the integrity of their members by requiring them to conduct themselves in accordance with a code of conduct. Since the original purpose of such a code was to enable the professions to be seen to be protecting the interests of their clients in order to maintain a market for professional services, In a society which exalts ‘professional’ it is not surprising that, for instance, the code of conduct of the architectural profession has only recently incorporated anyreferencetotheUSERSofbuildings.continuestoholdthattherestrictionsit Theconceptofcommonpurposeisconten-employedmerelyforRIBA-bashing,simplythenationifitwerereconstituted(as Restricting entry to the profession perpetuates the ‘elitism’ of architects by reinforcing the division of labour in the building industry and ensuring the continued stratification between builders, technicians and ‘qualified’ staff. Enforcement of a minimum fee scale minimum fee scale perpetuates the situation where those with good financial resources will always be able to retain professional help, while those with no resources will have to rely on the help of those few professionals prepared to offer their services voluntarily or do without professional help altogether. ethic, The corolary being that without it (and without the mandatory minimum fee scale) both the architect and the public interest would be adversely affected. Architects would suffer through the development of ‘cut-throat’competition, fee cutting, supplanting, soliciting, with clients playing off one architect against another and large diversified offices Squeezing out small specialised offices by price-cutting and advertising. Also the public interest would suffer through reduced professional services and the dey- elopment of an ethical environment detri- mental to the high ideal of social service to which the profession is said to hold, An analysis of the Council reveals the following: group A -40 members (RIBA), group B - 7 members (‘unattached’ architects), group C - 4 members (Arch- itectural Association), group D -2 members (Department of Environment), and 13 individuals, and, two, that no architect should employ another architect, ie. every registered architect in private practice should be entitled to be a partner in that practice. rejection opinion ,this ensures the reproduction of the disadvantages experiencedby the ‘disadvantaged’. Yet the profession enforce has relevance only ifthe nature in pressure and propaganda brought to future? and scope of the Council are generally bear from outside the Council; The ARCUK could be significant to the agreed; But generally agreed by whom? mechanisms exist, but they should not be profession, the industry, and, therefore, imposes of its members are necessary inenablingittoofferitsworthless ‘guarantees’. And these ‘guarantees’ not only act as legitimising factors, they also act as protecting their own status and the market for their particular products. 1 Apologies for the brevity of my : explanations and the baldness of my assertions,butinashortarticlethisis inevitable. I’ve tried not to distort the ARCUK: The Architects Registration Council of the viable the constitution must be accepted the United Kingdom was established to protect the general public and architects alike from the unscrupulous, the criminal, and the incompetent, It has six principle functions, One, to control admission totheregisterofarchitects, Two,to prevent unregistered persons from pract- ising as architects, Three, to judge and review the standards of education in arch- itecture schools, Four, to support research since 1969, Five, to provide maintenance grants for architectural students. And, six, to impose discipline upon architects according to a code of professional conduct. by all members as afair set of rules for thegame, Butistheconstitutionof ARCUKa fairone? _—‘Theimpossibility of a ‘perfect’ constitution is self-evident Simple majority rule has theoretical as well as practical limitations, particularly According to these descriptions ARCUK tions ‘from a higher authority’ under the provisions of the Registration Acts, It is my view that it should function more dem- ocratically, reflecting the struggle for a more truly democratic society in which concensus somehow emerges froia conflict. The mechanism by which this conflict is resolved is a constitution. To be in the case of ARCUK: strate, stranglehold RIBA members constitute the most powerful group on the Council. And they operate as a ‘group’. Evidence of this can be found in the recent architectural press. A letter addressed to each RIBA member of ARCUK by the RIBA Council informs them of how they are expected ARCUK relies heavily on the Code of Professional Conduct, the purpose of whichisthemaintenanceotaprofessional tobehaveatanARCUK Councilmeeting. overtheinterestoftheindividual client The essence of the problem is distri- bution of seats, There is no practical possibility of vote-trading, even if an issue existed (say, one of ‘conscience’) on which RIBA members could be released from their whip; Apparently this problem cannot be resolved by normal political process within the Council, since one thing the Council cannot be used for is to decide what its own future constitut- Those proposals were rejected without discussion by the RIBA group present, one of whom remarked that that would mean ‘unscrambling the profession of the last 40 years,’ Consider our sadprofession: under scrutiny by the Monopolies Comm- ission; divided on fundamental social and technical issues; viewed with suspicion by fell fellow professional and public alike; con- demned to low pay and high unemployment and suffering a monumental crisis of spirit, of the Council and the Code it seeks to ion should be, The solution must lie purpose and organisation, The entire edifice of the constitution Ishall demon- judge of what technical solutionbest fits the client’s requirements, he is also the the technician who supplies that solution. The temptation to supply an unnecessarily expensive one, or to overcharge, iscorrespondinglyraised, and it is therefore necessary for the client to have some guarantee of integrity before he can safely venture to purchase the professional’s services’. (5). ARDIFF PART 2 us? It was probably in this area that our collective lack of experience weighed under the JCP should be paid less than the negotiated market rate for the job. However, some kind of agreement was reached on the content of the form, with particular attention to the comments of the assessor, who it seemed would ‘judge’ the credibility of our application. The meeting ended, as did the first one, with the assistant giving us help and encouragement, telling us to get the application in quickly as the money was starting to dry up. He left us with the impression that because of our thorough- ness, and the gap which our service would fil, the application stood an excellent chance of being considered favourably. A couple of weeks after this final meeting the application, in its amended form, went in with all the accompanying backup material. It didn’t seem to reflect the hard work of the Cardiff group during the previous six months, or the changes and compromises made in its composition. But it seemed to make good sense and looked very thorough. though in the light of our initial idea it could only be accepted as the basis for something better in the future. At the beginning of December we received a letter from the MSC informing us that our application had been turned down, No reasons were given, although the letter stated that should we have any queries they would be pleased to help us. It seemed the only thing to be salvaged was the reason for the refusal, but even this proved to be impossible. We tried to arrange meetings but no one would see us. The Area Organizer for Wales was sympathetic, but he passed us on to his subordinates who didn’t think it was a good idea, Then we tried to speak to the enthusiastic assistant, but each time we phoned he was either absent or busy and so eventually Italked to the Cardiff areaassessor. Inameandering conversation where he wouldn't be pinned down the key word was once again credibility. He also mentioned the lukewarm response of the RIBA locally (we didn’t seek their approval, although we did inform them of what we were doing), and the capability, or lack of it, of the group to oversee the project. So we were left with not even a coherent reason for the rejection, From a third party we heard that the assistant was very surprised and saddened to learn that the scheme did not go through. He had worked hard on it during the assessment. As a last attempt to salvage something from the project, we approached the MSCtoaskwhatitwouldbenecessary for us to do to make our application acceptable to them; their reply was to the effect that we would have to work in conjunction with local RIBA groups and within the local authority structure with the approval of the relevent planning departments. Following on from our JCP application, the enquiries we made established the feasibility ofa design service anda real need for work to be done on a number of projects. The rejection of our application has meant that any work will, however, have to fund itself. Initially a community group contacted us to do some design work in connection with their own JCP application to provide labour to build a number of buildings in an area of Cardiff where resource allocation has been very low. This project did not materialise but has now split into two distinct projects, The first of these is for a workshop and mini bus garage for ajunior school, y to be done ona self build basis using volunteer labour and second hand materials where possiile. The second of these is for an extension to a community centre to be built, hopefully, using JCP funded labour. We are doing improvement grant work to terraced houses, in a previously blighted area of Cardiff, for low income owner occupiers, This isbeing dome through and with the encouragement ofa local community and advice centre, The nature of these jobs and more importantly, the “financial status” of our clients excludes a full service - percentage fee scale being applied in the accepted sense of what a full service entails, while a partial service is not itself adequate. Work is therefore being undertaken on a time charge basis. After an initial meeting with a householder a projected cost can be given for design work and supervision based on an average for this type of work. This isnot too difficult an exercise where a degree of repetition is involved. Problems, when they arise, concern not so much fee costs but more usually the ability of a householder to meet their share of the building costs where there are restrictions on where they can borrow money when a bank holds deeds to the house as security on a previous loan to buy the house, While hardship grants may apply to some casts this will not usually be the case and this problem has yet to be tackled. Continued from page 5 which form an essential part of the formalist movement. This rationalisation can afford to be intellectually risque and to flirt with the jargon of semiotics (in AD Jan 77 and Apr 77) the abstract structuralist Marxism of the Althusserian School (in AD Mar 77): the terminology is so esoteric as to be unintelligible even to architects; the conc- lusions of scholarship so abstract as to be in effect tautological, and the focus of their philosophisings so introspective as to render the participant oblivious of the real and urgent problem of the present - universal recession and the baleful effect this has on building development. Such rationalisations then, are blatant mystifi- cation, designed to maintain the unassail- able elitist position of the priesthood of architects and their apologists in architect- ural magazines such as the revamped AD. This is part two of the Cardiff NAM group’s account of their attempt to set-up a community design service. The first part was published in SLATE 2 and dealt with the group’s initial proposal to the Man Power Services Commission, leading up to their rejection of the group’s prop- osals. Part 2 below deals with the prob- lems encountered by the Group over the question of professional indemnity and shows how, to gain acceptance, it would have been necessary to set-up the project within the established structure of the RIBA and the Local Authorities. The various parts of the article were prepared by individual members of the group and do not neccessarily represent a collective view. The experience of our attempt to establish a free environmental design service for community groups high- lighted two problems which may affect others with similar aspir- ations. The first difficuly we encountered was inherent in our objective. It arose from wanting to provide a FREE service; how then could we provide the salaries of those actually doing the design work if no fees were to be charged? This led us to apply to the MSC, as described previously. But the second difficulty would apply to anyone who wished to offer architectural services. It revoives around the need for insurance to cover any liabilities incurred. Asa group, we had very limited experience in this area. Having taken both professional and legal advice, it became clear that the proposed design service would require at least two kinds of insurance cover, Employers’ Liability Insurance and Professional Indemnity Insurance. We feel that the need to have this latter cover would be likely to defeat any attempt to establish a design service for those unable to afford the RIBA fee scale, and accordingly itisabout professional indemnity insurance that we seek advice from anyone more experienced in this field. most heavily against us. After long negotiations with a large and competitive firm of insurance brokers, and after seeking advice from the Architects’ Benevolent Society, it appeared that limited insurance cover of, say, £100,000 would be available but only for the high annual premium of £1,000. Cover would be required not only while the service was being provided but also during the statutory period of limitations. This _ would have involved us in having to raise a a sum in the order of £6,000 just to provide professional indemnity insurance. This proved to be an insurmountable financial hurdle, Even if our applicatioh to MSC was accepted, this would have defeated our attempt to provide a free design service, We would have been unable to take out insurance to safeguard the interests of our community group clients and ourselves. But the experience we gained from investigating the field of insurance has proved invaluable for the insight it provided about the constraints operating against the practice of architectural design skills in Britain, and this could be of the utmost importance to anyone else aspiring to provide a design service for people who cannot afford the RIBA fee scale. The premiums demanded by this kind of insurance cover pose a serious obstacle to anyone hoping to provide a free service with a responsible attitude to the interests of non fee paying clients. It may be that the size of such premiums may lead some community design groups to ignore ora avoid taking out professional indemnity insurance, Indeed, our own canvassing of other such groups indicates that this may be the case. But this omission renders both designers and their clients vulnerable. We started to take steps backwards when we began to examine in detail the areas of insurance, a constitution, management committee, property, and so on. In my view al we succeeded in doing over the next few months was to compromise our original ‘go it alone’ attitude. Consult- ative pressure became very strong; the more we tried to move outside the system the more we were forced, by the law and practicability, back along the conventional line, For me the only thing that held the scheme together during this period was the thought that if we could only get it financed, albeit with compromises, it would be a start, it could be used to explore this virgin territory for architectural workers, SPOT THE SEXPLOITATIVE ADVERT! In our case, the purpose of this kind of insurance cover would have been to insure the management comminttee against any liability arising from either its own negligent actions or any vicarious liability arising out of the negligent actions of its employees. Now, this is not just an academic issue, but one that could become all too real and pressing inpractice.If,forexample,amember futureworkcouldbebuiltonthe of the proposed management committee, or someone working for the design service, gave advice or made a design decision which proved to be negligent and resulted /ts necessary #opoint ot sexploitation in advertismg, but if can be done rn non-aexist ways, He thiak 11s covnkirproduchve fo Wemente Bat Ghehve YFRONTS, FELLER, oat r in the injury of a client, insurance cover would have been essential to meet any damages arising, to protect the mange- -ment committee, and also, equally important, to protect the client’s interests, Obtaining this kind of insurance posed problems for us. How could we pay the premium required? How much cover would we need for the service we proposed to offer? Would we find an insurance company prepared to insure SLATE 3PAGE 12 we had a second meeting with the same assistant at the MSC, and this time the Cardiff area assessor was present for part of the discussion, For this meeting the group had drafted out aJCP application Once again the assessor was very enthusiastic and helpful but the assessor was much more reserved about every aspect of the scheme. The emphasis and wording of the answers to some questions was altered to suit the assessor. Words such as credibility cropped up, and he suggested that the workers employed experience gained, Towards the end of October 1976 -+-Marilyn, this months centre-point likes super-smooth shower fittings elegant light- weight cladding and especially on dull weekends, intumescent paint. Her plush led modular greenhouse. And if that apartment is bush-hammerd and has an agreement certificate, and boys, her favour- ite colour is munsell 032-57. She is taking a holiday this year at an industrial estate near Bletchley in a quickly assemb- 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. _ ABK Holdings Ltd HUME ATKINS Ltd RAINWATER TRADING CO. LTD DAMIXA N.S.E. GROUP HILLS DOORS CATNIC LINTOLS doesn’t absolutely shot-fice you we can tell you that she has a large grey poodle called neoprene gasket III........ees0. SLATE 3 PAGE 13 REVIEW REVIEW OF ‘THE RIGHT TO A DECENT HOUSE’ BY SIDNEY JACOBS ‘The Right to a Decent House’ is a case study of the struggles of a working class community in Gairbraid, Glasgow which was part of a clearance area, The book is a blow by blow account of how the community organised itself in order to protect its interests and its varied record of success in acheiving it’s longterm aims. And yet it is much more because through- out Sidney Jacobs analysis of housing policies of Glasgow which he relates to a socialist analysis of housing and community action, ‘By understanding the rationale behind rehousing, local communities may protect their own interests’ says Jacobs, Implicit in the book is the assumption that socialism offers the only possible way out of the present mess, and while no attempt is made to describe precisely how this might work, by demonstrating the solidarity, ability, committment and potential that exists in working class communities Jacobs gives us glimpses of a future where such communities would have the power to control their own destinies, It is sad that there are no illustrations in the book and also that it is so expensive, But for anyone looking for socialist altern- atives to the present paternalistic attitudes that characterise the state’s housing policy it is extremely valuable, “The right to a decent house’ 1976 by Sidney Jacobs is in paperback ,published by Routledge Kegan & Paul priced £3.50 160pp. WORKING FOR WHAT? ARCUK ARCUK Group, NAM, 9, Poland St., London W1. LIAISON The Secretary, NAM, 9, Poland St., London, W1 NDS NDS, NAM, 9, Poland St., London, W1. PROJECTS David Roebuck, 25, St. George’s Aye., London, W1 CONSTITUTION Constitution Group: 9 Poland St., London, W1 PUBLICATIONS Editorial Committee, NAM, 9, Poland St.,London,W1 CARDIFF Anne Delaney, 196, Albany Rd., Roath, Cardiff EDINBURGH David Somervell, 22, Penmuir Place, Edinburgh 3 HULL Ian Tod, Hull School of Architecture, Kingston-u-Hull Regional College of Art. Brunswick Ave., Hull DIARY AUGUST tuesday 9th; NAM CONTACTS LEEDS Pete Forbes, Parkview, Weeton Lane, Hoby, Leeds 17 LONDON Douglas Smith, 17, Delancey St., London, NW1 NOTTINGHAM Nottingham Group: contact John Mitchell at 14, Derby Grove, Lurton, Nottingham, EDUCATION Edinburgh: David Somervell Hull: Jane Bryant, Hull School of Architecture. Leeds: Pete Forbes Nottingham: John Mitchell NAM groups wanting to contribute information on their activities should get their copy to SLATE by 26th August 1977 for inclusion in the next issue. home- 735 4629) NEWS FROM CONSTITUTION Following requests in SLATE and discussion at the recent London Seminar the Constitution Group has now met on two occasions in London. Despite poor attendance discussion has identified four key areas that require detailed study, mem- bership, the role of the Liaison Group, the role of the Congress, and the Newsletter. A first draft is to be produced by the middle of August followed by meetings in Cardiff, Nottingham (possibly Leeds) and London. All NAM members are urged to send their views in writing to Poland St., as sonn as possible so that they may influence the of the first draft. NOTTINGHAM The counter course organised by the Nottingham group and held at the Univer- sity on the 25th of June wasalively and well attended event. The participants, who included local architects, students and suprisingly (or not) only one member of staff, engaged in a vigorous discussion on each of the three topics. The first speaker from the NAM alternatives to asbestos group outlined the known health hazards from asbestos and the fact that up to 20 years may elapse from exposure to contracting cancer. The safe limits are difficult to monitor particularly on building sites. Possible alternatives reinforcing fibres for both sheet and structural materials are being investigated by the industry. The closest practical and economic rival to asbestos appears at present to be steel fibre re- inforcement from scrap metal but there are production and rusting problems to beovercome. Itthereforeseemslikely that asbestos will hold its ground in the forseeable future unless other pressures are brought to bear on manufacturers. The NDS group speaker argued that the basis of a publicly accountable National Design Service already exists in the form of Local Authority Architects departments. Their function being to design buildings for public need not for private profit. The far reaching deficiences of many departments does not change that fact that it is through the state that a majority of people gain access to essential resources. The critical problem is how to extend local control over these services and design dec- isions and how to make the Local Authority architects directly accountable to the people who will live in or use the buildings, Divorced from such contact most architects work in a vacuum filled by beauracratic norms and standards. A long discussion ensued over these ideas and their applica- tion in practice. After lunch Peter Carter of UCATT described how the Green Ban Action in Birmingham had united different interests and classes in the city -from the Victorian Society and Friends of the Earth to building workers - in an attempt to prevent the demolition of the Post Office. The action has now expanded to include the formu- lation of constructive and creative policies forthisandotherissues. PeterCarter’s main theme however was the current threat to direct labour departments. He argued that local authority building workers used their labour in a socially useful way, supp- lying a service to the community to which they are democratically accountable. As their sole aim is not profit, direct labour departments are consistantly 5 - 10% cheaper than private builders. They train over 80% of apprentices in the building industry, they have an excellent safety record and give job security in an industry notorious for casual labour. In times of economic strin- gency private builders need council work but their profits will be severely reduced if they are to tender successfully against direct labour departments. It is therefore the policy of the conservative party and the recently elected Tory councils to disband direct labour departments in favour of private enterprise and UCATT ismounting a campaign to defend direct labour, The attack on direct labour departments was seen to be similar to the denigration of local authority architect’s departments and for similar reasons. The meeting looked forward to links being forged between building workers, local authority architects and tenants. The final discussion led by Peter Carter tanged over common problems and finished with a general discussion of NAM activities. =ein THE CASE FOR_TRADE AMO THE AivtD BUNDING PROFESSIONS monday 29th; SEPTEMBER monday 19th; Members of the Liaison Group wish to thank the London Group for organising and running a NAM information stand at the People’s Jubliee held at Alexandra Palace on Sunday 19th June (see diagram ofstandabove).NAMliteratureand AcollectionofcartoonsbyLouisHellman | subscription forms were made available to the several thousand people attending the event with modest but very worthwhile results. UNION ORGANISATION INARCHITECTURE Working for What?, a report by NAM’s (Unionisation) Organising Committee, with original cartoons by Louis Hellman, isamore comprehensive look at‘the case for trade union organisation in architecture and the allied building professions’. Arevisededition, which includes coverage of the May 14 conference which choose TASS, isnow available for only 40p, postpaid, from NAM, 9 Poland Street, London, W.l. SLA3TPEAGE 14 Hellmantakesastabfromtheinsideattheseemiersideofthebuildingprofession. | saturday 20th; Surgery for unattached architects monday 8th; LIAISON NAM’s 3rd Annual Congress 1977 is to be held over the weekend 2Sth -27th November at Hull where it will be hosted by the local NAM group, A meeting between the liaison group and a Hull representative is planned for July to divide responsibilities and agree principles for organising the event. The organisers will be approaching al local and issue based NAM groups in order to discuss their agenda requirements and co-ordinate what promises to be alively, tightly scheduled weekend. A timely opportunity for publicising the Congress is provided by this year’s Building Exhibition to be held in Birming- ham on 16th -25th November, Provided finance and staffing are available, it is hoped that NAM will be able to arrange some sort of presence at the event throughout it’s duration. Would all those able to help in any way please come forward. SLATE’s international appeal broadens Witheachissue. Hotontheheelsofa subscription from Iceland comes another, this time from Malaysia! Where next? NAM's 3rd Annual Congress will be at Hull this year. It has been fixed for the 25-27th of November at Hull University School of Architecture. There will be further details announced in SLATE 4. Se | Fillintheformbelowandsenditwithacheque/PO(payabletotheNewArchitectureMovement) NAME. subjects; ARCUK and SLATE 3 ‘Fell off my bike with laughter’ . Prof. Reyner for £2.95 plus 10p post and packing to NAM, 9 Poland St., London W1. Finally, after his short period of redundancy our congratulations to found- er member Morris Williams on his recent appointmentwithawell-knownarchitec- aADDRESS. oe eal tural practice in London. SLATE 3PAGE 15 | London Building Design Staffs branch of TASS ring Andrzej Michalite to confirm time and place (work- 485 4161, saturday 20th; Constitution Group Meeting in Cardiff saturday I3th; Liaison Group Meeting, ring Neville Morgan for details (work- 633 8388, home- 580 5270 Special aan ee vill isfor Pacheco | London Group meeting at the "Roebuck" o Tottenham Ct Rd at 7.30. be the NAM constitution. London Group Meeting at the "Roebuck" in Tottenham Ct Rd, London Group meeting at the "Roebuck"o Tottenham Ct Rd, at 7.30. Special eb ieee wil] be the NAM Congress at Hull. MANIFESTO FOR PLANNERS 14 working groups were set up by the CONFERENCE OF SOCIALIST PLANNERS’ founding conference in February this year, (see ‘planners for Socialism’ -p3, SLATE 1). The London Group’s task is to gather material for a formal manifesto to ‘provide a focus for planning issues’ and as a way of defining CSP’s stand on these issues, NAM wishes them every success in their fight against paternalistic state planning policies and we look forward to their next national conference at Leeds in October this year. Anybody interested in CSP should contact Nic Clifford at 40, Bramcote Road, London S.W.18. AND NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS 4 A FULL SESSION OF LAMBETH Council gave final consent to the scheme to rehabilitate 21 units of housing in St Agnes Place, Kennington. (seeSLATE 1,p12.) The question of the future of this war- veteran of the housing crisis had obtained a mixed response in it’s passage through the various committee’s -at the Planning Committee meeting al the greying die- hards of the Conservative opposition (including the Mayor!) were wheeled in to vote against the proposal. “But wait a moment” the sceptics say “the Council permanent civil servants will not have buried the hatchet and will be preparing for an al out under-cover war to try to prevent the realisation of the proposal”. One can be sure that the Lambeth Housing Depaartment will not finally release it's grip over the control of a sizable wedge of housing without some spasms of remorse. =| | SLATE 4 will featurea series of articles |on UNEMPLOYMENT and THE BUILD— ING INDUSTRY. Special sections will | NAME ADDRESS. TELEPHONE( HOME ) NAME ADDRESS. focus on the particular effects that the crisis has had on Local Authorities and Architectural Education. It was also decided to hand over the rehabilitation of the houses to Lambeth Self Help Building Co-operative. The Housing Corporation will hand over the £27,500 from within it’s ‘mini-HAG’ scheme. _ The fact that this option would cost the Council nothing and would increase rate revenue certainly contributed to it’s eventual suczess SUBSCRIBE! ISSUE! (WORK ), third Annual Congress in Hull and full |details will appear in this issue. NEXT | | We will also be preparing for NAM’s | Also featured will be the work of the Green Ban Action Committee in Birming- ham: They have united a wide platform of |support amongst trade unionists, environ- mentalists and preservationists against the demolition of the Victorian Post Office and and proposed redevelopment on this site. dave mckay ittogetherwithacheque/postalorderaos totheNewArchitectureMovement)for£5.00(if you're employed) or £2.00 ( if you're are student, claimant or OAP) to NAM at 9, Poland Street | London W.1. If you would like to receive SLATE without joining NAM fillin the form below and send it together with acheque/postal order (payable totheNew Architecture Movement )for£200 toNAM at9, Poland Street, London W.1. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Andrew Brown/FLeP Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July/August 1977 https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/986275af90b3238657146af8b3061cd4.pdf acfb9c314eaa00d9750767f5c42a05d7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 4 Subject The topic of the resource Contains: 'NAM 1977 Congress Application' 'NAM 3rd Congress, Hull 25th, 26th and 27th November 1977' 'NAM Has A Stand At Interbuild!' Description An account of the resource CF purple rock easily split plates; piece of such {ed), (of) hence slat’ Criticize severely views), scold, rate; for office etc. Henco J} SLATE ISTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE ARCHITECTURAL MOVEMENT, published bi-monthly by the Movement’s Liaison Group and edited on its behalf by an adhoc comm- ittee set up in January 1977. News and features of broad interest to workers in the profession, the building industry and to the general public are incl- uded to stimulate debate on a wide range of issues and to bring the Movement’s views and activities to the attention of the largest possible readership. OUR NEW COVER PRICE We have been able to reduce the cover price of SLATE from 40p to 25p as a res- ult of the setting up of a network of 30 representatives throughout schools and large practices al over the country, The only committment of each representative willbetoreceive5copiesofSLATE every 2 months and to try to sell 4 of them, re- turning £1.00 to SLATE This system should also help SLATE achieve a far wider circulation and become more truly representative of the views of radicals concerned with the industry and the environment, WORK ON SLATE SLATE needs more workers, more writers, more ideas and more reps in order to produce a better, larger and cheap- er newsletter, _If you would like to work for SLATE; become a rep., join the committee, send in articles or suggest topics it should cover then contact us soon, The copy deadline for the next issue is Friday 28th October 1977, NAM groups wanting to contribute information on their activities should get their copy to SLATE by the 28th October 1977 for inclusion in the next issue. SLATE is published by the LIAISON GROUP of the NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, 9, Poland St., London. W1. Typesetting by Maggie Stack and ,Julia W:lson-Jones Printed by 2 Tslington Community Press 2a St Panls Road @ London NI Originally named Wyke, Hull was founded by the Abbey of Meaux at the junction of the rivers Hull and Humber. The name changed to Kingston-upon-Hull when in 1293 Edward Ibought the town from the Abbey as astrategic military site. It became a Borough and a Port for Northern Europe. From the 14th Centuary as a Port, Hull prospered. Remnants of the buildings of prestige of those early days of growth can be seen in Trinity Church and Trinity House; the latter became important as a centre for the control of shipping. The 18th centuary brick terraces lining paved streets were evidence of continued prosperity of the Port. The War left Hull devestated. Many of the warehouses were destroyed and only 5,700 of the City’s 90.000 houses were undamaged. It was therefore necessary to re-plan the city. In 1943 Abercrombie and Lutyens produced a much praised plan for re-construction - broad roads and round- -abouts to erase much of the old town, with vast areas of slum clearance in the housing sector. Luckily, financial problems, and_ pressure from the large store owners, meant most of the plan had to be shelved with the exception of some aspects of road develop- -ment used in the 1954 plan and the South Orbital Road still to be completed. The housing clearance programme continues. Cc Hull is to be the site for NAM’s 3rd Annual Congress, the climax of 2 years in which the movement will determine its constitution haying grown toa position of some international impact Last year, Blackpool provided for those involved or interested in NAM an opportun- ity to meet to discuss the papers drawn up during NAM’s first year of existence and to formulate directions and proposals for action in the ensuing r, As a result of this many advances have been made including the Unionisation Conference of May 14th and the subsequent setting up of the Building Design Staffs, Branch of TASS as well as NAM’s involve- ment on ARCUK and the production of “SLATE’, NAM’s newsletter, Thus this congress will be able to take stock of NAM’s position in relation to the advances that have been made and discuss the future directions of the movement in this light. The congress will be held on the week- end November 25th -27th and the accom- odation is being provided by the Hull School of Architecture Association, Special care able from: The Secretary, NAM Liaison has been taken to keep expenses down and the congress fee will be only £5.00 which will include all meals. Overnight expenses will also be low with B +B available at £2.50 in the colleges residential accom odation, The Hull NAM group will also be able to put people up in students flats for a nominal charge of SOp. The congress opens onFriday evening (25th) with registration and buffet, giving people an opportunity to introduce them- selves, A short introductory session will follow, the discussions being continued we hope, in the bar afterwards, The main congress session starts on Saturday morning with reports from the various NAM groups to be followed by workshop sessions The workshop topics so far suggested include community architecture, our role in the unions, direct labour, NAM’s structure, plus Slate. After these there will be more plenary sessions. Later in the afternoon there will be apublicseminar-thisisaninnovationas far as NAM congresses are concerned. The topic for the seminar has not yet been decided but the idea is to invite local groups to talk about their concerns and problems in Hull. Saturday will draw to a close with supper and asocial event Sunday will include a meeting for NAM members to discuss and develop a constit- ution. A paper is being prepared on this subject. As membership has now been established it is felt that there should be an opportunity for NAM members to meet and define a structure for the movement Any person who joins NAM at the confer ence will also be welcomed, For those not involved in this meeting a tour of Hull is being organised by the NAM Hull group. Sunday will also be a day for making cont- acts, organising new groups, either issue OT geographicaly based. into two sections without satisfactory Nort, of eee Sdock pedestrian links. The old town i Local Authority Administration, Professional and Banking services and the The congress will therefore be of crit- ical importance to all those interested in helping determine NAM’s future direct- ion, members or otherwise. Itisimportant tobook early-applic- ation forms are enclosed and more avail- Group, 9’ Poland St., London, W.1. Ail workshop topics and written doc- uments that anyone may wish to submit must be sent to the Secretary by October 31st, for inclusion in the detailed prog- Tamme, CITY OF HULL In writing of Hull, the history of the Docks makes a history of the City: the life and livelihood of the City comes from the Port industries. A grid of new streets with associated Georgian development came withtheopeningofthefirstDockin1799. originalestimationwas£9million)with |eabaeseneen New Dock was finished in 1809 and in no road links south, will only be of regional By 1930 this economic growth came to a standstill. The Corporation bought Queen’s Dock and filled it in, Other docks now obsolete occupy a large area of the City’s heart ,so new uses must be foundforthem, of styles, giving little guidance for modern infill. There are many different types of city housing, as mentioned above in the Avenues, and the 1860 -1914 workers’ housing. Also there are model dwellings for the working class and Reckitts built Garden Village in East Hull. Most recently, the satellite town of Bransholme which is expected to expand to a population of 45,000, with wide roads, roundabouts, Hull, through its isolation and economic depression has missed much of the trend of the road and high-rise developments of the sixties and has had time to learn from others’ mistakes. The existing housing stock, together with the city-centre vacant land and the Dock land should be seen as resources for the possibility of re-vitalising the city. More recently the ideas of the Humber Bridge and the motorway to Manchester are seen as possibilities for the revitalisation of Hull’s economy, The Bridge, due for completion at a cost of £59 million (the (STREC (c% Malin eae!) 1826 Junction Dock linked the first two. significance. The motorway to the indust- In 1844 Railway Dock made the terminus stial cities should boost Hull’s importance totheRailway.OftheremainingWarehousesasthePorttoNorthEurope. LayoutSof1%b0-[GIE thePeaseWarehousesontheriverHull Thecityinplansuffersfrombeingsplit Wovkers Nousi (1745 and 1760) are among the earliest surviving in Britain. By 1840 fishing, Whaling, ship-building and ironworks became important new industries promot- -ing a second generation of Docks. The Albert Dock became the fishing fleet Dock, north of which workers’ houses were built in a layout unique to Hull (see sketch) allowme’a density of 49 houses per acre (200 -300 people per acre). Further north in 1870 superior residential suburbs of tie Avenues resulted from the new industrial expansion. historic heart of the city. The new town lacking facilities for entertainment, shopping provides mainly shopping and entertainment and transport Bransholme replaces the facilities, Architecturally, the city is an amalgam corner shops, small industries and commun- -ity spirit of the old city terraces, huge open unused space;desperately JudyAppleby age 2 TE4 SLATE 4 page 3 SLA EWSINEWS1! NEWS nationalise industry NOWsays n.e.c. SOME LARGE CONSTRUCTION companies should be nationalised to provideaneffectivepublicstakeinthe construction industry, argues a strongly worded new paper by the Labour Party’s policy forging National Executive Committee. Local authority direct labour organisations should also be extended to run as ‘municipal enterprises’ able to compete with private contractors for al jobs in their area contin- uesthepaper,draftedbyagroupchaired by left wing MP Eric Heffer. But ‘the most appropriate way to extend social ownership among the thousands of small firms in the industry’ would, says the paper, be by establishing workers’ cooperatives. These proposals, some of many in the paper’s encouragingly radical re-thinking of the construction industry, will be debated at the Labour Party’s annual conference in Brighton at the start of October. Ifaccepted,asNEC proposals usually are, they will become part of official Labour Party policy, although with the current state of the governments’ parliamentary majority, legislation is likely to be delayed for years. Nor are the construction professions excluded from the NEC’s broad canvas, “The professional contribution largely determined the opportunity for contractor efficiency and the client’s value for money} they argue, suggesting a four-point prog- tamme of reforms crucial to improving the professional input: * education of al in the construction industry should be controlled by one central organisation, such as the CITB, and not fragmented in the hands of the professional institutes; * there should be a statutory body to improve matters relating to contracts and disputes; * there should be greater incentives for technical competence related to graded indemnity insurance premia; *aesthetic quality should be improved by holding more design competitions. “QS s must develop more sophististicated methods of cost tontrol, Surprisingly, although the paper blames the!industry’s comparative under - unionisation for many of its ils -such as poorconditionsofemploymentandits appalling safety record -it offers no thoughts on the unionisation of the professions. Its central tenet is to offer to stabilise public spending on construction, thus helping to level out the recent erratic peaks and troughs in the industry's workload, in return for improvements in the industry’s efficiency and social acoun- tability. The best way to achieve this, say the NEC, is by increasing direct govern- mental involvement in the industry. legal assistants to tenants faced with bad housing conditions, by compiling a register of Public Health Inspectors who were prepared to argue the tenants case with private landlords and local councils and by sponsoring test cases in the courts. Most notorious amongst these cases was the one fought with Salford Council which firmly established the responsibility of local authorities to provide decent housing in- -spite, in this instance, of intentions by the council to redevelop the area. Action was brought under Section 99 of the 1939 Public Health Act. PHASalsopublishedafortnightly bulle tin on public health issues called Emphasis and rei nforced its technical services with occa sional Practice Notes on particular problems. PHAS was closely linked with Shelter, the National Campaign for the Homeless, from its inception. It was set up by a Shelter worker in conjunction wi th PHILAG, the public health inspectors’ action group, and Shelter provided the Service with an annual grant. It hopes to be able to carry on at least some of PHAS’ work in providing technical rescources on environmental issues. The practice notes published by PHAS are stil available through the Publications Distributions Cooperative PHAS' library has been moved to the London Council for Social Services, VSNIEWS ship would inevitably be lost if there was one, The issue now became -was the union a risk worth taking, perhaps at the expense remain friends with your boss? This iswhat of the existing easy-going relationshiTph?e Opposition to the proposals will befierce from most lobbies within the construction industry, particularly those on its right wing, such as the Association of Consultant Architects and the well organised National Federation of Build- ing Trades Employers, who will see their healthyprofitsthreatened. Criticismwill more equivocating come from the professional institutes, who will rightly see their own power threatened but will be loth to risk shooting their bolts with the government in power. Those who, like NAM, will find the NEC’s proposals refreshing, should stand up and be counted and try and make good itsomissionsandoversightsso that the benefits of socialisation can be enjoyed by al the industry. Direct labour organisations are fighting back in response to the hostility of the newly-elected Tory local councils and the savage public relations assault being mounted by, among others, the NFBTE and Aims for Freedom and Enterprise. A national campaign to defend DLO’s was launched in Manchester on 20 August. The conference was attended by 300 delegates from across the country, in- cluding representatives of the unions most closely involved -UCATT, TGWU, EPTU, NALGO, etc.. Conference speakers stressed the advan- tages of DLO’s - the best working and training conditions for construction workers, and greater social account- ability in techniques and projects. These were being overlooked, said speakers, in the the smear campaign which emphasised DLO’s admitted management problems, most of which could be overcome given more sympathetic administrators, The conference established a National Local Authorities’ construction Workers’ Shop Stewards’ Committee to fight back on behalf of DLOS. and agreed to press for Wages parity with private sector workers, Building Britain’s future: Labour'spolicy for Construction, Labour Party, Trans- port House, London SW1. PHASed out union blues model work DonatotTheiOtohernCisnema25Tc WI Tet637-0308 London may soon lose its only cinema showing, as a principal, Socialist films. The Other Cinema opened just about a year ago, At that time it was under cap- italised and is now ina serious financial crisis, It needs to raise £25,000 to con- tinue operating. Donations andapplications for “founding membership” should be sent to :The Other Cinema, 25, Tottenham St., London, W.1. office.) ; Coverage of the dispute in the trade press partners called an office meeting. Salary ‘and partly because there was went little further than the limited frontiers HOW TO START A UNION AND STILL TASS’ LONDON BUILDING DESIGN Staff branch has set up a working party to draft model conditions of emplyment forarchitecturalworkersintheprivate sector. the 20 strong staff at Pascall + Watson tried to find out last month. -The staff debates showed that their intent- ions were good and no malice was meant, butnowtheyhadtodecidewhetherto call the partnership’s bluff. “The majority still agreed with the issues behind union- ization, but the whole decision was effect- ively controlled by the partners’ attitudes and prejudices towards unions, In addi- tion to this was the fact that the burning issues had now been removed. ThingswerenotbadatP+W:thebosses weren't stupid like at William Nicholls Associctes, the working conditions were good and personal relations between part- ners and staff were friendly. One of the partners might be seen playing in the 5-a- side team against Seiferts or round at the pub on Friday lunchtimes, Nevertheless it was going to beapity that the unpleasant ritualofredundancieswouldsoonsplit’up association. Twostaffassociationvotes moregratefulifsomepeoplewouldbe a happy team that enjoyed its work and enjoyed each other’s company. No-one had ever been overpaid at P + W, and salaries generally lay respectably in the zone of the RIBA salary survey (low enough to grumble about), The problem had always been there: how do you broach the topic of salaries and redundancies without the individual being labelled as a troublemaker and up- setting the contented day to day existence? The staff felt that these important topics should not be dropped merely because of embarrassment, and they deserved more businesslike treatment. Under these issues it seemed there was room fora coll- ective voice for experience had shown that the individual was powerless against the strength of the partnership. The attempt at forming a staff body was carried out with the full knowledge of the partnership, and two main alterat- ives were explored: 1) the union (AUEW TASS), and 2) a staff association, ‘Inthe absence of information about the union, a small group of staff went to a branch meeting to see for themselves what was on offer. Despite the branch’s newness and small size it was felt that the arguments were ’ strong enough to take the matter a stage further, The staff were most impressed by other firms’ interpretations of unions in architecture, and it was decided to ask a staff member of one of these firms as wellasaTASSofficialtoattendastaff meeting. The debate covered every issue. The case was impressively put, guaranteeing independence to each office cell and allowing staff the traditional flexibility they had been used to. . The verdict after the meeting was strongly in favour of the union, on these terms which was relayed to the partners, A further meeting was set up a week later to make a decision, later confessed that they would probably join the union eventually, though they saw the staff association as the best first collective step. One month later, the staff are now finding that the staff association is hard work, and wh fund 1issues are raised negotiations with the p threaten impasse, notably on the position of the associates, Up to now associates have been involved in the staff association but their split loyalties put them ina diff- icult position. Most of the staff feel that the debate was worthwhile, and that something has been achieved; ifonly opening everyone’s eyes to a whole new set of issues that effect their work, The staff’s decision could perhaps be summarised that when things are not that bad, then in the short term there is more to lose than gain with aunion “coup”, As with other firms, the union isnow building up onacore of committed members, and if nothing else the exercise has at least opened up the debate. prepared to send the group copies of whatever they have by way of written conditions of employment or contracts. Please write ro him at 48 Neale Close, London N2, in confidence,. The timing was coincidence, it was said. The morning before the staff meeting the ‘on the effect advertising would have on the profession reviews were brought forward from Novem- ber to August and extensive reassurances were given about the workload and redund- ancies. The partnership’s view was not stated explicitly, but the message was quite clear. They would be very upset by the union, and they wanted to show how the status quo could work in the staff’s interests, profession. They were there- ‘They would not accept a union easily and fore neither for nor agrinst it was made clear that the existing relation- the RIBA proposals. By now, the result was never really in doubt: 3 for the union and 13 for the staff Part of this work entails a comparative study of employment contracts already in use. Mike Mitchell, a member of the study group, would like to hear from anyone ina private architects’ office who actually has a proper written con- tract of employment and would be even unattachedviews officeatYarmduringAugust.gaveafirst opportunity to hear from the strikers them- The Unattached architects on ARCUK have stated that the advertising issue in itself does not concern them, partly because the debxte on the subject was not based on knowledge but on speculation selves.. (Audiences at meetings in Cardiff, London and Edinburgh, arranged in conjunction with the TASS National Advisory Committ- ittee for Building Design Staff, heard a detailed account of the events leading up to and surrounding the strike, and heard the views of the strikers on the problems and tactics for militant action in an architect’s of the strike reporting style practiced by no reference to the main the national dailies, and gave little insight concern which was the interest into either the.tactics employed by the of the public and not whether or not advertising would increase the work of the Union nor the most significant events leading to the settlement. Talk of a union at Nichols started over a year ago when one of the workers sugg- ested collective action over wages and was it appears, preemptorarily “laid off” ,under < circumstances that were sufficient to ensure 7 inside Yarm afull report ona tour ~ of the strikersat William Nicholls office atYarm A speaking tour undertaken by some of the workers who had been on strike during much reported dispute at W Nichols’ JSNEWSNEWSNE SLATE 4 page 4 LATE 4page 5 TENANTS AND COMMUNITY groups have lost a powerful ally in their struggle for better housing. PHAS, the Public Health Advisory Service opted to close down on June 30th, unable to raise adequate funds to carry on its expanding work. In its four years of operation PHAS set out to provide technical expertise and that any further attempt at organisation would have to take into account the partners’ total and unshakeable opposition to trades unionism in their office. Against this background discussions which led to the eventual decision by the majority of the staff to join TASS were more serious and concerted and strictly confined to a nearby pub, Yet the union was acknowledged as the only way out where redundancies are used as a tactic to keep wages down and add weight to the employer’s excessive and arbitary flounting of authority. One architectural technician, aged 32, was earning less than £1900. During the four months that elapsed between the nine out of the thirteen employees of the firm joining TASS and the decision to strike, taken in the last days of July, the nine met twice weekly at lunchtime to discuss their grievances and decide how best to tackle Nichols. Votes were taken on all important issues and del- egates chosen to represent the union were sent to meet Nichols orhis junior partner. This democracy and solidarity did little to impress Nichols, however, who put forward a derisory salary offer, based on a compli- cated formula involving twelfths of ten percents, amounting to rises ranging from 8.3% to 1.3%. With one eye over their shoulders on the salaries of technicians at the Department of Health and Social Secur- ity (DHSS) who earn twice as much as some of the Nichols’ workers for doing identical hospital work the TASS members rejected the offer and pressed for rises of between £800and£1000,forlongerholidaysand improved conditions, These initiatives were met with stonewall rejection from Nichols, As well as the union claims, increased harassment, signing in and out was introduced and time keeping enforced by the threat of the sack for two days late- coming. Tho telephones were removed from the drawing office and all calls had to be made from a partner’s office. The inevitable decision to strike was taken unanimously by the TASS members who by that time, comprised seven archi- tectural technicians, a tracer and the only worker in the firms print shop. Remaining at work were the two partners and, of the employees, an associated architect, a cont- ract (self-employed) architect, a tracer and one of the technicians, also self-employed, whom had been instrumental in forming the union, but who subsequently resigned after being offereda salaried position by Nichols along with a hefty tax bill in cons- equence! Although confident that Nichols would find it difficult to replace their special skills in the Cleveland area, the strikers did what they could, within the law to ensure that it would be difficult for work to continue during the strike anyway. As they left the office on the Friday evening before the strike plan chests were locked, drawing equipment was locked away and the keys and parts of the print machine were hidden, Once outside, a continuous picket was mounted during working hours, complete with banners exp- laining the strike to passers by and to del- ivery drivers bringing supplies to the office, .o Almost ull deliveries were stopped and & drivers who were union members themsel- &, Ves asked to report the strike to their own < branches and press for the blacking of all ty deliveries to Nichols, Messages of support & helped to bolster the confidence of the strikers . ~” continued on p 13 women who are builders Of all the cliched impressions of the building industry one of the longest stand- ing must be the wolf-whistling response of building workers to women who venture pasta site, A group of feminists called Women in Construction have discovered, through actually working on site, that prejudice against women in the industry runs a lot deeper than chauvinist manif- estations from the other side of the site hoarding. Julia Wilson-Jones meets members of the group and discovers just how much ofa “man’s world” the industry is,and how difficult itisfor women to acquire building skills, espec- ally at a time of cut backs on Government training programmes. who would be active in what ever field they decided to work . One woman found that as an architect she was far removed from the actual practice of building. She felt much more sympathy with those building the buildings than those designing them, At Architectural School, the only time she thought she had learned anything was whn the students designed and buil-t asmall school extension themselves, Subsequently she has worked in a building co-op and has done labouring jobs for three months, After an eighteen month spell back on the ‘other side of the fence’ as an architect in an office specialising in rehabilitation, she has now decided to go back into construction and has been accepted for government funded Training Opportunities Scheme (TOPS) course to do carpentry, Another woman became involved through squatting and feelings of inadequacy and frustration at not being able to change a plug, let alone to the simple building tasks needed to make houses habitable. She was amazed at the hostility and objections she ran up against at the suggestion and at the obstacles put in the way of becoming trained and,once trained from the men on site as well as from the bosses, Realising that she has more chance of getting jobs ifshe isskilled she is now going on a TOPS course to do bricklaying. Another woman was an American Studies graduate and became interested in building through helping friends convert a house, She then did a TOPS course in carpentry and is now working for aDirect Labour Organisation. She has had alot of trouble persuading her boss to allow her to do a City and Guilds joinery course, It is virtually impossible for women to train as apprentices when they leave school, as no large firms are prepared to sponsor a woman, except possibly painting and decorating, many of which are family businesses, The most likely way a woman can train is through the TOPS course government retraining schemes, They offer a wide choice of courses, all available to womc.1, Lo qualify for a TOPS course you must be at least three years out of full time education, They are also designed to help ex prisoners or disabled people. A TOPS trainee must do six months at a special skills centre then an improvership of eighteen months, earning 85% to 90% of the basic wage, which increases every six months. Inevitably, when applying for a course women have been met with suspicion andagreat deal of incredulity - why didn’t they want to work as a secretary or hairdresser? Didn’t they realise that they were taking mens’ jobs in a time of recession? There is now a two year waiting list for TOPS courses and selection is based on whether of not candidates are likely to get a job at the end of their courses. Due to prejudice women will obviously have more difficulty than men in finding jobs, Government spending cuts have also affected the courses and have reduced theirnumbers. WIC know ten women who have done TOPS courses, and have heard of a further ten, None of the unions with members in the construction industry were able to give any statistics of how many women members they had. There are 96,800 women employed in the building industry as a whole but this includes clerks, secretaries, architects and canteen workers, To give some indication of the differences in numbers of men and women working on site the Construction Industry Training Board said that last year the applicants for their School Leavers New Entrants Training Scheme included 16 girls out of 700 boys, and only three» were finally accepted. The various schemes to help unemployment or redundancies such as Adopt a Boy!!! where grants are available for firms to take on apprentices no girls are included at all. Of the Unions UCATT was particularly condemned by its own woman research officer as being extremely chauvinistic and hostile to the idea of women working with them in construction, Their overtly sexist attitude is well illustrated in a film that was made on safety called ‘Heads You Loose’. When dealing with accidents involving heads and hands it showed a man’s head as being needed for “drinking and chatting up the birds” and his hands for caressing a woman’s legs. No wonder women find it difficult to be taken seriously. . barriers Not only do men believe that women cannot do certain jobs, but women them- selves are conditioned into accepting this view. Therefore, the majority of w~ assume that some types of work are ta unsuitable, and most school leavers would not dream of discussing the possibilities of construction with their careers officers or parents (and vice versa). However WIC know that once the barr- iers are broken down many women would enjoy a job where they can work outside and would find it far more rewarding to construct something and see the gradual completion of a project rather than to work asa telephonist or in a factory doing extremely dull and repetitive work. They have therefore had talks with school leavers to point out the advantages and encourage them to do the necessary train- ing. They are also making a video tape which will reach a wider audience, as it is being sold to the ILEA and various educ- ational authorities. However, they feel very frustrated at the small amount which can be achieved from one talk in the face of all the social pressures that will be exert- ed by parents, friends and school on any girl who likes the idea of doing construct- ion work. Many reasons are put forward as to why women are unsuitable; they are not strong or big enough, the wrong build, do not have enough stamina and won't be able to stand the scaffolding heights, WIC believe that rather than being a question of brute strength the problem of carrying bags of cement or large planks of wood is bettersolvedbyadoptingtherightapproach, and by using the right muscles. Due to conditioning, few girls are ever given the chance to find out how strong they really are, heavy tasks are always left for men to do; Once they had got used to the work involved, (or maybe fitter) women working in the construction industry in the Soviet Union have often proved themselves to be tougher, with more stamina, than their male counterparts, In fact one of the WIC members found herself being told to slow down, she was doing the job too fast and thus interfering with the men’s bonus sch schemes. Once trained the problems of actually getting a job are enormous, especially in an industry which already has a lot of unem- ployment. They were constantly finding that they were being refused jobs onasite where they knew work was available and then hearing that a man had been hired for the same job an hour later. Confidence was severely undermined by snide remarks about being a “lez” or “having some hor- mone problem”. When they eventually find a job they have to continually prove that they are as tough and as strong as the men, and not scared on the scaffolding. In fact each of them finds being up on the scaffolding with a bag of cement on their shouldersa terrifying ordeal especially when minimum safety measures are obs- erved. Ifanyone complains about safety they are considered a sissy, and immed- iately sacked if they refuse to work on the scaffolding. The other men on site are often extremely hostile, particularly the younger ones, They connot imagine their own mothers, sisters or girlfriends labouring so there must be something per- verse or peculiar about any woman who does, The other reaction is heavy patronising; most men feel threatened by the very idea of woman doing their work. Individually the men can be sym- pathetic after talking to the women about how they feel and why they are doing it but once back in the male pack are just as biggoted as before. Apprentice trained workers are generally hostile to TOP’s trained people as they have had a much shorter training (apprentiships used to be for 7 years, and are now for 3 to S years), and see them asa threat to their jobs. Hence they are even more antagonistic to women. Several men have demanded to know how a woman could accept this type of work knowing she was taking a job away from a man with wife and child- rento support. One of the women was actually sacked for swearing and lost her case when she challenged it through an Industrial Tribunal. Her boss agreed that she was a good worker but did not like being sworn at! cuts Women’s chances of employment are being further threatened by the cuts to direct labour, The Direct Labour Organisations are more likely to employ women, as they are more socially conciolis than are private contractors, and offer work to Improvers, Most of the TOP’s trained womenwereabletogetjobswiththeDLO’s but in view of the cuts this situation may well change. In fact, some DLO’s have said they are not going to take on any more Improvers, which will affect everyone, but especially women as they have virtually no other entry into the industry. Apprenticeships are also being drastically reduced, with the result that when the building industry picks up there will be very little skilled labour about, mainly a bunch of cowboys, doing very low standard work, support WIC think it is important to be incontact with other women inasimilar position and hold weekly meetings to discuss problems and and to give each other support. They had had a national conference which was surp- risingly well attended, and were able to set ip a register of women in traditionally male dominated trades in order to reach others in, or about to join, the industry, The register will be circulated to all women’s groups ard centres, Although they are in a sense doing pioneer work they dislike the sensational press treatment which has labelled them as heroic individuals struggling against such difficult odds that they must have great strength of mind and purpose. They know this does nothing to encourage other women if they feel they need to be exceptional characters, They rightly maintain that any woman who wants to isperfectly able to work in building and should not have to : uphill battle againstso many difficulties, LI A z —E DUN It is an uphill struggle and One in which they receive little encourage- -ment, They have, however, chosen to . WIC can be contacted at ;c/o 21 Bouverie Road, London, N.16. They are holding another conference in Leeds on the 22/23rd October and will be glad to hear from anyone who is interested in going. work in building because they enjoy practical work which is demanding and Tewarding. The women in WIC are all feminists Women in Construction (WIC) are a small group of women who are working in the construction industry as skilled workers and labourers, despite encountering obstacles and opposition from almost every side, They believe that women have the right to work in whatever field they choose and want to dispel the myth that the building industry in naturally an exclusively man’s world, and that women are mentally and physically incap able of working in it, SLATE4 page7 Steve Drewer argues that the crisis facing architectural workers is not a crisis of quantity but of structure. Ata time when there are ten times as many building labourers out of work than the total num- ber registered architects, architectural workers might do better by considering how better their skills can be deployed in society and in the industry than by attem- pting to defend their jobs within the exist- ing professional structure. What price architectural employment? During the last seven years the construction sector in the United Kingdom has suffered from an exagerated boom and the most severe and prolonged depression since the 1930s, This experience is not unique for other western European Countries have had similar experiences. What is probably uniqueisthemasochistic(orsadistic) satisfaction taken by the government in its refusal to stimulate any significant increase in construction output. The need for an increase in the public sector building programme isself-evident. What is of more importance is that in such a programme new work would have a disproportionate effect on the work available for architects. A private sector building boom does not generate many architectural vacancies, It is not the general level of demand which influences architect- -ural employment but its structure in terms of types of work and the clients feeding the demand to the sector. One of the main problems to be considered isthe confusion which exists as to what the functions of an architect are, or should be. France, witha signifi- -cantly larger building programme than this country makes do with approximately a quarter of the number of architects, The functions being currently performed by the majority of British architects would not be considered to be those of the architect in France and many other western countries, This is clearly a matter for the individual architect and the profession in general to deal with. But for the rest of us it would help if we knew more clearly the shape and inclinations of the animal with which we are dealing. Is it any more a matter to be deplored that the unemployed person is a graduate of the Architectural Association than a steelfixer? Perhaps the only justification for such an opinion is that steelfixers are more used to the vagaries of the construct- -ion sector than most architects. More significantly it should be remembered that the estimated number of manual construction workers presently unemployed is ten times the total number of registered architects in this country. construction activity was historically high, This was to some extent due to the damage to buildings during the war, post war reconstruction, and the enhanced social expectation with respect to housing schools,hospitalsetc. Atpeaklevels private speculative demand for offices, houses, shops etc, caused severe strain on the available construction resources, It is a consequence of this sustained high level of demand and the response of al the participants in the building process to this demand, the construction sector entered the depression in a manner analogous to the drunk who just “blew” the housekeeping. The low level of . apprentice training, the decline of crafts- men caused by over specialisation and the extensive use of lump labour were all symptoms of the state of the sector, During the depression there has been little stimulation to correct the situation and it seems unlikely that any significant increase in demand can be satisfied without major pressures on the supply of manage- -ment and labour. This isreinforced ifthe changing pattern of public sector housing demand isconsidered. The move from high-rise to low-rise and rehabilitation may well be socially and aesthetically desirable, but it is going to make demands for manual skills which are already severely limited. Even during this depression 0RYOU MRS. SNOBSON ANYTHING| I'LL HAVE YouR SAUNA PLANS READY FIRST THING IN nee MORNING! DON’T. FAIL ME J! contractors are finding it increasingly difficult to find carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, etc, The joint effect of both the cautious attitude of the government to stimulate increased construction demand and the serious capacity constraints in many of the industries grouped together as construction, suggests that the future level of demand will not return to that of the 1960s, and most certainly not to that of the early 1970s, It could be that the architects of the 1970s are in a similar position to the social scientists of the late 1960s, That is there are just too many of them. Equally, of course, while not underestimating the problem of unemploy- -ment among architects, it seems that the time has come for architects to question the role of their profession with respect to social needs, and whether their skills may not be equally well employed outside those functions traditionally (and legally) considered as those of the architect. reassessment andintegration For many years “learned” people have been researching and discussing the need for greater inteyration of the construction process, and moves to facilitate communicat- -ion between members of the “building team’’. Professionalisation, as distinct from professionalism, is a device for controlling a set of work functions and those who execute them. Many of the barriers erected around certain functions due to professionalisation could be considered as anti-social, The price of architectural employment is likely to bea reassessment of the role of architect, the functions performed and the side of the construction equation in which they are involved, If Iwas an employed carpenter Imight not shed too many tears for the unemployed architect, but Ithink Iwould look forward to a future where the ‘architect’ was not just the person who turned up looking trendy for site meetings. and asked bloody foolishquestionsof the craftsmen, but was equally likely to be the site foreman or union I NAM peaks and troughs Between 1945 and 1972 the level of } | | | tear off and return to 9,Poland st,London,W1 NAM 1977 CONGRESS APPLICATION WIND, S500Q00S0000G0000"707 NAMI sioinisioieieisioieicleieisielsielaicinicicveieio! DDRESBastajalellerlereieieiolsielsisiere eieieios eoreoeseseceeesereressecresecesaces I enclose £5.00 congress fee and require accomodation donot : : I require bed and breakfast accomodation @ £2.50. per night per persoi 1/2 nights single/double PTOLAT icicle ccccie 50p per night I enclose a cheque payable to the New Architecture Movement forthefollowingamount crieeRe construction in crisis: wh 1977CONGRESS APPLICATION organiser, SEA lite SLATE 4 page 8 ARCHIE TEKT' The 3rd annual congress of the New Architecture Movement will be taking place on the weekend of the 25th,26th and 27th november 1977.This years event will be the 3rd NAM congress following the inaugural congress at Harrogater in 1975,and Blacikpd61 in 1976.The hosts for this year are the Hull group of NAM in conjunction with the Hull School of Architecture. : ; The congress of '77 concludes a year of'action'dur which NAM has emerged as a force within the architectural world.Much of.this'action'has stemed from the researches and and discussions carried out by NAM groups during 1976 which were aired and refined at the Blackpool congress. These'actions'include the following, NAM's May Unionisation Conference which chose T.A.8.S. within which to organise architectural workers. NAM's Unionisation groups report'Working for What'. NAM's presence in ARCUK representing the unattached Salaried architect. NAM's newspaper 'Blate' the only radical paper for architectural workers. These public expressions of NAM as well as the less publicised ones are the issues around which NAM groups” form to work on.The groups which have issues clarified enough to present a working paper use the congress workshops to enlarge the discussion and to put forward motions for the congress to adopt. Workshops so far proposed for this years congress cover; EDUCATION ,NATTONAL DESIGN SERVICE ,UNIONISATION, ARCUK, WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURES SLATE!CONSTITUTION, A fuller list of workshop options will be included in the final briefing package. I require the alternative accomodation @ \ 1/2 nights DOTA cieielecleieiste Steve Drewer argues that the crisis facing architectural workers is not a crisis of quantity but of structure. Ata time when there are ten times as many building labourers out of work than the total num- ber registered architects, architectural workers might do better by considering how better their skills can be deployed in Society and in the industry than by attem- pting to defend their jobs within the exist- ing professional structure. What price architectural employment? During the last seven years the construction sector in the United Kingdom has suffered from an exagerated boom and the most severe and prolonged depression since the 1930s. This experience is not unique for other western European Countries have had similar experiences, What is probably unique is the masochistic (or sadistic) satisfaction taken by the government in its refusal to stimulate any significant increase in construction output. The need for an increase in the public sector building programme is self-evident. What is of more importance is that in such a programme new work would have a disproportionate effect on the work available for architects. A private sector building boom does not generate many architectural vacancies, It is not the general level of demand which influences architect- -ural employment but its structure in terms of types of work and the clients feeding the demand to the sector. One of the main problems to be considered is the confusion which exists as to what the functions of an architect are, or should be. France, witha signifi- -cantly larger building programme than this country makes do with approximately a quarter of the number of architects, The functions being currently performed by the majority of British architects would not be considered to be those of the architect in France and many other western countries. This is clearly a matter for the individual architect and the profession in general to deal with. But for the rest of us it would help if we knew more clearly the shape and inclinations of the animal with which we are dealing. Is it any more a matter to be deplored that the unemployed person is a graduate of the Architectural Association than a steelfixer? Perhaps the only justification for such an opinion is that steelfixers are more used to the vagaries of the construct- -ion sector than most architects. More significantly it should be remembered that the estimated number of manual construction workers presently unemployed is ten times the total number of registered architects in this country. peaks and troughs Between 1945 and 1972 the level of construction activity was historically high, This was to some extent due to the damage to buildings during the war, post war reconstruction, and the enhanced social expectation with respect to housing schools,hospitalsetc. Atpeaklevels private speculative demand for offices, houses, shops etc, caused severe strain on the available construction resources, It is a consequence of this sustained high level of demand and the response of all the participants in the building process to this demand, the construction sector entered the depression ina manner analogous to the drunk who just “blew” the housekeeping. The low level of apprentice training, the decline of crafts- men caused by over specialisation and the extensive use of lump labour were all symptoms of the state of the sector, During the depression there has been little stimulation to correct the situation and it seems unlikely that any significant increase in demand can be satisfied without major pressures on the supply ofmanage- -ment and labour. This is reinforced if the changing pattern of public sector housing demand is considered. The move from high-rise to low-rise and rehabilitation may well be socially and aesthetically desirable, but it is going to make demands for manual skills which are already severely limited. Even during this depression PLANS READY FIRST THING IN re MORNING! DON’T FAIL ME J! contractors are finding it increasingly difficult to find carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, etc. The joint effect of both the cautious attitude of the government to stimulate increased construction demand and the serious capacity constraints in many of the industries grouped together as construction, suggests that the future level of demand will not return to that of the 1960s, and most certainly not to that of the early 1970s, It could be that the architects of the 1970s are in a similar position to the social scientists of the late 1960s, That is there are just too many of them, Equally, of course, while not underestimating the problem of unemploy- -ment among architects, it seems that the time has come for architects to question the role of their profession with respect to social needs, and whether their skills may not be equally well employed outside those functions traditionally (and legally) considered as those of the architect. Local Authority design departments have often enjoyed the reputation of being in the vanguard of Architectural culture. Douglas Smith isless easily convinced of this than some of us, Here he describes how Council Architect’s departments have become executors of Central Government policy and how often these policies have been tailored to prop up private sector interests in development and construction, Local Authority housing -the politics of form Local Authorities, and the buildings they produce are not determined by the political wishes of councillors, or by the local people they represent. Council housing isnationally coordinated by Central Government in order toserveandmaintain theinterestsof property investors and the building industry. The following article attempts to demonstrate this and how the system intimately affects working architects, ignores the wishes of the consumer and how policy at high level is translated into bricks and mottar. The building industry, because it requires heavy investment which cannot realise profits for several years, is very sensitive to market conditions and confidence. It therefore responds quickly. and very extremely, to the boom/slump cycles of the Stock Market, more so than most other industries. These extremes of activity are not only generally unaceptable to workers and tenants, who tend to suffer at ‘both ends’, but are also dsruptive to the needs of finance capital in general. It is here that the State intervenes in order to try to smooth out the cycles, create a more balanced and predictable market to maintain investment and activity and to reinforce its own political position by averting revolt. ‘The State in general, and the Local Authorities in particular, have an enormous stake in the building industry. Local Authorities alone spent over £2 000m in 1974 on capital expenditure. This represents about 60% of the total output of the industry. Their money is t: used, not only to maintain activiti of slump, but also to maintain profitability and investment in the property market. It also responds to the housing demands of workers, recognising the need fora healthy workforce. Left to itself the land market would force workers to live in dangerous, unhealthy slums, would encourage wild speculation and give rise to spectacular bankruptcies with all the attendant financial problems. State spending not only encourages private accumulation of wealth, and there- -fore indirectly contributes to production, but also helps to maintain social harmony. This latter, unproductive ‘ideological’ spending helps the State maintain its role of supporting the social order. Both these elements are clearly expressed in Local Authority building projects. local government Local Authorities have developed inthe last 100 years, and especially since recent reorganisation and the introduction of corporate management ,more and more as local agents for Central Government. As they have become integrated into the State aparatus, taking on more work, Local Authorities have lost their individual character, become more technocratic,and have ‘castrated’ their councillors. The two main devices used by Central Government to control Local Authority housing are the Department of the Ehviron- -men t’s Housing Cost Yardstick and the same Department’s standards (including Parker Morris standards, etc.,). These are basically budget and form, or economic and ideological, controlling systems. The require- -ment of the other housing consultative departments, Housing Management and Planning, are made subservient to the DoE’s tules; not unnaturally, since the DoE sanctions the spending. State policy in housing is continually changing and for a variety of reasons. Its main response is to the prevailing economic winds; in order to maintain profits for private capital, its intervention in the industry reflects current market forces. YES 1 KNOW, On the other hand, in the face of worsening housing conditions and increased tenants’ activity, it must try to reduce the cost and be seen to be providing adequate housing in increasing volume. Following on from this. it can also disguise the faults of the system and appeal to progress by introducing new, ‘progressive policies’, promising to solve the problems arising from previous policies. In an overall way, the DoE appeals to those believing that a good solution to the ‘environment’ would eradicate most social problems, and when these problems recur it offers new solutions, and hence detracts from the real, fundamental causes of social di t, ment, i education and medical care, the nuclear family and so on. The history of Local Authority housing in the last twenty years illustrates the centrally controlled nature of housing economics and ideology, and how this has adapted to market forces and how the public has beeen conned into believing in its benefits. historical perspective Following the economic and material destruction of the Second World War, the then Labour Government put responsibility for housing on the shoulders of the Local Authorities. Its intention was to try to eradicate the previous social divide between public and private housing (during this period it limited severely all private building operations) as part of the foundation of the new new Welfare State. Local Authorities were obliged, through the system of subsidies. to fol low the Housing Manuals (published by the Ministry of Health!), and, without any \pretension, simply attempted to build as many houses as cheaply as possible, usually under the direction of the Borough Engineer or Surveyor. Bold experiments were mad in using obsolete wartime industrial processes, but since the building industry was more interested in conventional, marketable housing they failed. As the economy recovered in the early sixties and profits were being squeezed, the bulding industry was still disjointed and unable to invest, without State help, in new ;plant and personnel to undertake modern reassessment °° andintegration For many years “learned” people have been researching and discussing the need for greater inteyration of the construction process, and moves to facilitate communicat- -ion between members of the “‘building team”. Professionalisation, as distinct from professionalism, is a device for controlling a set of work functions and those who execute them. Many of the barriers erected around certain functions due to professionalisation could be considered as anti-social. The price of architectural employment is likely to be a reassessment of the role of architect, the functions performed and the side of the construction equation in which they are involved, If Iwas an employed carpenter Imight not shed too many tears for the unemployed architect, but I think I would look forward to a future where the ‘architect’ was not just the person who turned up looking trendy for site meetings. and asked bloody foolishquestionsof the craftsmen, but was equally likely to be the site foreman or union Lf alam organiser. SIAl —E i' AND /'Lt BE LATE FOR THE RIBA CON- construction in crisis: what itmeans to architecture ARCHIE TEKT| SLATE 4 page 8 SLATE 4 page 9 \ Angus building techniques. On the other hand the Government, w ithout wishing to raise the cost of building, wished, under popular pressure, to improve standards. Following the success of the Hertfordshire and CLASP schools, the government neatly combined these two needs by encouraging Local Authorities to build tower blocks for housing. This would help the industry industrialise, rationalise and eventually reduce costs, while still ensuring its short term profitability. Parker Morris & high rise It was also at this time that the limit), reinforcing the market trends to push families Out of cities to the suburbs, stimulating demand in exactly the right ‘place for spec. builders to make a good profit. Parker Morris report was published. Without challenging any of the existing attitudes to lifestyle, family or community relationships it Subsidies. The wiley old DoE anticipated this proposed housing reforms and rules still in existence today, 16 years later. The report heralded +the ‘consumer age’, explicitly defining the house as a wharehouse for durables for each family. Who would buy need nearly two years ago, when it changed parts of the subsidy an d altered its standards to prepare for backdoor cuts. It is quite interesting to note in detail how small alterations in the Yardstick and standards have a fundamental effect on form and a car or a dishwasher if there was nowhere to put it. It proposed effectively isolating family implement cuts, again all under the cover of units at the expense of communal facilities where they might be shared. The State emphatically demanded the family, and its home as the basic and social economic unit. With this now ell defined, the way was cpen to stack up the units in any method suited to the building industry or government Subsidie's for housing were changed, allowing extra money for every storey height, with the result that local authorities al over the country, regardless of particular needs or desires, with no research or experie5nce and with no perception of the consequences, switched from traditional models to building time. A simpler demonstration of the effect of the universal effect of centralised policy in housing would be hard to find. Not surprisingly the benefits never appeared. Having tooled up the industry and stimulated the market builders were now well prepared to enter the more profitable commercial sctors of building. The step from As a result the cost of this type of housing ‘improving’ housing. Thses revisions were firstly, the imposition of a maximum density limit (75ppa for families, 100ppa for non- -family housing), and secondly that all family units should be on the ground, The Yardstick, while not being uplifted (!) badly housed. -duced in 1968, removed the aditional disaster at Ronan Point, and subsequent towards a new from. Incidentally, it has been argued that tower blocks are emminently suitable for some types of tenant, if not for families, yet so total has the Government's volte face been that it is now impossible to build them high density low rise By the early seventies it was realised that demanded by the DOE is almost the same in the suburbs, hit hard by the recession transfer to and survive in the public sector, The recently appointed head of DOE policy group, came directly from Laing Homes, The prevailing excuses are not only that people are happy in their suburban houses but that they are also cheap to build. The reduction in permissable density not only reduces the total volume of housing, but also increases the proportion of site costs attributable to each unit, now subject to strict scrutiny. In urban areas, persuades them to accept the standard Tunning and maintenance problems, highlyindustrialbuildingtechniqueswereno wherelandhasbeenboughtathighprices, longer applicable to housing. But the industry, or on small sites which cost a lot to develop Ban” idea experience for other architectural workers andforNAM © the industries profits would survive. The new <t of siutably cheap sites. Though much more A flexible than before, the predominant form encouraged by the subsidies came out as high density/low rise. Schemes were built on quite a modest scale, and many are highly acclaimed. The Parker Morris standards were still adopted, but the DoE made aditional requirements, especiallt over car parking. At first it insisted on 100% undercover car parking incongruous in urban areas as were tower and paid for it, but later this was dropped. blocks in rural areas, and the persistent More recently, the last economic recession has requirement for large scale development, development, the supportforthe campaign anda brief explanation of the Green Ban idea. The broadsheet was distributed through all the local TV branches, schools as well as the people of the city. The campaign was featured in the local and national press, many magazines and journals and on Radio Birmingham. The 24 hour occupation of a giant crane on an adjoining site in support of the campaign was featured on television. During the summer of last year alter- native proposals were formulated by the committee for the use of the building. NAM gained access to survey the building. During October afeasability study was prepared by NAM, using the results of the survey, to study the re-use and conversion of the post office as a city centre recreation and leisure centre. In November a delegation representing GBAC, the West Midlands TUC, and the Victorian Society met with the City Council and the Post Office Board -a meeting resulting from pressure mounted by GBAC. The aim was to discuss objec- tions of the proposed redevelopment of the GPO site. The Leader of the City Council (now Tory) refused to consider re-voting planning consent, and left it to the postal board to make any concessions. But in spite of detailed arguments about Birming- ham’s heritage, about planning for people instead of profits, and about the huge over provision of office space, the Postal Board remained totally fixed in its determination to demolish the GPO and build offices. GBAC has been able to facilitate links between trade unions and environmentalists on wider issues. For example between Friends of the Earth and the Edinburgh and Scottish National Union of Miners over opposition to the proposed Lothian nuclearpowerstation.InJanuary,aone day conference was held at the AUEW Hall in Birmingham when workshops were held onthebuiltenvironment(inwhichNAM took part), transport and the car industry, water pollution and strategies for change. GBAC has links with FOE, SERA, Science for People group at Aston University, Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Committee. During the winter NAM prepared out- line proposals for the use of the post office building as a leisure centre and these were presented in the form of drawings and diagrams at the first AGM of the GBAC on March 16 where they received unanimous approval. Following on from the meeting the alternative plan was brought before the UCATT regional committeeiand a resolution of support was passed.TheproposalswereBroughtupat the next Birmingham Trades Council meeting, received considerable support from the delegates anda resoltion of support. At the AGM of the West Midlands TUC the proposals received the unanimous approval from officials of just about all the unions in the West Midlands. why NAM is involved GBAC seek from NAM technical advice, in return NAM istaking part in a revolution- ary and historic departure in the develop- ment of the British trade union movement. been cushioned for the building industry by the continuation of Local Authority housing programmes, most of which have only recently been cut back. At the moment the Government is cutting back on Stae expenditure in order to return the money to private hands. As well as limiting actual wages it is reducing that part of the social wage represented by the housing will ensure that the new estates stand apart from the existing urban fabric. A survey in Camden showed that the main complaint of tenants was that they dislike living in well defined estates, separate from local streets, Perhaps it is too early to evaluate the social effects of suburban housing in cities, but one can be confident that the form will not be satisfactory for long. As the market is stimulated, prices and cost will rise, and the industry kept ticking over by LA work, builders will head for the better profits in the suburbs, the DOE will declare new policy for dealing with the problems of public housing to suit new emerging problems in the industry, and the tenants will still be . future pointers As we head towards another phase of policy it is worth noting that there are several emerging factors which may effect housing in the future. Firstly the introduction of block grants, a limit up to which each LA can sye~ i, This would not only transfer admim~ stion and respons- -ibility to,the love sufficiently to cover inflation, also imposed maximum limits on site development costs. A third type of change was made in that new procedures and approval request stages were introduced, which slowed down the 4¢eVv¢lopmen.t procecess while inflati asTac’ while inflation was racing ahead. These three components radically y to,the locale 21,but may also be affect not only the form of new Local Viable sites for building, but also reduce the volume of and unit cost, and, in al effect cuts by technical, rather than political means. back to spec housing While these cuts are dressed in the thetoric of improving standards; and who families, and lower buildings are bad, in seen as freeing councils from sume VOE control, and its attendant bureaucracy, This scheme was delayed, the DOE wanted to shed some of its workload, but could not allow policy implementation to be threatened. The latest suggestion is that the DOE actually retains all its procedures and controlling devices, lumbering the councils with even more administrative tasks, The second idea is one of tenants self management (Haringey experiment), and their involvement in the design stage. The‘softcop’architectconvincestenants of the need and logic of DOE housing, hereareotherunderlyingeffectswhich are perhaps potentially unsatisfactory, especially when the formulae are applied GLC wasstillconductingsurveystoshowthat tenants actually liked tower blocks, Central Government had recognised their financial failure.TheHousingCostYardstick,intro- tourbanareas,Theformofhousingnow forms,andleavesthetenantswithallthe NewPostOFrice FrontEtevation—— This new form of housing isoften as Cooperation between professional and site workers has not hitherto character- ised the building industry, _ Two NAM members who have worked closely with Birmingham based Green Ban Action Committee describe the development of the campaign to save Victoria Square Post Office mounted by local building union shop stewards, Friends of the Earth and the Victorian Society. They show the of the splendid Victorian post office in the city centre, a Liberal councillor presented a detailed history of the planning consent for the demolition of the post office and the proposed redevelopment. Amid the subsequent enthusiasm of the various trades unionists, environment- alists and preservationists present, the suggestion was taken up to formajoint committee to launch a Green Ban Move- _ ment in this country, thestoryso far The first actions of the committee were tostartapetition(whichcollected 20,000 signatures), hold a public rally, and to seek resolutions of support from the trade unions, such as EEPTU, AUEW- TASS, ASTMS, NUPE, NALGO, UCATT, TGWU. Support was forthcoming from local MPs, and County and City councillors. Following the rally in March 1976, NAM was asked to prepare a planning report on the implications of the redevel- opment with respect to the city and the financial return that was to be expected. Part of the report reappeared in the first Green Ban Action Committee's broadsheet which listed the arguments against the potential for the expansion of the “Green and draw lessons from their tower block housing all at more or less the same Authority housing and limit the mumber of tower block housing to offices was an easy one, Could argue lower densities, gardens for actually rose, rather than fel. In 1968, while the ‘Me face of criticism of previous forms? subsidies for tal housing blocks, well before the #5 that being built by private developers complaints about endemic social problems, Thes@"4 poor market, and now able to its tower block policy and its financial failure oYardst icksubsidies simply gave more money for those sites back to private developers, & high densities and expensive sites; building land working against the proclaimed ©. was becoming expensive to develop ,and the ~ Government did not want Local Authority a building programmes to be held up for the lack result that less family houses (lower factors helped the Government retreat from The third factor is the relaxation of Parker Morris standards (already allowed to a limited extent to encourage modular dimensioning), to reduce space standards, already pretty low. This would then now stagnation after the last boom, needed the housing in this form, and there is no other State to maintain high building activity, so that choice, is quite unviable. Local allow councils more option of using package deals from private developers using their Own standard models, and to further buy unsold housing from the privatemarket, neither of which usually conform to the Parker Morris standards, Behind all this there is still the continuing ideological investment in owner occupation as the normal mode of housing. Many studies have shown that not only is this unavail- -able to 50% of the population, but the market cannot allow it to be otherwise. Briefly, as wages go up, and mortgages become more accessible, so house prices tise to above the level that 50% can afford. Or alternatively, as more houses are built, Prices and profits threaten to drop and activity ischannelled elsewhere. Besides this, the type of housing most urgently required can never be built profitably, and continued on p. 15 AND ETHERGREENEEAN intentions of the Community Land Act. The variable density limitations have the density limit) are being built inpreference of non family housing (higherdensity Authorities must now consider selling Federation has been closely identified with the Green Bans in Australia in which building workers were able to take indus- The New South Wales Building Labourers trial‘action for environmental Purposes. Jack Munday, their former General Secretary, who was in Britain in January 1976 at the invitation of the Centre for Environmental Studies, was asked to speak on the Australian experience at a public meeting in Birmingham. At the meeting, organised by people SLATE 4page 11 The necessity for links between NAM and the trade unions cannot be overstressed NAM’s campaign to unionise architectural workers was established as a major priority of NAM’s second Congress at Blackpool. These. wider links not only strengthen NAM’s hand in its negotiations but add credibility in its forthcoming cam- paign. But in addition, in NAM’s future campaigns, for example for the reform of ARCUK, it may well need to mobilise trade union support to give it political muscle. It should be understood that the work for the campaign has been undertaken by only four people and has assumed a secon- dary role in our primary involvement with NAM's issue groups, but it is the beginning of a test-bed for some of NAM’s ideas and possible future policies. Through the work we have begun to establish links with other groups such as SERA and FOE and we have become involved in and contributed to other campaigns and issues, for example asbestos, safety on building sites, the role and structure of the building industry. It is also a first step in building the new clientele, that is an alternative system of patronage. develop in them some political conscious- ness. the role of NAM Our role is fourfold: 1) To make a technical study of the GPO building, report on its structure and fabric and assess its possibilities for re-use and conversion, and to assess the proposals of the GBAC. 2) To organise in physical and theoretical terms a strategy that would reconcile many disparate functions together with several sponsoring organisations, variable forms of financing and phasing of the conversion. 3) To identify areas of study to be undertaken by others; for example we have proposed that a financial feasibility of the alternative plan be carried out. 4) Propaganda: by using drawings, diagrams and other means to demonstrate to working people the possibilities of re-using the building, and to strengthen the support already given to the campaign by the trade unions by canvassing viable alternatives. future perfect In conclusion it must be clearly stated communist party rally at Alexandra Palace, are perhaps untypical. In other words it would be not so much immodest, as inaccurate to describe our association with GBAC as ‘community architecture’. It is precisely such inhibitions which provide the challenge. There are sound theoretical reasons why NAM has not dissipated its energy in umpteen local projects, but concentrated on broader analysis and structural change. In the meantime, however, many of NAM’s most active members continue in regular jobs becoming increasingly aware ofa widening gap between their practise and their beliefs. The process of reconciling the former to the latter is a personal jour- ney that each architectural worker must make for themselves. The professional habits formed in ten years of practise -or even the professional expectations formed in seven years of training -will not change over night. They will be eroded, modified, transformed over long years of self-questioning and reeduca- tion. The work with GBAC has proved as good a point of departure as any, It may be already too late to save the victorian post office in Birmingham. This would be sad, but it would not be the end of the story -rather the beginning. For it will mark the first step in the difficult but inside Yarm continued from p. 6 This display of industrial strength was enough to get Nichols to call in the local branch of the Government's strike solving arm, the Advisory and Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), but ittook the intervention of the firm’s principal client, the DHSS, before a settlement was reached, TASS’ local officials had taken the early initiative of writing to David Ennals, Minister of Health, pointing out that wage levels at Nichols were about half those in departments doing similar work inside the DHSS. __ Either one of two conclusions could be drawn; Nichols was making inordinate profits out of govern- ment contracts, or the DHSS was getting cut price work done at the expense of low paid architectural workers, ‘These sugg; estions appear to have caused Ennals considerable embarrassment sufficient to lead him to write, within the week, to Nichols telling him to “get those people of the streets”, referring to the pickets, Three meetings were held with ACAS during the strike, At the first Ron Long- worth pursuaded ACAS to accept TASS’s proposals in principal as their return to work formula, © Nichols held out however and came to the second meeting with his own proposals, ‘Longworth found Nichols so obstructive at this second meeting that he walked out after less than five minutes anditwasnotuntilaweeklater,onthe “neutral ground” of the local labour ex- change, that agreement was reached ona somewhat diluted parcel of good intentions, But not least of al it contributes to a broader image of NAM. NAM is primarily that in substance, if not in spirit, REVIEW OF THE LEVELLER AND WEDGE Thislastyearhasseentheemergenceoftwo Italianfreeradioandamongothers,the political but our involvement does help to belie the accusation that we do not actually get our hands dirtyand begin to practise what we preach, It may even attract architectural workers who are more receptivetodrawingsandtechniqueand photo: roles do not yet differ radicatly from con- ventional architectural services. Neither is the relationship with the ‘client’ espec- ially innovative, although such activities as designing and building (and manning) theGBAC’s propagandastandattherecent exciting process of .tadicalising ourselves a andeachother. cAt = two new independent socialist publications which are unlike anything that has been seenaroundforalongtime.Justovera year ago now the ‘Leveller Cooperative’ produced its first, ‘pilot issue’, featuring a report by Mark Hosenball and Philip Agee on British Intelligence involvement in Angola, which went on in the Levellers’ words to ‘catch the eye of Merlyn Rees’ and lead, in turn, to the campaign for imigrants’ rights based around the deportation orders on the two journalists, in which the Leveller itself played a leading role. Besides equally trenchant pieces of investigation, in the “radical journalist’s style”, into political chicanery and military brutality in Northern Ireland, among others, it has carried more analytic articles on the contradictions in Tony Benn’s worker cooperative policies, exploitation in the fashion trade, the politics of the baking industry and the wages for house work campaign. Of direct interest to architectural workers was an investigation of polution problems in the neighbourhood of the London Brick Company’s plant in Bedfordshire. Less easily accused of dealing in radical hell-raising for its own sake is the first issue ofa new quarterly called ‘Wedge’ - a “magasine of cultural practice and theory” Wedge’s genesis as the coming together of two groups, students from Kent University who had in minda theoretical journal dealing with Marxist cultural analysis, and people who work in “cultural production” (the cinema, journalism, advertising and so on) who wanted apublication around first part of an article by Jennifer Jones, an architect and founder member of Skillpool, whichdemonstrateshowthedevelopment of domestic architecture has paralleled. if not been determined by, the evolution of the family structure from an egaliterian integrated unit of production in Medieval times, to the present day, when production is entirely outside the home and the house is seen as a male-dominated centre of re-production. Jennifer Jones argues that the very design of houses has come to encapsulate and reinforce the secondary role into which contermporary society forces the majority of women. Both the Leveller and Wedge are collectively edited and produced by committees working almost entirely in their spare time and are non-sectarian in their editorial policies. The Leveller has also developed a degree of readership control through its constitution as a registered Cooperative Friendly Society, of which al subscribers are members and entitiled to vote at annual general meetings on al aspects of the journal’s policy. At its recent second AGM the Leveller decided to publish monthly from September and has launched an appeal for further “founding subscribers” to capitalise its expansion. THE LEVELLER :Published monthly by the Leveller Magasine Ltd., 155a Drummond Street, London NW1; single copies 35p; annual subscription £5.00 post paid. WEDGE: Published quarterly from 30, Hornsey Park Road, London N7; 56pp; single copies 75p; subscription rate not yet announced; distribution from 56a Shirland Road, London W9. Both magasines are also distributed by the ications Distribution Coop; 27 Cl Close, London ECI. London NW1; 36pp; single copies 35p; annual subscription £5.00 post paid. BriamMoauthéus-CnaunmonofWestNvidhandsTU.C-mntowerofGreenBamBannateFurblicry Concretegainsforthestrikersarerest- ticted to an across the board pay rise of 10%, better at least than Nichols earlier \ ] and offers, and promises of consultations over staff grading, overtime pay and holidays, and ,most important, union recognition, While TASS claims that there is de facto recognition anyway, Nichols intends to give his “answer” in four months’ time. Hopefully all the TASS members will be able to maintain their determination that long in the face of continuing pressure from Nichols, On the positive side relations in the office are friendlier than they were before the strike, work is less pressured and the union members have gained a great deal of confidence, They have realised their collective strength and will certainly feel less timid and circumspect the next time there is an issue to raise with their employer. Although it has been moderately succ- essful for the workers at Nichols, the story of the Yarm strike holds cautionary lessons for other architectural workers. The strike was not won, in the end, by industrial strength but by touching the nerve ends of a leading politician, This was possible as much because the strikers, with TASS’s advice, were able to win the sympathy of the local press, as it was due to the accept- ance of the “justice” of their cause by Ennals Ennals, Faced with an employer with better public relations skills and political contacts, industrial strength may prove to be of greater importance in future union negotiations in architects offices and when that time comes it will have to be sought from other groups of workers who will Want to know how architectural workers see their work developing to Al i which to base the organisation of workers in their field, gave rise to a two part magasine in which the central section “Art Attacks”, carries news from paigi like Music for Socialism and against cuts in the theatre. The more theoretical remainder of Wedge features the Press, SLATE 4 page 12 SLATE 4 page 13 be of more social use. JZ! A ijE DROPOUT Hot on the heels of the recent clésure of Art Net, home of Peter Cook’s wine and architecture parties, news that the Architects Revolutionary Council is to of cards that isarchitectural professionalism would collapse, social benefits and al, if the fixed fee scale went. His bluff is about to be called. NAM’s London Group sent a report to the Monopolies Commiss- National Meeting of the Women in Construction and Manual Trades Group Contact: WIC, c/o, 21, Bouverie Rd., London, N.16. <x COAZeseeEes2 255 gas Seez2i eee BSG negs Gee Zea E28 222 08 & Se 2z && 28 of MO ES Spyee(2). pa! rethink its policies too. A gold watch for -ion * pointing out that the RIBA offered architectural thought and action must go to Brian Anson of ARC, whose sometime confusions are generously offset by his determination. ARC’s stentorian attacks on the RIBA will be no more, which is a pity because they opened a few eyes and gave voice to the feelings of many architectural workers. ARC got together intheheydayofdeveloperboominthe early seventies when the RIBA was clearly identified with the rape of the city centres and the destruction of working class neighbourhoods. Things are different now that the RIBA is dabbling in so-called ‘community architecture’ and the developers are slumbering, for a little while longer at least, as Capital organises the conditions for anew boom. Anson’s reported as believing that “the RIBA recognises the importance of community work”, Quite how that can be when its now more worthy leaders are aquiescing to massive cuts in the amount and standards of public housing and social building, especially in their much-beloved rehabilitation work, he doesn’t make clear. ARC, where are you now that the issues are not quite so black-and-white? RED RAG Slate has recently benefitted from constructive criticism of the Red Scare variety from a London Region trade union official who said that he hoped that the LondonBuildingDesignStaffbranchof TASS wasn’t about to get up to any of that “extreme leftism” promulgated through thatNAM newsletter. Those who seered when reading our pages should take off their rose-coloured spectacles. CIRCLES There's arumour going around that the long awaited Monopolies Commission report on Architects Fees has already been sent to the RIBA, and it looks as none too favourable to them. The mandatory minimum fee scale has been detlared monopolistic, we hear from a friendofa friendofaninfluentialRIBA Council member. We’re lucky, some of the Slater’s friends who work on the more takes more than an icing of Rod Hackney style “community architecture” to convince the Commission otherwise. But, who knows, the RIBA Council may be breathing asigh of relief, after al, they can now say to their membership, how can you have competition in fees without Councillors ,also at -Leeds -ithNovember, Birmingham - 15th November, Hull - 24th November, Contact; Unattatched Architect Councillors, c/o 73, Hallam St., London, W.1. 2nd November - London Junior Liaison Organisation Seminar “Trades Unionism for the Building Professions” possibly to sold off are the ‘profitable’ ones, leaving most estates to continue as rump housing. Much of the work of LA architects is involved in the translation of DOE policy into built form, interpreting new require- -ments and making cuts to fit the budget, It is necessary first to establish the ground rules, and expert DOE liaison officers, usuallyQSs,adviseonbasicformalrequire- <> -ments, juggle with densities, site areas, cautious trade journals have been ringing everyone they can think of to get an official indication of what’s going on, and have got nowhere. This isn’t surprising. The Institute’s Council must be running around in circles trying to work out what todo next and isn’tabout toletanyone stealamarch overthem. RIBA members have just let the Council know, quite clearly DIARY llth October - London TASS London Building Design Staff Branch Branch Meeting, PCL Students Union, 104-108, Bolsover St., London,W.1. 6.30pm -also on 8th November n aJ3s aoge a ; i atBeye a8 just what they think of the advertising idea. What will they say when they find thattheotherbastionofprofessionalism, thefixedfeescale,isbreached? Youcan ConferenceofSocialistPlanners Ohig3armascuesRene.aneOS a:8 332 Gee z a eae Sst z a ae mea oF: B Be be sure of some fast talking from Andrew Contact: CSP, 54, Addison Gardens, London, Derbishireatthisyear’sRIBAconference. W.14, He was the one who told the Monopolies Commission,amongothers,thatthehouse 22nd-23rdOctober-Leeds Ss SEPStesss ees Fe LSSESE nee ee ese g1 62582 =3aBe5 <—KBs advertising to advise the consumer about whoisundercuttingwho?Answerson PicadillyHotel,2.00pm,fee:£2.00 ; ed TYPICAL! O} the backof a glossy brochure, with price list to the Slater. * NAM Report to the £1.00 post paid from NAM, 9 Poland Street, London W1 Contact: The Secretary, The Institute of Structural Engineers, l,Upper Belgrave St., London, S.W.1. 25th -27th November - Hull New Archi M -Third National Congress, Hull School of Architecture, fee £5.00 Contact: NAM; 9 Poland St., London, W.1. housing mix, ancillary uses, open space, roads, access and other factors to extract maximum benefit from the Yardstick calculation, This is then negotiated with planners and Housing departments and feasability is ascertained, There is much cliff hanging suspense as the DOE officers study, evaluate and approve the feasibilty within the interpretations of latest policy, and then approve the budget, Already well outlined ,the scheme is then presented to council for approval, in terms so technical and bureaucratic, no criticism can be mounted or sustained. Chief architects are very sensitive to the DOE, any contradictions, misunderstand- -ings or wilful interpretations can invalidate a design, abort the scheme and threaten the housing programme. Councillors also appreciate the need to go along with accurately, quickly and uncomplainingly. rt jPortanyPuc THEYVE GOT THEIR FEES YOv NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN / ies Ce si NAM Publ Gp -lendera He nye 2dthin and wowld be very grolefd ( yon world There were one or two monuments, like Stonehenge, but they were probably put there by visiting Martians \............ [ BannisterFletcher, “Fell avaitasteNEW! FromNAM Stud me 5Seapts of cachof Ha Pow thee issues. ‘SuiLDINGS ics iL Ropeeventual botalkerOnor SawlvCeem | Kop y e fow Edinburg Booty Crladwe when hos Gear cece o LehPockrop|nreermg Mae:'Frstatthay 2S NQWeas St, efi T_ (31-557-1248) In amaced ak how Twan Architecture Calendar. Name Address Please rush me the 1978 New = 22nd October -Leeds cee Seoc sae Safer s 31st October -London longservicetothecauseofleftwing thepublicahollowbargain......itapparantlySurgeryforUnattatchedArchitectswithARCUK thegap.Theonlycouncilhousesthatcould Edinsven 3 26 Ialy ae a }, Ms 62s borwads VAM FEEP-} OA T2a aie a 2 e e ta tae z eae ues bso ss qf Pe ara Ge 4 ro 23 ota po o a 5 5 aoe s 2. ce = > z hat oe 3 eZ ae AS eS sg € Bs Bits s 5 Guna cua 39 ye i ei 5a rer O (8 peeeeeoes: Gen a EOeeu euteomc2Ainge eae elENCenaie Se See Leonie oie Oo s2Séeeeamgee = aes bene=: SB GES £3 ae és DayConference-“TheInnerCity” a>SomeeeamieoeSICEeBEGiSa22GE2sc8 MMUMEBHBESEUSSE 23YeGaz aSDp an3-OH 5=2SasZo2252 SSERSESSSSRE 2B _ aeeaie Bas 2a aze Zee eat continued from p. 10 the state isthe only agent capable of filling |x LCAN =e Allo, ‘allo, ‘allo - it isn’t legal yet. be Once upon a time there were no architects, planning officers or council estates, People were forced to live in unplanned caves, sub-standard tents or non- conforming huts, : ‘ government policy, e 4 A T = that other architectural historian, turns in his grave as l fthe Mother of the Arts in the 1978 of my bike with laughter .again” ...........Prof. Reyner Banham cartoonist Lou Hellman traces the history o! tto be the first person on my block to get re-educated. Gaudi and turn over twelve new leaves with our monthly history course in 1978. Reluctantly, Ienclose £1.00, which includes postage and packing. Post the coupon below or write to NAM 9, Poland Street, London, W.1. 4 page 14 SLATE SLATE 4 page 15 | London W.1. |NAME |ADDRESS | | | CAMDEN COUNCIL’S INTEN— tion to build 3000,000sq. ft. of offices on the contraversial Tolmers Square site represents a breach of faith with the people of Camden, claim the Tolmers Village Action Group in a comprehensive document of objections presented recently to Camden Council, The Greater London facilities such as restaurants, pubs, shops, launderettes, some public open space, a health clinic and a cinema to replace the exceedingly popular one which was destroyed in 1973. They also propose a minimum of 100,000 sq. ft. of housing equivalent to that currently in existance plus craft workshops, studios, light industry and small scale offices, If in Spite of more than 500,000 sq ft. Council and the Dept. of Environment. of office space in the immediate vicinity The six acre site, notorious for more than 20 years as a battleground for local people and property devel- opers, was won by the Council from property company, Stock Conversion and Investment Trust in the summer of 1975 after a prolonged campaign launched and supported by local people. Now just 2 years later, the Council propose to build more offices and less housing than the developers ever intend- ed. The Action Group have accused the Council of “behaving precisely like a spec- ulative developer’ -‘the Council is simply tryingtobuildasmuchasitcanofthe most profitable form of development’. The Action Group feels that, “It is precisely this narrow-minded attitude towards development in the past which has led to the social and environmental problems of our cities today”. They propose instead that the development be based on “‘a set of criteria founded on social need”; the area badly needs NENT ISSUE | | If you would like to receive SLATE without joining NAM fil in the form below and send it together | architectural education. ! | Poland Street, London W.1. I | | a| which remains empty, the council still feels it has to add its further quota, then it should do so by building over the adjacent Euston Road underpass, an eye- sore of approximately 80,000 sq. ft. ona road which is fast becoming a monument to some of the most sterile and anonymous office development ever produced. -anyone wishing to prepare a SyrGainete Cecorinent scheme for the area or offering letters ofsupport should contact: TolmersVileoeAon Group 12Tolmers Square London NW1 photoawapns Mow Tomes Aonunated by the Euusteu Tours (Above) ond Coumden COME'S IAest: 1 foWe Evstou Road (below). HES PRUGGEEICONGINUES SUBSCRIBE! ANTE ® TELEPHONE (HOME )’.. [ie you would like to be a member of the New Architecture Movement fil in the form below and send 1 | it together with a cheque/postal order (payable to the New Architecture Movement) for £5.00( if you'reemployed)or£2.00(ifyou'rearestudent,claimantorOAP)toNAM at9,PolandStreet We will also be taking another look at SLATE 4 page 16 with acheque/postal order (Payable to the New Architecture Movement )for £2.00 to NAM at Ch Slate 5 will investigate the practice of Architecture in other countries, Particular attention will be paid to the effects of diff- erent economic and political systems on forms of professionalism. SLATE 5 will appear after NAM’s third Annual Congress in Hull and will carry full reports of the proceddings. NAM 4977CONGRESS APPLICATION The 3rd annual congress of the New Architecture Movement will be taking place on the weekend. of the 25th,26th and 27th november 1977.This years event will be the 3rd NAM congress following the inaugural congress at HarrogateTM in 1975,and Blackpool in 1976.-The hosts for this year are the Hull group of NAM in conjunction with the Hull School of Architecture. The congress of '77 concludes a year of'action'during which NAM has emerged as a force within the architectural world.Much of:this'action'has stemed from the researches and and discussions carried out by NAM groups during 1976 which were aired and refined at the Blackpool congress. These'actions'include the following, NAM's May Unionisation Conference which chose T.A.8.S. within which to organise architectural workers. NAM's Unionisation groups report'Working for What'. NAM's presence in ARCUK representing the unattached Salaried architect. NAM's newspaper ‘Slate' the only radical paper for architectural workers. These public expressions of NAM as well as the less publicised ones are the issues around which NAM groups” form to work on.The groups which have issues clarified| enough to present a working paper use the congress workshops to enlarge the discussion and to put forward ~ motions for the congress to adopt. Workshops so far proposed for this years congress cover; EDUCATION, NATTONAL DESIGN SERVICE ,UNIONISATION, ARCUK, WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE! SLATE !CONSTITUTION, A fuller list of workshop options will be included in the final briefing package. tear off and return to 9,Poland st,London,W1 NAM 1977 CONGRESS APPLICATION DATE einlaleloiniolelelareleicietatelonn/a/i NAMEciccis.00.00ececaiaieieonicrcleosloDDREGSseicvercterntoreleloialerolevereiereialetericie @eeoeoeeeoeoeveeoeooeeeoeesee2e2eGe2ad I enclose £5.00 COneT ess fee _and require accomodation do not I require bed and breakfast accomodation @ £2620. Bee Beane perso} :1/2 nights : sSingle/double “TOPAT. eecvecvece I require the alternative accomodation @ 50p per night 1/2 nights TOTAL slelcleleielaele I enclose a cheque payable to the New Architecture Movement for the following amount Dicioteleletaleleleletatele What is NAM,? | | | t ! The programme for the congress begins with registration at 7.30pm on friday 25th november followed by an introduction and discussion.A buffet will be provided. Saturday is bound up with congress workshops/general sessions and public forum/discussion in the late afternoo followed by a social eva ng, food,drink and chat, -he NAM agm takes place on sunday morning with an alternative event which is a tour de Hull.for those not directly involved in NAM. 4ue congress ends after lunch on Sunday afternoon, The cost of the congress includes meals for the 3-days. A more detailet brogramme will be included in the final briefing, ; The New Architecture Movement ("NAM") aims, through the col- lective action of architectural workers and other concerned people, to play an active role in radically altering the sys- tem of patronage and power in architecture. It seeks an archi- -‘tectural practice directly accountable to all who use its pro- ducts and democratically controlled by the workers within it. NAM aims thereby to promote effective contol by ordinary people over their environment and by architectural workers over their working lives. NAM: challenge to professi Fram Moris Williams RIBA TASS chosen as architects’ =)” . Unionisationofworkersinarchitects’offices,theea gists:NewunionbyNAMconference mentofaNationalDesignService,anddemocrSir: ‘NEW the Architects’ Registration Acts are three major We were interésted, a couple of All people employed in private sector offices in the building to be launched by the New Architecture Mov prcck Sapo, (osce pha the Y no union is already recognised are urged to followingtheirsecondannualcongressheldjRCHITEC Technical,AdministrativeandSuperv'sory Rr RNS Gs sciraes ; women at the local authorit principle of lay control over the entire profes Heatrinetncardatenetthere a report prepared by NAM’s Private Practice Grou} jaye the feudalism: the serfs ARCUKis,infact,largelydominatedbytheRIETheNewArchitectureMove- stamped, self-addressed envelope) ERINeA citeens Movement, thecloak, of a registered trades malgamated Union of Engineering Workers i e fMoice ni- 5It the second largest white collar union in the private sector. Although part of the 1400 000 strong AUEW, TASS remains ctural workers will be able to have NAM on ARCUK intheunionwhichwilallowthema ray tered institutions in related building professions. %c¢e¢°mmodation for two nights, cians Association), has over 140 000 members which made up of empreyers in th Sing ifeeery : The congress resolved to prepare for a campaign ; proper public accountability into architectural 26, 27 and 28 November radical revision of the Architects’ Registr ie layrepresentationexceedsprofessionalreRIBAthreelinewhipstalls utonomyoveritsownindustrialand the latter reflects accurately the proport workersandimanagement? 3 £8. Further details: NAM xe , ; ANational Design Service The establishment of a National Design Moyement (NAM) gaining places on committees in the free ‘Nich will be capable of providing major priority for the movement, in or elections. (These are for posts not filled automatically under f industrial disputes. the ultimate goal of direct control over resources by local people so that architect: to those who are really affected by their « nises that major changes in this area are changes in the wider political system bu Asbestos reconsidered -< things now fr the ‘sentlemen’s agreement’ between ARCUK’s constituent Vly on the part of women who com- ie membership. hitects, in last eady connected with the building in- leNew Archi- ‘th the AUEW’s Construction Engin- ;_ use of the several hundreds of em- sssions who are already TASS mem- FromMorrisWillianadmMasrkobjectives<profession’.Theirmayorcriticismof} isWhatitis|andengineeringstaffinindustry. Glesen for Central London i i i Group, the New Architecture 07 t0 M@Ke a largely dominated by the RIBA, with salaried architects, tech- STENCE tO select TASS will come as a ee: users,and,stniciageape)layeoeonleey-wepreg(AZ8.12.76p1065).vhowouldhaveexpectedtheSTAMP Sir: oneddesignjinQSth26th‘O79tfNAMmem-=theobviouschoice;beingtheunion Your article, ‘Asbestos alternative materials’ (4 p1041),whilelongov ignores certain imports and is misleading on ot and more architects ar to specify building mat containing amy type of eahreibelicvenhatece will do so after reading a : TERE “ l to Council as a serious threat. Before the annual meeting ith the building industry. But speakers “h : "has extremely poor back-up facilities VEMBE Kcommittees, :ef ige, uel wks the RIBA, cir- wide much support for recruitment, os 1 its own finances, staff, headquarters RIBA representatives on ARCUK closed ranks at last week’s MY © develop in their own way. At annual meeting to prevent members of the New Architecture Tétain the advantages of being in a ed a leter to al bers on Is the New Architecture Movement (NAM) rew attention to Bl Begtnigelections f sys : : . ‘tects’placeswhttond li‘havWeith itsaim ofa‘democratic architecture’ sa :Sd : : eople who are committed to changing tPOSINE a threat to the establishment? by-passing the institute. It is import’ There must be some worries that its e ac T . . . precautions you recom‘ little light reading PiefenreflectingusonFromaidisgustedarchitec: meSaabs coConon flences bemg feltwheniseveral tof the RIBA representatives.’ likelihodoftthheeiractuST!Tealitleshockedtose©ci.rculatedali'stofRIBAvenomir:membershaveadmititedthattheyare nature of the sources tcthe perspective, in your issue of ies for the various committees, whi afraid to reveal their identity for fear of youhaverefered.FORUINFORMATIONSANDDETWHAEEITONLASI!oo BoLotDiseH eNAMhas We suggest that archi hich Hellman works. How in-~ 57 al] the seats otherspecifiersshoulddulgenthisemployermustbe— Aneice caCORna Tee Come 2long way inayear (p1065) anandhas heir faith in inadequat{uorescent lights amd individual “ 7 ae saeiards dependent ulighting! Ihave found one ur merely strengthened his view put forward a number of proposals worthy infeasiblemeasuring140Wattbulbbetweenapairof tionofARCUK neededtobechallerOfdebate, backed up by useful research. erism d T! 7? Unionisation i iam 0) y c This is the recommendation of a special one-day TradeunionorganisationofarchitecturalandalMOVEMENT ontradeunionisminarchitectureandtheallied isnowamajorpriorityofNAM.Whileunionis;')*/2TMs° ene inDulildingprofessions,sponsoredbytheNewArchitecture seen as a panacea for the ills of the profession, it is the NALGO closed shop. These Movement in London last Saturday. An organising CO Ce an essential step towards the democratisation of 4 shops, we are told, are currently has been instructed by the conference to make a recruiting practice. What has not yet been determined is wh under construction in the very drive. tectural workers should form a new union, or w Precincts of nota few local The decision comes after six months of debate and research shouldallywithexistingunionssuchasUCATISeesesateecratine?intowhichunionwouldbemostsuitableforarchitectsand or the TGWU. But the congress was clear that in they will be too, we are told, to Other allied workers. A committee set up by the New Archi- effective, all employees in private practice should the free enterprise spiritofthe tecture Movement’s Congress in Blackpool last November has of the same union rather than dividing their for Profession. had negotiations with officials from ASTMS (Association of differentunions.ThecongresshassetupanorgaSIRE Scientific,TechnicalandManagerialStaffs),STAMP(Sup- mittee which will make detailed recommendations 2-chitectural meachiceniee d ervisory, Technical, Administrative, Managerial and Profes- conference in 1977 to launch the unionisation cam guaintly feuda, 4of sional section of UCATT), TGWU (Transport and General association wy everal Workers Union) and TASS. Detailed briefings were prepared DemocratisationofARCUK YEATES!EEO)there, gnamal-bythecommitteeontheadvantagesofeach,andlastSatur- TheArchitects’RegistrationActsarealso¢py a immediate NAM action. The current public disi the RIBA. V the profession shows that there would be consideré one of its objectWemras for such action. The Acts establish, however ineff: fter the interests of the men and UPon request (accompanied’by a the committee in favour of tectural mz Of , pf om con th an gt The New Architecture Movement ‘cally to decide on one union. d that has prepareda concise, two-page 10m 25 were NAM members. tolook leafletonasbestosavailable,free,nitectsinprivatepractice. D Feb E Greenies ecte qu wii ta gt le Ha Htiin ra N.A.M. HAS A Sane AT INTERBUILD : WE NEED HELP IN PREPARATION, MOUNTING AND MANNING THE STAND PLEASE CONTACT LIASON GROUP, NAM. 9 POLAND ST. LONDON W1. > ~e ~” 2 a g Oo g a + 2 = —_ =& a z < os =x - is ~ _ = = oO -4 < Zz © ~ = 5) < On — < 2 a < [~ = = - Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Andrew Brown/FLeP Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September/October 1977 https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/268c3ca1c8813cbda2c3144758380b71.pdf 8d4e3e24015950166aadd3025f73b362 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 5 Subject The topic of the resource Contains: 'SLATE Interbuild Special' 'Monopolies Commission Report on Architects' Services: A Straightforward Guide' Description An account of the resource nod december january St ---NAM seeks a& archité€ctural practice accountabl to all those wh& use igs products and democratical controlled by ee workers within it... —eeebrepts to slate’, n., a., & v.t. 1, Iinds ofgrey, green, or bluish-purple rock easily split into flat smooth plates; plece of such plate used as roofing-material; piece of it ‘usu. framed In wood used for writing on '|LYONS’ SHARES Congratulations to the ASTMS group at 66, Portland Place, RIBA headquarters. They have won negotiating rights from their employer, the RIBA Council, without even so much as a picket line, a strike or a Trotskyist on the horizon. But only just, it would seem, as not all RIBA Council members are entirely convinced that Trades Unionism really is the best thing since the VilleRadieuse. Amongthosewith reservations is, Past President, Eric Lyons, whoappearstohavebeenlearninghisind- ustrialrelationstacticsfromGrunwickboss, George Ward. Hewas heard to suggest, at arecentCouncilmeeting,thatthoseempl- oyeeswhohadnotjoinedASTMSshould be rewarded for their “loyalty” with a RIBA trieson ARCUK coup AN UNASHAMED attempt to interfere with the democratic process by which ‘unattatched tio;~nsdla)ck,-blue,-grey,modifications SaneraltDenes Sea ee Tahoegee ee pee 2. nal Gta) ots: ¥.t cards thas e(olate£.OFesclate,fem,ofesclatsxactt sitedBecee cubaizesare *nominate, propose for office eto, Hones slit’iso%(l)n.[ap.f,preo.} specialpayrise. His,lastditchattempt supported, Architect-style, in acharmingly muddled,goodhumouredmanner, He plainly delighted the smattering of partnerarchitectsinhisaudianceashe plied them with ideas on what tosay SLATE ISTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE N onitwilbetheASTMSgroupwhoare handing out pay rises. SLATE 5 page 2 colleagues. They are John Allan, Anne Delaney, Alan Lipman, Bob Maltz, David Roebuck, Ken Thorpe, Ian Tod, and Tom Woolley ARCUK ELECTIONS SLATE S page 3 o NAA U-~Se~=”-“= to retain his patronage failed. From now ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT,published bimonthlybytheMovement’sLiaisonGrougTASSGIRL whenfacedwithadrawingoficefulof and edited on its behalf by an adhoc comm- rebellious staff. He’s just what the Apparently getting publicity by paying for __ Institute needs at a time when its MONOPOLIES BOMBSHELL So Gordon Graham, the RIBA’s new TheUK‘profession’asawholeancreased ARCUK majority by 2 percent to 24, 874. The gain by the : anata wasattheexpenseoftheRIBA, wants SAfrican shares and sympathisers should beware of letting the RIBA gain control of unattatched seats on Council, he said. Were that to happen their councillors would become little more than henchmen of the RIBA — muchas the Trade Union representatives on Council have. FOR A HANDFULL OF SILVER... For my part I can’t now remember whether shame or anger was the more powerful reaction, |do remember feeling as though Iand my fellow NAM members had each been kicked in the belly 26 times, while 13 colleagues, fellow architects, stood by watching. The number of unattatched architects 3 2 should be little doubt in SLATE those who are not members of the RIBA or 7Here —"€4ders’ minds over how essential it What price one must ask, architects’ clairrs one of the other, minor, bodies recognised by 4 that NAM members continue to represent that, as members of a liberal profession, they the 1931 Architects Registration Act — increas tHe unattatched architects on ARCUK'’s provide dissintrested service to society as Ib dented32 percentduring”Council,HereAlanLipman,ARCUK whole?WhatpriceARCUKandRIBA a ~sed|by an unprecedeni Pe 8 Councillor and NAM member, describes how thetoric about the the past year. The unattatched numbered i pzofession’s social pase) es esirac aese Sasa) ~ 4120asof31stOctober1977andnow pay Council wilTesponsibility?Whatprice...?Council comprise17percentoftheUKprofession. thesaeTuasorely,eoSire_ hasanswered:themiserableinterest Twoyearsago,beforeNAMmadeitscall OUETAUL arEptPeden&‘i f andtheshamefulprofitonalousy interestof profit, and alludes to the forareformedARCUK,andbeforeNAM- embarassment’thattheee investment of £158 -10 —less surely thanthirtypiecesofsilver. -affiliatedarchitectswereelectedtorepresent Councillorshavecausedtoestablishec the unattatched on the Architects Registration ”#¢rests on Council during the lastyear. Council, this figure was only 1 percent. : : whichideclmedsbyjamiunprecedented 3 of the minor ‘constituent bodies’ who are not, at the same time, RIBA members. The NAM member representatives of the majority of their fellow Council members. Since our election some nine months ago we've repeatedly asker awkward avenions, Because of the increase in the number of unattatched architects, their representation touched on sensitive issues and braeche: ali on ARCUK will increase to 9, from 7 last year. There isone representative per 500 architects,orpartthereof.TheRIBA Council can appoint 40 representatives to ARCUK this year. unspokeai understandings, And we’ve not wee Tach HneseaWere notites Ikvat ease inthe genteel, the sub-public school atmosphereofCouncil.Norhavewebeen familiar with the manicured protocol in which ARCUK’s procedures are embalmed. JOHN ALLAN ANNE DELANEY ALAN LIPMAN BOB LTZ / MA JOHN MURRA Yad DAVID ROEBUCK KEN THORPE IAN TOD aedSELattatne iscapable—itscrassrejectionofhumane TOMWOOLLEY for the electi The unattatched are the only people \ontheRegisterofArchitectswhoare "entitled to directly elect their representatives, sometimes hilarious encounter. On this Ballotpaperswillbesenttoalunattatched 9¢casion,however,eventdsiclosedamore A 1facet of the behaiviour of architects during January. Nine NAM 4 hich tide RIBA-dominated gathering At its most recent meeting Council revealedanotherdimensionofthisbizarre, their 4120 constitu>ents what tihfey hav.e 5 of MOD eharersesi:in Consolidated Goldfields at 155p each, a cost of £158 - 10” Amazed been trying to do in the Council during the past year and asked for their comments carneSETcaeee piedwatersofseamen South ani le public. In the let > 1 Tican mining combine, | tabled a motion, onlychancetheunattatchedrepresentatives ThiscalledontheMeetingtoinstruct principle in favour of financial gain. A harsh evaluation? Judge for yourself: Ina letter sent out with the Notice of purity the meeting Council was requested Election, the representatives explained to CbyommitsittFieneanctioalenadnodrsGeene“rtahel taPkuirnpgoseups... 75 f: have to communicate with their ‘constituents’ ARCUK’s officers urgently to withdraw the the unattatched were also asked to make investment and to report on other investments, that ARCUK should be paddling in the architects’ select their own councillor-representativesfor ARCUK has been launched by the RIBA. known their work situation to give the tang in companies operating in South Africa representativesabetterideawhoarethe atl eae eeeDante council unattatched. Not so. Apart from one supporting voice, al who spoke to the motion dissented: |had itesetupinJanuary 197. itismore dificultthangetingitfre, monopoly ofthepublicearasthe News and features of broad interest to . pete a itali fesion’ hpiece is bei workersintheprofession,thebuilding Thisstartling CAUCE 5 area chall ab NAM. date industryandtothegeneralpublicareincl- ethicwasbroughthometoTASS2Building g1eae a a See a ,Who form the vast of issues and to bring the Movement’s views } when they tried to pay Morgan Grampian __ majority of the RIBA’s membership, wil uded to stimulate debate on a wide range Design Staff national and activities to the attention of the largest fa tidy sum for distributing their recruitment be more wary of Mr Moxley’s ideas, possible readership. leaflet tucked between the pages of Building OURNEWCOVERPRICE Design.TheideaizetogettheleafletontoWAFFLE We have been able to reduce the cover Jatchitectural workers drawing boards in time price of SLATE from 40p to 25p as a res- for the Interbuild exibition and so drum up Two NAM members who were invited to LATES!\)SLATEN WSL -affiliated Councillors said that the RIBA was apparently not satisfied with controlling 85 percent of council seats and now 5 73, Hallam St., London, WI, to.correct the mistake and ensure that they recieve ballot the speakers dwelt on the promised profit, the anticipated pickings from the investment wishes to assert its power in al the groups. All unattatched architects, NAM b papers, —a sum of £158 -10! And how sensibly the guaged the mood of Council. The voting count was7 in favour, 26 against and 13 abstentions, Clearlyworriedaboutthenewfound De UNeCMeDEE“broughtpoliticsintoCouncilaffairs”, percent to 19,618 (79 percent of UK ‘unattatched architects’ on the Architects 7 architects,agianst85percenttwoyearsago).RegistrationCounciloftheUnitedKingdom FOR DEMOCRACY energy of the unattatched, the RIBA is look at SLATE 3,which containedseveral feature sponsoring its own slate of candidates in articles devoted to the topic. theforthcomingARCUKelections.A Anyunattatchedarchitectswhohavenotyet Withdrawing investments “won't help the blacks” and... Above al, however, and ironically,thediscussionbetrayedafarfrom subtlyexpressedpreoccupation withthe familiar“businessisbusiness”arguments,All fe, h tNAM. spokesperson forthepresen recievedanoticefromARCUKoftheforthcoming < electionshouldwriteimmediatelytotheRegistrar Theremaining1136architectsaremembers (ARCUK)havenotendearedthemselvesto ON ARCUK SLATEispublishedbytheLIAISONGROUP oeformerchairmanoftheACA,Raymond oftheNEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, | Moxley.Ray’smeteoricrisetothetopof disheveledprivatePracticepartners 9,PolandSt.,London.W1. : Waitingfortheircopies oftheevil "|thearchitecturalpilesufferedanundignified ‘eportonpublicationday.Hearrived Printed by E undignifiedsetbackearlierthisyearwhen onlytohearthattheStationeryOffice the Institute’s unenlightened membership _had shut up shop on account of a bomb failed toelect him toCouncil. IsRay Scare. Was the culprit Mr Graham ina suitable’ forhighoffice?Caughtinaction lastditchattempttoblockpublication? at the Junior Liaison Organisation's recent We can only speculate. Those who believe seminar on Trades Unionism in the Build. __ that the profession's monopoly is a good ~ing professions (reported elsewhere in thing can at least take consolation from Islington Community Pres, 2a)StPat;Rd. a Typesetting by the publicationsgroup enquirersforTASS’’sstandthere. The wiley advertising managers at BD strung {the Committee along right up to the last minute, then said no, by which time, of jcourse, it was too late for TASS to turn theCambridgeSchoolofArchitectureto spread the word about the Movement were amused to learn that the students there hab- itually take their guest speakers to a rest- aurant called “Waffles” fora meal, before ultofthesettingupofanetworkof30 representatives throughout schools and large practices al over the country. The only committment of each representative will be to receive 5 copies of SLATE every zacuarefepoet4ofthem,re- toBD’sarch-rivalsattheArchitectsJournal,themeeting.Previousspeakersinthe urnin; . oO i il i ies i RIBA president Gordon Te system /stouldlsonA SGrATE Ironically BD continues to give TASS a series included 4 4 * y reasonable press in its editorial pages. Graham and Brian Anson of ARC. We intelayrepesnotheamisonreot”[Stlkaowgthevayhataveang aunhieSec radicals concerned with the industry and the environment, managers; mindswork, none of this should meals. come as such a surprise, as after all, TASS’s WORK ON SLATE SLATE needs more workers, more sober leaflet could hardly be expected to match the sex-appeal of CatGirl, writers, more ideas and more Teps in order to produce a better, larger and chea ernewsletter. If you etd like to % work for SLATE; becomea rep., join the committee, send in articles or suggest topics | The Slater’s hot tip for the next president it should cover then contact us soon, The copy deadline for the next issue is Friday 27th January 1978 5 president has pleged the Institute todo all itcan to fight the Monopdlies Commission's Proposals to take the profession apart, but will he stop at nothing? Apparantly, not, according to one of the Slater’s colleagues who raced off to her Majesty’s Jubilee Stationary Office to join the queue of RAY’S RISE of the RIBA is none other than that Scourge of collectivism, bureaucracy and al that’s rotten in Britain today, |architecture’s answer to Maggie Thatcher, with ~-pencil orsmall rodof soft~ (clean the ~, rid oneself of or renounce oblign+ Bra IMaeTn See this isue) he showed himselafn able debater as he delivered a subtle yet the fact that the Minister was sympathetic enough to delay publication until after the RIBA’s Annual Conference. pernicious smear on Trades Unionism, government review ignores housing need extent to which unions and their activitites are maligned and mis- -tepresented by the mass media. comes to negotiating, it is far more desirable later date, but, in the words of CRITICISM of the Government’s Green Paper on housing, issued in June this year, is marshalling. The Green Paper, a voluminous document supported by no less than three supplementary technical documents of comparable magnitude, was intended to form the basis of a housing consensus by which housing could effectively be removed from the political arena. When launching what was originally a review of housing finance — subsequently extended when it was decided this could not be con- -sidered in isolation — Anthony Crossland spoke of ‘getting rid of this desperate social problem once and for al’. Ifthere isone thing itincreasingly appears certain that the housing policy review has not done, it is to get on top of the social problems of housing. The report has little direct relevance to architecture, although what is regarded as one of its main omissions — any detailed outline of a future housing building programme in line with an estimation of housing needs — shows how vacuous Government promises of a stabilised, planned construction workload prove to be when given a prime opportunity of being put into effect. The Review is about money — the allocation of public support by means of subsidies. For despite the existence now of a crude numerical surplus of SLATE 5 page 4 Jreet, houses over households, the problems of homelessness have not disappeared. One of the intentions of the Review was to find out how and why this persists despite the infusion of massive sums of publisc money to try to remove housing need, Not unsurprisingly the Review has come to no hard and fast conclusions on solving homelessness — there is, after all no simple panacea which would be acceptable to public opinion, But what is Jess acceptable is that it has virtually nothing to contribute specifically to solving the problem. And worse: the measures the Green Paper suggest seem, in many respects, certain to make matters worse for those in housing need. For the Green Paper is good news to the owner-oc- -cupation lobby, aecepting as its premise (a point beloved of the Tory Party!) that a majority of tenants prefer to own. The question as SHAC — the London Housing Aid Centre — points out in its response to the Green Paper, of ‘Why’ 1snot analysed. Itcould be that tenants dislike the bad management of many publie:schemes, the impersonality which pervades even housing assoc- -iation estates. Or perhaps it is the fact that renting suggests a degree of economic impotence, of ‘falling back on the rates’, which is plainly socially stigmatised in the UK. There is no reason why this should be the case, points out SHAC. On the continent renting is perfectly ac- -ceptable and not at al frowned upon: and in any case the DoE’s own figures show that the average amount of subsidy enjoyed by public sector tenants — £160 pa —is not vastly in excess of that fed back to the average tax-payjng owner occupier in the form of mortgage-related income tax relief — £140. SHAC make the point, further- -more, that not only isthe owner* occupier gaining his personal property tights whilst subsidised by public funds, but that for very large mortgages subsidies can be very large indeed. Thus the largest consumers of housing.are actually enjoying the largest amount of subsidies — plainly asituation calling for attention As property values continue to rise, so too will the amount of subsidy being diverted away from those in need towards the better off. The debate will go on, and indeed has only just started in earnest due to the weight and complexity of the evidence assembled (not to mention ignored) in the Green Paper, which has taken six months for even the most abled housing commentators to digest. At present the Government’s thinking pays insufficient attention to the fringe areas of housing — the homeless, squatters, housing co- ~operatives. If the housing problem really is to be tackledjthis defficiency must be rectified before legislation. professions debate unionisation ‘MAN is born free; everywhere he is in chains’. Rousseau’s words added an appropriately philosophical touchtothesumming-up of AUEW/TASS National Organiser Harry Smith at the end of the Junior Liaison Organisation’s seminar — ‘Do Building Professionals need a Trades Union?’, held in London in early November. The Junior Liaison Organisation (JLO), which is working to promote closer liaison and understanding among members of the building team, chose a seminar title seemingly bound to provoke acerbic discussion and to highlight areas of conflict in a profession particularly badly hit by the current economic recession. Posing such a question in 1977, long after many other professions have organised, is indicative of the resistance within the building professions to the idea of unionisation, The afternoon promised to be interesting. Harry Smith also began the afternoon, addressing an audience of about 40, less than half of whom, incidentally fel into the category of ‘junior’. His 45-minute talk scanned the history of trades unionism from its blue-collar roots to the impressive growth of white collar unionism recently — due to the changing times and the growing need for professionals to organise against redundancies and unemployment. Harry Smith’s talk; notable for its lack of militancy, dwelt on the potential beneifts of a trades union to building professionals. He was at pains to stress the civilised natire of wage bargaining and reminded. those opposed to trade unionism of the Barbara Gunnell, journalist with the New Civil Engineer, stated that she was a member of the NUJ, which operates a post-entry closed shop and that she supported the concept of trade unions. Her down my neck”. Harry Smith, in his talk was a reasoned and calm examination of the need fro a trade union for building professionals, based on her personal experience, (USNEWS SNEWSNIEWS The genial Raymond Moxley, of the Association pf Consultant Architects, laid on a picture show to accompany his talk. Some of the illustrations werealittl e superficial — perhaps deliberately? Those who expected an anti-union diatribe, however, were disappointed. Mr Moxley waspolitenessitself,concedingthatunions chairing-andprovidedausefulforum were one way of responding to today’s of ideas. It is perhaps sad to reflect that, Gloucester on December 10th, attended by over 30 lecturers, students and others. Discussion included presentations and papers on work people were doing with local groups often involving students in design and sometimes building. Few had any illusions about the practical difficulty of such work but reported the added hand- -icap of unsympathetic heads of schools. Subsequent discussion on politics and eduwation led to a debate between pluralist and class analyses of community action. All agreed, however, that such work was political and threatened to undermine the academic conditioning of schools, leading to students questioning professional roles and discovering how ilequipped they are to cope with architectural practice in the community. Most were suspicious of the RIBA involvement. ‘Official recognition of ‘community architecture’ might involve it being tidied up and neatly pigeon holed alongside other minority interests. The York Conference was discussed at some length with fears being expressed that it will lead to greater academic sterility. The meeting closed by agreeing the following statements: ] The RIBA should not impart or even suggest aunitary approach to this and any other subject. Diversity and flexibility for each school so as to respond to its own situation is 2 So called ‘community architecture’ is aterm which increasingly signifies for many, the institutionalisation of radical activities in architectural practice. It must not just become another subject in the curriculum. This would be to misunderstand the nature of the commit- -ment required. Those people who want toengageinthisactivityshouldhavethe opportunity to do so within schools of architecture. The development of this work can be encouraged ifvisiting boards and external examiners treat it both as a legitimate part of an architecture course and asalegitimate basis for individual projects. Local branches of the RIBA can support the work of schools, or at least not raise continued on pl9 SLATE 5page5 pressures (while showinga picture of a wavering pendulum deaoting the current swing from collectivism to indi- -vidualism!). Empirical evidence for this was lacking. Could ithave been wishful thinking? Perhaps the most potentially annoying of Mr Moxleys statemen ts was that the publix, ie., clients who could afford architects, operating its free choice of architect, would chose non-unionised rather than the ‘less professional’ unionised practices, and that unionised practices would founder asa result. His implication that professionalism and unionisation are mutually exclusive verged on the offensive, This genteel but firm polarisation of views boded well for the discussion period, which, however, turned out to be more an orderly succession of views from the floor. The audiance heard ebour about non-affiliated staff associations claiming to represent a compromise between professionalism and unionisation, and heard claims that the sole functi of strikes is to attract publicity. Giles Pebody, founder member of the New Architecture Movement and amember of TASS, spoke about the concept of public responsibility underlying NAM. Dave Burn, Islington Council architect and NALGO shop steward, spoke on unionisation in the public sector, and Dave Burney, Chairman of the London Branch of BDS-TASS, talked about TASS’s tole and aims. The only touch of acrimony came whena (middle aged) architect intervened angrily to claim that no one had put the case against aunion, this gentleman clung to his concept of himself as a professional, and justified his position by saying that he had been prepared to accept exploitation as a younger architect knowing that later he would reap the rewards! In her summing up, Barbara Gunneli mentioned the useful point that, when it by its nature, it attracted activists of both sides, while the apathetic, those most in need of convincing, stayed away. to have aunion delegate to do this. Raymond Moxley claimed that the ‘them and us’ situation could be solved by the ‘partnership ethic’. Perhaps his most memorable quote, however, was “I don’t like the thought of a big union breathing CAWG’s own minutes “the meeting was disasterous and those who attended rejected any involvement with the RIBA. Those who did attend, Tepresenting a tiny and isolated progressive movement in schools were embarassed at being brought together by the RIBA and resolved to organise a further meeting summing up, dismissed the non-affiliated, ‘individual rights’ position of staff associ- -ations as unrealistic, and the claim that strikesarepublicity-seekingasonthewhole workmoreopenly.Thistookplacein untrue. He again stressed the civilised nature of bargaining, and of TASS’s role - that of ‘striving to the future’. Given the controversial nature of the topic under discussion, the seminar was most civilised -this no doubt, helped by John Allan’s expert and unobtrusive community architects snub RIBA LAST October the RIBA Community Architecture Working Group (CAWG) invited teachers from architecture schools in Britain to a meeting at Portland Place. Their objective, it seems, was for the participants to describe their activities so that all could be noted down by CAWG supremo, Charles McKean, and used in evidence at a away from the RIBA to talk about their NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSINE nan w “Very good in parts” was the consensus verdict of people who came to this year’s NAM Congress. Held over a weekend in the appropriate and sympathetic environment of the Hull school of architecturei,t attracted partic- ipants from every part of the country, including teachers, practioners, students and a smattering of building workers. NAM emerged from the congress with aclearer definition ofitsprincipal policies relating to the Institutions of the Profession, the extension of local popular control of building design and construction, and its role in relation to the Trade Unions. It also spawned two new issue-groups, one to campaign against sexism in the pro- fession and the industry and‘snother to examine the structural problems of arch- itectural education. Less successful, however were the debates relating to the organisation of NAM itself, which gave rise to some painfully prolonged and, at times vitriolic, discussion, both on Friday evening and at the AGM on Sunday. Participants responded with unmitigated discussions to such a degree that small caucus meetings continued right through the time labelled“social”onthatevening’sprogramme. (Full workshop reports are included below) The workshops made considerable progress in clarifying the various aspects of NAM’s policy, and enabled contacts to be made and views exchanged. Friday evening’s plenary session was reserved for discussion of the progress of the Movement, but the problems that NAM as a whole faces were in evidence very early on when aparticipant called for the Sunday’s AGM to be open for al to attend. This essentially constitutional issue was resolved by avote of NAM members the following morning, with the result that admission and participatfon in the AGM was open to al, with voting rights reserved for members. Whether non-members regretted this decis- ion is;open}to speculation, but the exhaus- ting session which they witnessed demon- strated howinadequate|are the constitut ional arrangements within NAM and what the problems are that ithas to resolve ifit is to be effective at organising local groups enthusiasm, however, to Saturday’s workshop p@longside national campaigns. The debate workshop reports: that there should be a single union for all architectural workers in private practice, and the committee sponsored an open conference in London to decide which union would be most suitable. the engineering union was chosen over- whelmingly for its good record, wide membership and its enthusiasm for the project. Soon after this the Building Design Staffs (BDS) branch was estab- lished in London and a national recruiting campaign was mounted. - Reactivating interest and participation in union affairs, introducing community issues, and restructuring to allow more competent involvement by architectural workers. Analysing and challenging the hierarchy and bureaucratic controls which defend the user from the design process. -Extending existing union initiatives against the cuts and redundancies, against the ‘lump’ and promoting the use of unionised outside consultants and building firms, as opposed to un- unionised ones. * UNIONISATION Attended by about fifteen architectural workers in several unions, openedwithabriefresumeofNAM’s interest and activities in the Trades Union Movement. The NAM (Unionisation) Organising Committee was set up after the NAM 2nd Congress in Blackpool Iast year and published aunionising call, ‘WorkingforWhat’,toarchitectural workers in private practice. This outlined many of the problems, especially con- cerning pay and conditions faced by this unorganised section which had already been settled by unionised colleagues elsewhere. The document proposed Since responsibility for extending unionisation in private practice has been assumed by BDS-TASS, theworkshop proposed that NAM turn its attention to the public sector unions. Because * membership, recognition andnegotiating machinery were well established in these unions (though stil largely consuming the efforts of BDS/TASS), it was thought that workers in the public sectors are well! placedtopromotethemore‘advanced’ part of NAM’s aims, i,e,, social respons- ibility and public accountability. However, itwas recognised while potentially interested and powerful had not been activated on anything at hired from medelling agencies for the duration of ell you SLATE Sigiage6 theworkshop thatmostof theseunions, that the speci ' t and environmental architectural issues and most of the © whilst it says what a Product unlikely to say what it can do, it is Products on the membership was dissatisfied and etic. BDS-TASS apath- being aseparate had the advantage of o it won't compare it can't; union,andit branchwithinalarge was thought that archi- tectural workers in the public sector would benefit from an equivalent struc- ture, all. Most of them will have been from heneeds. Butmost socmeneetce whether it'swhat failings: market, to allow to other the Specifier informed choice - NAM'S 3RD CO advertisers use are of course the first stage, and i product Butthe fact remains that interest in the he must do that himself; © most technical literature will try and show Product is expected to be generated not through advertising the qualities of the product, but through sex. the product in the best possible light, & an attractive brochure orby drap mee see ladies all over it, so that theSpSpeecifieris impressed by the packaging regardless of the product's qualities. Manufacturers only use because they have been shown for them - otherwise they wou These workers and their unions should be developing in several particular areas: these uarketing techniques <~0 work, Specifiers fall ld be unneccesary. It became circular, in effect, in trying to res. olve the conundrum of how to take constit. utional decisions when there is no Constit- ' ution describing the procedures fordoing it. In the end a much ammended Tesolution was passed setting up a liaison group for 1978 and members were elected toit,a motion setting up a code of conduct for SLATE was rejected as a “bid for indep- endence” and a group was set up to propose a constitution for NAM. Al this left far too little time for the debate of the policy motions before the AGM, but, fortunately, there was little dissent from the proposals that had found their way from NAM groups, congressworkshops and individual members anyway. As the participants left Hull the feeling wasthatNAM wassetforafurtheryear of consolidation and clarification of its policies and of increasing influence within and beyond the profession and theindustry, Its failing over the past year has been to neglect the business of activating its supporters, particularly in the provinces, and the remedy to that must lie in direct- ing more energy to the founding and fost- ering of local groups. r theexhibition,orgivenaweek'ssecondmentfrom the drudgery of the typing pool, in order to dec- orate the firm's stand. The women that the t most i etn ae eae Not only does this say rather a lot about attitudes towards women in Now, as we've said, the advertisement is only the first part of the process of selling the product. Its technical documentation comes next , and perhaps i external, irrelevant sales te: s “Very good in parts” was the consensus verdict of people who came to this year’s NAM Congress. Held over a weekend in the appropriate and sympathetic environment of the Hull school of architecture, it attracted partic- ipants from every part of the country, including teachers, practioners, students and a smattering of building workers. NAM emerged from the congress with a clearer definition of its principal policies relating to the Institutions of the Profession, the extension of local popular control of building design and construction, and its role in relation to the Trade Unions. It also spawned two new issue-groups, one to campaign against sexism in the pro- fession and the industryand ‘nother to examine the structural problems of arch- 5 ledneation ess ful, h were the debates relating to the organisation of NAM itself, which gave rise to some painfully prolonged and, at times Vitriolic, discussion, both on Friday evening and at the AGM on Sunday. discussions to such a degree that small caucus meetings continued right through the time labelled “social” on that evening’s programme. (Full workshop reports are included below) The workshops made considerable progress in clarifying the various aspects of NAM’s policy, and enabled contacts to be made and views exchanged. Friday evening’s plenary session was reserved for discussion of the progress of the Movement, but the problems that NAM as a whole faces were in evidence very early on whena participant called for the Sunday’s AGM to be open for al to attend. This essentially constitutional issue was resolved by avote of NAM members the following morning, with the result that admission and participatfon in the AGM was open to al, with voting rights reserved for members. Whether bers regrettedthisdecis- ion is;openjto speculation, but the exhaus- ting session which they witnessed demon- strated howinadequate|are the constitut ional arrangements within NAM and what the problems are that it has to resolve if it The debate al architectural workers in private practice, and the committee sponsored an open conference in London to decide which union would be most suitable. the engineering union was chosen over- whelmingly for its good record, wide membership and its enthusiasm for the project. Soon after this the Building DesignStaffs(BDS)branchwasestab- lished in London and a national recruiting campaign was mounted. PROFESSIONALISM UNIONISATION Attended by about fifteen architectural workers in several unions, theworkshop opened with a brief resume of NAM’s interest and activities in Movement. The NAM (Unionisation) Organising Committee was set up after the NAM 2nd Congress in Blackpool Iast year and published a unionising call, ‘Working for What’, to architectural ~ workers in private practice, This outlined manyoftheproblems,especiallycon- cerning pay and conditions faced by this unorganised section which had already been settled by unionised colleagues elsewhere. The document proposed SLATE Sipage6 Since responsibility for extending unionisation in private practice has been assumed by BDS-TASS, theworkshop proposed that NAM turn its attention to the public sector unions. Because membership, recognition andnegotiating machinery were well established in these unions (though stil largely consuming the effortsofBDS/TASS),itwasthoughtthat workers in the public sectors arewell) placed to promote the more ‘advanced’ i) The mandatory minimum fee scale should be abandonded in the public interest and a new system devised, Hi) The*Monopolies Commission ’ definition of the public interest isunacceptabletoNAM asit equates this with the free market and restricts the public to mean only clients not users, ili) The establishment of any new fee system must take place within areconstituted ARCUK with at least 50% lay represer along the lines proposed in the NAM report. Congress considers the Trades Union while potentially interested and powerful, had not been activated on and environmental architectural " part of NAM’s aims, ie., socialrespons- ibility and public accountability. However, it Was recognised that most of these unions, issues and most of the was dissatisfied and apath- etic, BDS-TASS had the advantage of membership t being aseparate branch within union, and itwas thought alarge tectural workers that archi- wouldbenefit inthepublicsector| ture. of salaried architects the position will continue to be from an equivalent struc- weak or without a mandatory minimum fee scale until they exert their industrialstrength withinthetradeunionmovement. Its failing over the past year has been to neglect the business of activating its ” supporters, particularly in the provinces, and the remedy to that must lie in direct- ing more energy to the founding and fost- ering of local groups. ~ Reactivating interest and participation in union affairs, introducing community issues, and restructuring to allow more competent involvement by architectural workers. - Analysing and challenging the hierarchy and bureaucratic controls which defend the user from the design process. - Extending existing union initiatives againstthecutsandredundancies, public sector, especially those involved with construction, maintenance and associated fields. Activation of public sector workers could then lead to the formation of an embryonic ‘Architectural Workers’ Alliance’, organisation encompassing all unionised architectural workers and ,~ attempting to tackle larger environmental issueswithfullunionsupport. ‘ A motion to set up a Public Sector Working Group to start tackling these problems and to advance NAM’s aims in the public sector was unanimously accepted by the AGM. ° 1 This Congress considers that it is now necessary to develop policies to further NAM’s aims in the public sector, To this end it mandates an extended National Design Service Group to under- take the necessary research and publicity and to organise a conference to establish the potential for joint action among local authority architectural workers, tenants federations,appropriatetradeunionsand Direct Labour Organisations by May 1978. report of the NAM Central London Group ‘and endorses its main proposals as follows: against the ‘lump’ and use of unionised outside consultants and building firms, as opposed to un- unionised ones. * promoting the 4. This Congress deplores the use of . The Congress mandate the Group to co-opt help as needed, ard to pursue the monopolies issue and any related matter, taking necessary action in furtherance of NAM’s stated aims, SLATE Spage 7 invariably “The Cosmos” - though the ensuing discussion was less impressive. The Hull workshop on TheProfession found itself in the exact Opposite position. Having undertaken two hard years research and action on some Primary issues:- The Unattached at ARCUK, TASS/BDS, The Monopolies Commission Inquiry and its implications, etc., we now seem to find that al these issues link together, and that actions in one sphere imply orrequire actions in the others. But how much more Positive and fruitful this Stage is, than those early affairs in Whitfield Street~ In reporting back from ARCUK, the Unattached Representatives indicated the problems of learning “the ropes” of Councilmeetings. Itwasfeltthatitwas valid to continue action in this contextfor two reasons, firstly that it had taken until now to become familiar enough with becamecircular,ineffect,in tryito olvetheconundrumofhoweaecone utional decisions when there isnoconstit- ution describing the procedures fordoing it. In the end a much ammended resolution was passed setting upaliaison Sroup for 1978 and members were elected to it,a motion setting up a code of conduct for SLATE was rejected as a “bid forindep- endence” and a group was set up to propose a constitution for NAM. All this left far too little time for the debate of the policy motions before the AGM, but, fortunately, there was littledissent from the proposals that had found their way from NAM groups, congress workshops and individual members anyway. As the participants left Hull thefeeling wasthatNAM wassetforafurtheryear of consolidation and clarification of its policies and of increasing influence within and beyond the profession and theindustry, procedures to be able to intervene effectively of consensus was later endorsed by Congres in Council affairs. Secondly, it was consider Those of us who started NAM at Harrogate two years ago may recall the difficulty we experienced in giving our communal misgivings about the condition and direction of the profession a clear and valid structure from which could be developed aprogramme ofaction. Item 1 on the agenda of al meetings was - Our reason for involvement in ARCUK isthe desire totransform itinto areal agency of public accountability - led directly to consideration of the Monopolie Commission Report. There was general agreement that the Commission’s definitio of “public interest” was unacceptable, but that ARCUK was the proper context for the ensuing debate. The prima facie argument that dropping the mandatory fee would prejudice the living standards of salaried architects, was shown both in workshop and in plenary session to be false - anda motion covering al these area its reps out or alternatively of demonstrat- -ing support for the work already done. Nonetheless, there was a fear that our presence in ARCUK might in due course become aform oftoken resistancewhich could be used by the RIBA Majority to legitimise its actions in the name of democ- stacy. Then would be the time to leave. The group mandated to continue thiswork isexpected to begin meeting after unattached electorate the option of throwing Christmas. ee eee OnOe2 - Seeking links with other unions in the CONGRESS RESOLUTIONS Participantsresponded withunmitigated istobeeffectiveatorganisinglocalgroups 5 however,to Saturday's workshop yalongsid ional campai workshop reports: thatthereshouldbeasingleunionfor NAM‘S 3RD CONGRES Bo This Congress commends the com- pleted work of the Unionisation (Organisin; Committee and recommends and urges all workers in the private sector building design professions to join TASS—BDS, This Congress mandates aworking party to explore the potentail for an alliance between members of TASS—BDS and building design workers in thepublic sector trade unions, 2. This Congress accepts the monopolies sexism in advertising and the character- These workers and their unionsshould be developing in several particular areas; considered reasonable to at least give the isation of women and men in degrading stereotyped roles in the architectural trade press, | We therefore call upon NAM members to refuse to specify any products promoted through sexist adver- tising, and to encourage fellow architect- ural workers to follow suit. is Congress deplores sexism in all aspects of the building industry and approves the setting up of NAM camp- aigning groups to investigate and take action on the position of women in the industry and education, 5. This Congress supports the efforts of NAM members Tepresenting unattached hit on the Archi Regi ion Council of the UnitedKingdom. 6. ° i) This Congress notes thesavage attacks orchestrated by the National Federation ofBuilding Trade Employers and theTory Party against Direct Labour Organisations and Local Auth- ority architects’ departments, i)This Congress expresses its support for the democratic fight of the Direct Labour Organisations, ~ The sexist workshop was set up in Tesponse to a strongly felt need by NAM members for a group to look into the problems facing women both as students and working in offices. The workshop set itself up as a regular meeting for support and to be an active campainging issue group to look into sexist advertising anddiscriminationincollegesandin practice. It also intends to analyse and explain the reasons why there is such a discrepancy between the number of women who apply for and start degree courses and those who complete them and manage to find work in architects offices. There has already been one successfulmeetingonDecember12th and the next will be held in one month, on 12th January at 14, Duncan Terrace, London, N.1. _278 5215 for details. EDUCATION }SLATE 5page 8 The New Architecural Movement’s proposals for a National Design Service are based ona critique * of architectural patronage and its effects on architectural service to the public, architects working ar and the type and form of buildings which result fromit. We argued/for a design service which would be directly accountable to and controlled by the people in its locality. We suggested that neighbourhood based local authority offices should form the foundation of sucha service. While local government may be regarded asaninstrumentofsocialcontrolitisat the same time the main and often the only structure through which the majority of people can exert demands and gain access to land, finance and other resources neces- sary for their housing, health and education requirements. That is, local government provides these socially necessary services whichtheprivatesectorhasfoundtobe unprofitable. In many cases these services have been the realisation of policies of minimal prov- The powers that control the é¢ducation of architects formed the central theme to discussion in the workshop. Authority to control the content of courses and the standards of examinations seems to rest effectively with the RIBA, inspite of the large degree of autonomy theoretically enjoyed by institutions of education. The system of “exemptions” which validates academic qualifications, independentlygrantedbytheCouncil for National Academic Awards, the Universities and one or two diploma- awardingcolleges,asanindicationof a students’s “fitness for the profession”. ere by an RIBA-dominated ARCUK, through the visiting boards” and with the ultimate sanction of the withdrawal of recognition from schools whose standards are not acceptable. Qualifications from schools in this situation would no longer entitle their holders to qualify as architects. of conduct In-answer to some of the criticism made of SLATE at the recent NAM Congress, and subsequently in the trade press, we would like to affirm that SLATE has no intention of ‘going independent’. rather the Publication Group hopes to do more to further the specific campaigns to whichNAM hasputitsname,inlinewith suggestions made at the Congress, and also to faster communication within the Move- ment, To that end the group has adopted thefollowing code ofconduct toensure the proper carrying out o,of its business and to enhance its accountability: MEMBERS 1. Congress is to elect a minimum of six members to the NAM publications group, a further 50% of the number of elected members may beco-opted at any one time directly by the grou 2, Néw members elected to the publications ‘group are to comprisea minimum of 50% of old members remaining in the group. MEETINGS 3. Editorial meetings are to be held at\ least monthly 4, All editorial meetings will be open to any interested NAM members or SLATE readers, but voting rights will be reserved for group members. 5. At least two members of the publications group will attend each Quaterly Forum, one of whom will be an elected member, FINANCE 6, All £1-50 SLATE subscriptions will be handed over, on reciept, in.total to théSLATE }account, 7, For each issue of SLATE at least 25p from each NAM membership subscriptionrecievedwillbe paid to the SLATE account, 8. The SLATE fund amy be appealed to by any cause in order to float, in.the short term, events which cannot be funded by the NAM liaison group, providing funds are available, EDITORIAL 9, Members of the publications grou considerable inadequacies. the publication of pamphlets by NAM groups edit all material recieved, ‘sion remote from the desires of the people and also from the beliefs of the local author- ity workers who implement them. Against this background community architecture evolved as an alternative means by which people could express and sometimes achieve their requirements. More recently however, following cuts in public expenditure and a shift of resources away from the public sector into the private, particularily in housing, and housing rehabilitation, a new form of community architecture has appeared whichismerelyanextensionofprivate practice in a more socially acceptable guise - the basic structure of control of resources remains unchanged. Control over these resources isthe critical factor to which control over design is related. Whatever their social function and their corresponding faults, local authorities are public bodies accountable to the people. Accountability and control isthrough the democratic process and not through the workings of the free market. It is for this reason that local governemnt is considered to be the only appropriate veh- icle for a national design service. A prerequisite of a national design service would be the extension of the present dem- ocratic structures to include more fully people at local level. Although it may be argued that local government cannot be changed radically, history has shown that as the lowest tier of government it is suscept- ible to vigorous pressure from below. Local authorities can and have changed direction as a result of the collective demands of tenants organisations, local political parties andtradeunions. _ It is in these areas that NAM must organ- ise to promulgate its ideas for a design service with control over resources and design and construction teams by local residents. In the first instance however attention should be focussed on the existing design offices to establish the possibilities for radical change amongst local authority architectural workers. * “A National Design Service” 50p available tro’ ARCHIE TEKT Paper 2 May 1976 Paper 3 November 1976 NAM, 9 Poland Se London, W.1. Critisism came principally from two of the Dutch participants in the Congress, borh of issues of relevance to the Movement. whom had experience oc publishing in Holland. NAM, they said, appeared to Critiscism was alsovoiced. principally to clarify what the Movement stood for, or how itwas relevant to those whom itset out to inform and organise. This was not to say that they considered NAM to be on the wrong track, but they thought that Slate could go much further in both extr- acting and campaigning on the main points 11, All contributors have a right to see, on request, The difficulties of arraging programmes for students who wanted to develop skills needed to work for alternative “community” clients were also discussed. Experience at the Hull school show that a “liberal” unit system at least makes way for this interest to be catered for, but that the continuity and commitment needed for “‘live” projects is difficult to establish in relation to the school’s academic year and academic req uirements.Alsothedemandforahigh level of technical course content was at odds with the unit system, especially as establishedinterestswithintheschool itself were in some cases opposed to it. What isneeded isthedevelopment of a coherent critique of the goals and methods of current architectural education and the coordination of the efforts of all those who are attempting to practice alternative forms of education within the existing system. lack coherent policies, and SLATE did little by members of the publications group 12, All contributors have the right to withdraw their contribution, A feeling that “all’s well with Slate” may have accounted for the poor attendance at the SLATE workshop. A closer examination design as a cultural process, and may, of NAM’s programme and in helping it to developamorecoherenttheoryoftherole thepossibilityof‘interference’fromand, of the profession and the buildingindustry in society. Some part of this critiscism wouldbeanswered,theyfelt,ifSLATE made a point of concentrating on news relevanttoeachofthecompaigns being fought by the various NAM groups, with features to foster theoretical debate. Special issues to respond to specific events in the field would also help to disseminate thereby, the accumulation of a large degree of central power by, the Liaison Group wouldbeeliminated. This‘interference’ did not happen during 1977. The sucess ofSLATE restsonitsabilitytoattract readers outside the bership of NAM and its pricing and editorial policy must be determined in relation to this need. NAM’s views in the heat of the debate. Future areas of activity for the publ- icationsgroup,andforSLATE were discussed. The inclusion of reviews of buildings would be instrumental in break- ing the hegemony of the established architectural press, stimulating the devel- opment of a radical critique of building will take it in turn to co-ordinate each issue, ofthepaper’sfirstyeardid,however,reveal groupshouldalsodowhatitcantopromote 10,Thepublicationsgroupreservestherightto incidentally, attract more readers. The or members which take a closer look at the final draft of their contribution prior to piblication, = last year, of the constitutional relations of SLATE to the rest of the Movement. The group should be directly responsible to the AGM of the Movement for both the editorial content of SLATE and the financial arrangements for its production. In this way, those who p the paper would become directly accountable, and 13, Titles of any unpublished material and books recieved will be given in each issue, and this material will be available for examination, 14, The onus is0 the various NAM groups ,local and isshe, to. provide information for SLATE, for which it is bound to reserve space, . 15, The editorial policy of the publications group will be determined solely by them, as.delegates of NAM, continued from p 5 -SLATE’S code objections to schoolsofferingarchitect- -ural services to the community. A further meeting isplanned inFebruary which will discuss the papers being distributed for the York RIBA/SAC fe Further i ion and some of the papers are available from John Hurley and Gerry Metcalf at the Cheltenham School of Architecture. SLATE 5page9 The sexist workshop was set up in TesponsetoastronglyfeltneedbyNAM argued/foradesignservicewhichwould members for a group to look into the problems facing women both as students and working in offices. The workshop set itself up as a regular meeting for support and to be an active campainging issue group to look into sexist advertising anddiscriminationincollegesandin practice. It also intends to analyse and explain the reasons why there issuch a discrepancybetweenthenumberof women who apply for and start degree courses and those who complete them and manage to find work in architects offices. | There has already been one successfulmeetingonDecember12th and the next will be held in one month, on12thJanuaryat14,DuncanTerrace, London, N.1. 278 5215 for details. EDUCATION ESLATE 5 page 8 be directly accountable to and controlled by the people in its locality. We suggested that neighbourhood based local authority offices should form the foundation of sucha service. AN] Afeeling that “all’s well with Slate” may have accounted for the poor attendance at design as a cultural process, and may, The New Architecural Movement’s proposals for a National Design Service are based ona critique * of architectural patronage and its effects on architectural service to the public, architects working ar and the type and form of buildings which result from it. We MEMBERS 1. Congress is to elect a minimum of six members to the NAM publications group, afurther 50% of the number of elected members may be co-opted at any one time directly by the grou 2, Néw members elected to the siblcations ‘group are to comprisea minimum of 50% of old members remaining in the group. MEETINGS 3, Editorial meetings are to be held at\ least monthly 4, Alll editorial meetings will be open to any interested NAM members or SLATE readers, but voting rights will be reserved ioe group members, 5.Atleasttwomembersofthepublications group will attend each Quaterly Forum, one of whom will be an elected member, FINANCE 6. All £1-50 SLATE subscriptions will be 4 handed over, on reciept, in.total to thdSLATE |account, 7, For each issue of SLATE at least 25p from each NAMmembershipsubscriptionrecievedwillbe paid to the SLATE account. 8, The SLATE fund amy be appealed to by any While local government may be regarded asaninstrumentofsocialcontrolitisat the same time the main and often the only structure through which the majority of peoplecanexertdemandsandgainaccess withcontroloverresourcesanddesignand NAM’s views in the heat of the debate. Future areas of activity for the publ- icationsgroup,andforSLATE were discussed. The inclusion of reviews of to land, finance and other resources neces- sary for their housing, health and education requirements. That is, local government provides these socially necessary services whichtheprivatesectorhasfoundtobe unprofitable. In many cases these services have been the realisation of policies of minimal prov- Paper 3 November 1976 architectural press, stimulating the devel- The powers that control the éducation of architects formed the central theme to discussion in the workshop. Authority to control the content of courses and the standards of examinations seems to rest effectively with the RIBA, inspite of the large degree of autonomy theoretically enjoyed by institutions of education. The system of “exemptions” which validates academic qualifications, independentlygrantedbytheCouncil for National Academic Awards, the Universities and one or two diploma- awarding colleges, as an indication of a students’s “fitness for the profession”. ispericed by an RIBA-dominated ARCUK, through the visiting boards” and with the ultimate sanction of the withdrawal of recognition from schools whose standards are not acceptable. Qualifications from schools in this situation would no longer entitle their holders to qualify as architects. The difficulties of arraging programmes for students who wanted to develop skills needed to work for alternative “community” clients were also discussed. Experience attheHullschoolshowthata“liberal”unit system at least makes way for this interest to be catered for, but that the continuity and commitment needed for “‘live” projects is difficult to establish in relation to the school’s academic year and academic req uirements.Alsothedemandforahigh level of technical course content was at odds with the unit system, especially as established interests within the school itself were in some cases opposed to it. What isneeded isthe development of a coherent critique of the goals and methods of current architectural education and the coordination of the efforts of al those who are attempting to practice alternative forms of education within the existing system. whom had experience oc publishing in Holland. NAM, they said, appeared to lack coherent policies, and SLATE did little to clarify what the Movement stood for, or how it was relevant to those whom it set outtoinformandorganise. Thiswasnot totheAGMoftheMovementforboth whichitisboundtoreservespace, ision remote from the desires of the people and also from the beliefs of the local author- ityworkerswhoimplementthem. Against this background community architecture evolved as an alternative means by which people could express and sometimes achieve their requirements. More recently however, following cuts in public expenditure and a shift of resources away from the public sector into the private, particularily in housing, and housing rehabilitation, anew form of community architecture has appeared whichismerelyanextensionofprivate practice in a more socially acceptable guise - the basic structure of control of resources remains unchanged. Control over these resources isthe critical factor to which control over design is related. Whatever their social function and their corresponding faults, local authorities are public bodies accountable to the people. Accountability and control isthrough the democratic process and not through the workings of the free market. It is for this reason that local governemnt is considered to be the only appropriate veh- icle for a national design service. A prerequisite of a national design service would be the extension of the present dem- ocratic structures to include more fully people at local level. Although it may be arguedthatlocalgovernmentcannotbe changed radically, history has shown that as the lowest tier of government it is suscept- ible to vigorous pressure from below. Local authorities can and have changed direction as a result of the collective demands of tenants organisations, local political parties andtradeunions. ARCHIE TEKT It is in these areas that NAM must organ- ise to promulgate its ideas for a design service NAM cause inorder tofloat, in.the short term, group, providing funds are available, EDITORIAL 9. Members of the. publications grou will take it in turn to co-ordinate each issue, construction teams by local residents. In the first instance however attention should be focussed on the existing design offices to establish the possibilities for radical change amongst local authority architectural workers. * “A National Design Service” 50p available tro’ NAM, 9 Poland St)_ London, W.1. buildings would be instrumental in break- ingthehegemonyoftheestablished eventswhichcannotbefundedbytheNAMliaison Paper 2 May 1976 the publication of pamphlets by NAM groups edit all material recieved. 11, All contributors have a right to see, on request, 6 whichNAM hasputitsname,inlinewith Ws fae UA Se suggestions made at to faster communication within the Move- A ce hoe AT MY FROPESION considerable inadequacies. Critisism came principally from two of the Dutch participants in the Congress, borh of issues of relevance to the Movement. to say that they considered NAM to be on the editorial content of SLATE and the financial arrangements for its production. In this way, those who p’ the paper would become directly accountable, and 15, The editorial policy of the publications group will be determined solely by them, as.delegates of NAM. continued from p 5 the wrong track, but they thought that Slate could go much further in both extr- acting and campaigning on the main points SH Your mourn! 1VE Boe) BY ANASP /OF BING AN AMORA RESPONSES AND COLON 1588 OF | a In-answer to some of the criticism made ofSLATE attherecentNAM Congress, and subsequently in the trade press, we would like to affirm that SLATE has no intention of ‘going independent Si rather the Publication Group hopes to do more to further the specific campaigns to (OF RIDING THE of NAM’s programme and in helping it to developamorecoherenttheoryoftherole thepossibilityof‘interference’fromand, of the profession and the buildingindustry in society. Some part of this critiscism would be answered, they felt, if SLATE made a point of concentrating on news relevant to each of the compaigns being fought by the various NAM groups, with features to foster theoretical debate. Special issues to respond to specific events in the field would also help to disseminate thereby, the accumulation of a large degree of central power by, the Liaison Group would be eliminated. This ‘interference’ did not happen during 1977. The sucess of SLATE rests on its ability to attract readers outside the bership of NAM and its pricing and editorial policy must be determined in relation to this need. AND MaDe lt! opment of a radical critique of building the SLATE workshop. A closer examination ofthepaper’sfirstyeardid,however,reveal groupshouldalsodowhatitcantopromote 10,Thepublicationsgroupreservestherightto incidentally, attract more readers. The ormemberswhichtakeacloserlookat thefinaldraftoftheircontributionpriorto Ghacimifamalovcice da nrincia piblication, ¥ 12, All contributors have the right to withdraw their ibutic 13, Titles of any unpublished material and books recieved will be given in each issue, and this material will be available for examination, 14, The onus iso the various NAM groups ,local and isshe, to. provide information for SLATE, for by members of the publications group last year, of the constitutional relations of SLATE to the rest of the Movement. The group should be directly responsible ment, To that end the 8roup has the following code of conduct toensure the proper carrying to enhance its accountability: the Congress, and also out of its business and adopted SLATE’S code of conduct ——j objections to schoolsofferingarchitect- -ural services to the community. A further meeting isplanned inFebruary which will discuss the papers being distributed for the York RIBA/SAC fe Furtherinformation andsome of the papers are available from John Hurley and Gerry Metcalf atthe Cheltenham School of Architecture. SLATE 5page 9 education The education of architects must be more ranged about with myths and mystification, not to say ignorance, than any other issue in the profession. Just as well, it.would appear, for the RIBA, which iscurrently plotting another unilateral determination of education policy. Dave Breakwell, student mem- ber of the RIBA Council, sets the scene fortheforthcomingRIBA/SAC York Conference, in the first of a series of SLATE articles aimed to draw out the need for organised opposition to establishment education policies, DUG ANON THE NEW SYLLABUS NEWS FROM ae » Os 2 e It was announced at the RIBA Council meeting on 24th November that there is to be ajoint RIBA/SAC (Schools of Architecture Council) conference at York in March 1978 entitled ‘The Making of an Architect’, to review education twenty/ years on from the Oxford Conference. Despite RIBA claims that this conference is merely to discuss the situatian in education, it is almost certain that it will dictate the future course of educational policy for the next twently years. The same claims of ‘discussion only’ were made for the Oxford Conference’in 1958, yet educational changes since have come What has caused great concern amongst NAM, academics, students and even the RIBA council isthat this conference has been set up almost entirely behind closed doors by five people from the RIBA and’SAC, and before any discussion on the form of the conference has taken place all the conference arrange- -ments have been made and contributions invited. The only people entitled to go to the conference are the 15 contributors, about 25 practising architects (nominated by whom?) and the head, one student and one staff member from each of the look into the future direction of education. There were protests about the represent- -ation on the group (eg. no students) and it was later announced that the whole thing was to be dropped due to lack of funds(!) This was the last heard of it, even for members of EPEC, until it re-emergedas‘TheMakingofan Architect’. It would appear that the whole thing was constructed by Elizabeth Layton, an (unelected) RIBA staff member and Tom Markus, head of Strathclyde school and chairman of SAC with John Wells-Thorpe RIBA’s chairman of EPEC, G. Steele, also of Strathclyde and G. Aylward. It seems odd that there are two people from Strathclyde in this group, as the school has a definite educational direction that has been questioned by- some academics and students. Also both Marcus and Ms Layton could be described as having ,uncompromising’ views on education, and the latter, although in theory an administrator, seems to have considerable influence over education generally within the RIBA, although how and how much, no one seems able to find out. Of the 15 contributors, Iunderstand there are some interesting people, notably Jim Johnson of ASSIST, Colin Ward, long time anarchist and Judi Loach, a student. But each contributor has been instructed as to the area of his/her contribution, and any contribution ‘at odds with the spirit and intention of the Conference may be a> y TYPICAL! ONCE THEYVE Got THEIR FEES 39 schools. No provision has been made for the opinions of lay people, the construction industry, NAM or other interested parties. The latest development are that the RIBA council has referred the issue back to its Education and Practice Executive Committee (the body that ultimately controls education and who edited, [ Bannister Fletcher, that other architectural historian, turns in his grave as l cartoonist Lou Hellman traces the history of the Mother of the Arts im 1978. “Fell of my bike with laughter .........again” ...........Prof. Reyner Banham Post the coupon below or write to NAM 9, Poland Street, London, W.1. Iwant to be the first person on my block to get re-educated. Please rush me the 1978 New Architecture Calendar. _ Reluctantly, Ienclose £1.00, which includes postage and packing. should have known about it all along), and directly from decisions made there. that a recent SAC meeting at Liverpool asked for more student representation, But it would seem that the conference is already rolling and it would be extremely difficult to alter it now. As far as it is possible to discover, it seems that the conference has come about by somewhat devious means, At the beginning of 1977 it wa’ proposed to the RIBA’s EPEC that there should be a ‘Formation of the Architect’ group to SLATE 5page 10 All this raises again the question of the tole of the RIBA in controlling education, and it is hoped that the next issue of ‘SLATE’ will explain just how the RIBA controls education and the doubtful legal position of the RIBA in doing this. Meanwhile NAM is setting up an education group to decide policy on the conference and education in general. Contact person isHugo Hinsley 01-251 0274, Herewith subscription. LIAISON GROUP STARTS QUATERLY FORUMS Meeting for the first time recently, the new NAM Liaison Group set out its pro- gramme for 1978. Quarterly forums, called for by Congress, are to be held in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Leeds. They are intended to form a milieu for the interchange of experiences and discussion between members and as a chance for interested people to get to know NAM. Social events linked to the forums are planned to raise funds for the Movement. Another new departure for 1978 is the allocationofthejobof‘lookingafter’ each of the various areas of NAM’s con- cerns to one of the Liaison Group members, The intention here is to oil the wheels of communication in the Movement and to ‘aid in the carrying out’ of Congress resolutions, ——$—$—$—$_$_< With an eye to the future, the Liaison Group has called for a NAM local group to host the 1978 Congress, scheduled for the 25th-26th November. The feeling is that the Midlands or the South West would do well as a venue, but other suggestions are welcome and the Liaison Group urges any group that wants to do as good, or better, a job as the Hull group in 1977, to get in touch as soon as possible. BIRMINGHAM GROUP FORMS A Birmingham group is under formation at the moment, and the first meeting will be held early in January, It is hoped to involve socialist planners, members of building co-ops, building workers and community groups as well as architect- ural workers and students, Possible issues for action will be proposals for the Inner-City Partnership committee, support for UCATT/Green Ban post office campaign and Alternative Strat- egy for Birmingham, advice and design work for community groups and co-ops, and a unionisation drive. It’s an ambitious programme and we need support. Ifyou are interested, contact Dave Breakell: C/O BUDA 173 Lozells Road Handsworth Birmingham 19 021 554 3278 (working hours) <ec2isSh22215 Z<=2 88 8 ai: iz Bat3 bogs O i,t. i$8 ve raves ae 58 O $2865 Case S c2nisebses Slater “worse than Astragal” WRITE TO SLATE‘, 9, POLAND ST, Name Address LONDON, W1. —_— $$ a] SLATE5page 11 Once upon a time there were no architects, planning officers or council estates. People were forced to live in unplanned caves, sub-standard tents or non- conforming huts, There were one or two monuments, like Stonehenge, but they were probably put there by visiting Martians .........+0.+ YOvNEVERSEETHEM AGAIN / —— London,W1. =i S| PROJECTS London. W1 NDS London, 3, HULL Roath, Cardiff ,NAM, 9,Poland St., ,Albany Rd., ,Weeton Lane, EDINBURGH Edinburgh, Pp: contact John Mitchell CARDIFF Kingston-u-Hull Regional College Hoby, Leeds 17 PUBLICATIONS LEEDS Ave., London, W1 LONDON London, NW1 ,25, St. George’s els Nottingham Grou; 14, Derby Grove, Lurton, Nottingham, LIAISON The Secretary, NAM, 9 Poland St., NDS, NAM, 9, Poland St., David Roebuck Editorial Committee. Anne Delaney, 196. David Somervell, 22 Panmure Place, Tan Tod, Hull School of Architecture, Pete Forbes, Parkview Douglas Smith, 17, Delancey St., From Charles McKean, Secretary of the ESSS NOTTINGHAM e—| of Art Brunswick Ave., Hull AVAILABLENIQW/ FromNAM RIBA Community ArchitectureWorking Group. In response to Slater’s pre-judgment (O not again!) of my book ‘Fight Blight’ herewith one of my own copies for teview (publisher considered the article implied an objective view or review a total impossibility), As for RIBA’s involvement, herewith latest paper from Community Architecture Working Group on the subject whichisby no means at odds with, say, report from the Cardiff Group. We would be interested in your comments (or the comments of the Cardiff Group). As for ‘back seat’ etc, do you really want turgid history of involvement in battles, co operatives etc in London and Glasgow? Did none of you ever read London Architect? As for ‘poverty programmes’ read Fight Blight, where identical point is made. Fight Blight written independently of RIBA, and had nothing to do with it. Slater’s almost worse than Astragal incommenting without information and in criticising from the sidelines. onsequently SLATE has to bear the financial loss of an unsold issue suppressed for no better reason than that it offended avested interest. The financial aspects of the affair repay further scrutiny: the NAM stand was provided at a very modest rate, while Turnham and Newall had ahuge -and expensive stand spearheading their marketing assault to try and brainwash specifiers to continue to use asbestos when al the facts point to its dangers. He who pays the piper... THEISSUEofSLATEspecially | Ironically,theSLATESpecialalso women’s action group grows A MEETING was held in Leeds on 22nd/23rd October of ‘Women in Manual Trades’, asupport and information group of and for women who work in traditionally male manual trades. Thirtywomenfromaloverthe country attended, representing car- penters, plumbers, mechanics, electricians, fitters, bricklayers, plasterers and gardeners. As women at the meeting, we found we shared many experiences at work and when applying for jobs or training. We encounter ridicule, abuse and victimisation, despite the factthatagrowingnumberofwomen are entering and excelling in these trades. The meeting concluded that there is an urgent need to fight for the right of women and girls to learna skilled trade. Careers Offices, Industrial Training Boards, employersandTradeUnionsmusttake Frade steps to combat discrimination including the provision of child-care facilities), otherwise the Sex Discrimination Act is meaningless. R Regional Groups for Women in Manual Trades are being set up. Interested women cancontactusat: 21 Bouverie Road London N16 SLATE 4 announced that thisissue would iliscuss the profession abroad, however due to the unexpected amount of material from the recent NAM Congress in Hull and the findings ofthe Monopolies Commission have decided:to deferittoalaterissue. NEXT | | contains a critique of the marketing of building materials, particularly the _financial clout of the status quo. SLATE IS UNDAUNTED! We bring you the suppressed i issue as a FREE INSERT to thisissue of Slate, and we ask you: i) to read the article ‘Asbestos kills’; i) to think very carefully about specifying asbsetos in the light of the horrifying facts contained therein; i) if you are forced to specify asbestos SLATE representatives on the NAM stand felt honour bound to the organisers of Interbuild to comply with their dem- ands; but although the SLATE Special prepared for the NAM stand at the International Building Exhibition in November was suppressed by the Organisers after unsubstantiated complaints from asbestos manu- facturers about its critique of the safety hazards ofasbestos. This unilateral censorship followed a visit to the NAM stand, on the first day, of arep from TBA, a subsidiary of the asbestos giant Turnham and Newall. After buying a copy of the SLATE Special he conducted along but friendly and intelligent discussion of the pro’s and con’s of asbestos. Ten minutes after his departure the Interbuild organisers arrived at the stand and demanded that the SLATE Special be removed from the stand for the re- mainder of the exhibition. They pro- duced no criticisms of the accuracy of the SLATE article, nor did they offer - asisacustomarycourtesywith offend. ing but not actionable material - to buy up the whole print. [ifyouwouldliliketboe amemberoftheNJewArchitectureMovement fillintheformbelowandsend ittogether with acheque/postal order (payable to the New Architecture Movement) for £5.00 (if you're employed) or£2.00 (ifyou’re arestudent, claimant orQAP) toNAM at9,Poland Street SUBS IBE! saa | London W.1. |name | ADDRESS | |TELEPHONE (HOME)’ I | : | withacheque/postalorder(payabletotheNew ArchitectureMovement )for£2.00toNAM at9, to think very carefully about which organisation you are prepared to = ; out tewhitoaneee one about the products it markets. ; was withdrawn they continued to dis- cussthefactsofasbestoshazardswith visitors to the stand. Remember - asbestos kills; and censors. (WORK) SLATE continues its examination of the | pofand Stret,London W.1. | prchitects. | NAME : | j_| |ADDRESS A a 1yy@- A SLATE 5page 12 4 |1wahessSLATEvogM Nemcii | its cu policies that determine the education o anything at all. Most of them will have been ‘om modelling agencies for the duration of on, or given a week's secondment from of the typing pool, in order to dec- rm's stand. fhe women that the e are of course the first stage, and rm in question would produce fairly cal documentation in support of their Butthe fact remains tl terest in the is expected to be generated not through the qualities of the product, but through y does this say rather a lot about e process of selling the product. ocumentation comes next , and perhaps products on the ba external, irrelevant sal specifying decisions. SERIOUS This is a very serious state of affairs for the building industry. It is achieving at least a proportion of its sales as a result of factors which have no relevance to the function which the product is Supposed to fulfil. This turns it into more than a serious problem for the tuilding industry alone. Over the last decade the industry's technical record has been calamitous. Cement additives, asbestos, (see NAM report - Asbestos Kills) plastics which proved lethal in fire - these are just some of the dozens of examples of products which have been specified - with disastrous economic and social fonsequences. None of them should have been marketed without a mich fuller understanding of their performances. Specifiers failed to ask - or get the answers to - the right question about these products until it was too late. Specifiers are almost certainly still failing to o they leave the onus.on the specifier to Rest’ digest, understand and apply all relevant standards and certificates, a DON'T specify ANY building material containing ANY kind of ASBESTO More and more architects are refusing to specify building materials con- taining any type of asbestos, despite a massive, slick and deceptive pub- lic relations campaign being waged by the asbestos companies and their propaganda arms, the "Asbestos Information Committee" and the "Asbestosis Research Council." after all, not in business to provide a social service to sell the best possible products: they are in bus- iness to make money. MANUFACTURERS The role and motives of the manufacturer are very imporzent. His first loyalty is to his financial backers - he must make a profit or they will take their money elswhere and ruin his business. So the pursuit of excellence in the products he markets is unlikely to be one of the manufacturer's major priorities. He is committed to sales and growth, end any technique, such as marketing, which i] help that goal. Persuading the purchaser is, in €as in other industries, the major priority, lity of goods is useful only insofar as they hieve that goal. If it can be achieved by mcens, such as marketing techniques, the manu- turer's needs are satisfied nevertheless. _ What the example of building materials shows us is the faidure of an economicsystem to produce the products appropriate to Society's needs. Society requires the right product in the right place © profit motive reduces the likelihood of this ; for manufacturers are busy trying to in- specifiers so that regardless of what is the roduct, theirs is the one waich clinches the whe cost of their doing so is passed on to the mer for reasons quite outside the intrinsic of materials or manufacture. Nobody stands to ‘cept the backer who stands to benefit from ._ acturer's increased profits, and the market ing industry which would otherwise cease to exist. What is necessary, obviously is a different system - a system whereby nobody stands to gain by one product being sold in preference to another, so that the specifiers choice is based on a rational comparison of the performance of different products unciouded by irrelevant considerations. There are already moves in this direction which show us the way forward, but there is still a long way The next stage, therefore, in reaching a technically edequate specification system One of these moves is to go. standards such as British in the use of defined Standards and Agreement iz to be eble to introduce a means reducts which are necessary - as opposed of course, do not cover the wor- and demolition sites but al renrasenn acniheorines several reasons they whereby peepeesent any niyz ike tl col do not he complete answer to the 2y to products which are merely profitable made available to specifiers. Again there © BSs and, particularly, Agrement are both "opting in" schemes which leave the onus on the manufacturer to co-operate: nly one agency which can afford expediency above quick profit - the © specifiers are not obliged to use only products covered by the quality assurance of a BS or Agrement certificate; state. The state, therefore, should be empowered to have at least a sizeable stake in the industry to be able to introduce building products which are necessary above being profitable. It seems equelly likely that a state sector would be unwilling to do so without also being able to 5. Asbestos is a hazard not o andfactoriesandonconstruction © BSs and Agrement certificates criteria within which products define s Satisfactorily,butthey shouldPeers makegooditsprobablelossesonthoseproducts do not define others which it may be subjected to; which private manufacturers avoid introducing currently by also controlling those lines the aah ae industry currently sells at a profit. NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT ri we are looking for a building materials daunting task; o BSs are defined largeley by the industries themselves, and only marginally by outside experts or specifiers. So current standards are something of a red herring — a very mild and inadequate form of quality control where other peoples' money - and lives — are at stake. Obviously much tighter quality control is needed. No product should be allowed on the market until all its performance parameters have been tested and documented by an impartial agency and the results are available to help inform specifiers. : A system such as this could have been evolved voluntarily by materials producers such that they agreed to introduce only tested do so; theirs is already a hard enough job, and firms' tarketing ploys are not encouraging a totally open technicalappraisaloftheirproducts.Firmsare, See products. t manufacturers have had this opportunity and have rarely taken it — they appear to need some prompting. The alternative, if they won't do it them selves, is statutory obligation. Building materials and methods are sufficiently vital to life and resources to make compulsory test— ing before marketing essential. But on its own this wonld rot be sufficient Under such a system the marketing of products, the irrelevent assertion of the super— dority of one product to another without comp- eriscn of their technical data, could still continue. Plainly specifiers must not continue to be misled in this way into making potentially disastrous decisions. What we need is a full and neutral product information system - a sort of superior Barbour index - which would make available all the performance details made available by the comp— ulsory testing system just suggested. This would allow specifiers to make a quite unbiased choice on the basis of the producttand its perf ormance alsone. Yet even assuming that products had to be fully tested before being allowed onto the market, and that specifiers were then able to choose between them solely on the basis of an impartial comparison of test results, the for specifying building materials still not be perfect. For manufacturers still, obviously, produce only those lines which made them money. There is no Guarentee that they would produce produce In other words » 43 now, the specifier would cften neve o0s€ between products which fitted his ents only imperfectly - not because chnically difficult to produce a more appropriate product, but simply because the prcefit margins involved discourage their developrent and marketing. Remember these FIVE POINTS: aus ey, which is more coon pace than the present profit-motivated responsive to society's , len each of the three requirements disc— + and the state empowered at the least, certain lines shunned flooring tiles, MESo6050666o0s00b0058 et.al.Forallasbestosproductsusedinconstructio NAMIE eierelewsisinte eee asbestos kills! 4. Even slight exposure to asbestos dust can cause slow and painful death not only from asbestosis (an untreatable form of pneumoconiosis), but of which asbestos is the only established cause, is "a painful, untreat- able cancer (of the membrane lining of the chest or abdomen) which kills by slow suffocation." It can be produced even by the slight exposures to which members of the general public are subject and usually does not also from lung cancer, mesothelioma and other cancers. Mesothelioma, develop until at least fifteen yeers after such exposure. 2. All forms of asbestos, including chrysotile (mined principally in Can- ada, Rhodesia, South Africa and the U.S.S.R.) and amosite (imported from South Africa and used for most thermal and acoustic insulation products containing asbestos), are highly dangerous and can be lethal, not merely the "blue asbestos" (crocidolite) which is no lonaer widely used in Britain in new construction. 3. The only safe level of exposure to asbestos dust is zero. 4. Current safety standards in British industry, even were they enforced, do not make the hazards negligible and, kers in the largely British-owned mines and processing plants in the nly to the people who work with it in mines so to the live and work. Due to weathering, abresion, maintenance, repairs and alterations, the people using buildings containing asbestos are also subject to the danger. countries from which asbestos is imported. people they come incontact with and to the communities in which they Asbestos cement flat and profiled sheets, tubes and pipes account for most of the asbestos used in the construction industry, but it is also used in a wide range of insulation and fire-resistant products, vinyl asbestos asbestos-asphalt roofing compounds, many sarking felts, n there are safe elter- ———— — — — — — _4¢ present by the industry. If you would like to become a member of NAM Payable to the New Architecture Move- £2 (if you! together with a cheque/postal order ment) for £5 (if you're employed) or Te a student, claimant, or OAP) to NAM, 9 Poland Street, London WIV 3DG. » fill in this form and send it Cece er ccwcccccccccccccs See eeeeeeeeTeEeL? CCCUPATLONG cteeaeeeeerie Paul Brodeur, Expendable Americans, The Viking Press, 1974. Pat Kinnersly's The Hazards of Work (Pluto Press, 1973) covers asbestos among many other hazards of work. On the British asbestos industry, refer to The Monopolies Commission report, "Asbestos and certain Asbestos Products," HMSO, 1973. Note also: 4. Cape Industries continues to mine "blue asbestos" (crocidolite) in South Africa and has, indeed, been increasing production. More and more of this deadly production is apparently exported to Third World countries where the trade union movement has not the power to get it banned. For additional: copies of this leaflet, ’ send a stamped addressed the New Architecture Movement, 9 Poland Street, London wi1V3D0G mer natives-(though glass or mineral fibres are probably not among them). Many cost no more. For others, the difference is insignificant compared to the medical and human costs involved in the continued use of asbestos. Don't put your faith in inadequate "standards" dependent upon unfeasible measuring techniques and understaffed and ambivalent énforcement agencies. Don't wait for your firm or department (or your client) to ban the use of all materials containing any kind of asbestos, or for the workers on site to refuse to handle them. Take the initiative! Don't specify any product containing asbestos and don't allow any on site. Get your colleagues, quantity surveyor and engineering consultants to do likewise. Strong pressure now from architects and other specifiers, along with the pressure already being exerted by organised workers in factories and on building and demolition sites, can help force the merchants of death out of the asbestos business. And don't worry about their "crocidolite" tears... ..ethe big asbestos companies are already diversifying into other products and may well want to "cut their losses" before a boycott obliged to spread to their other lines. To prevent of asbestos is potential unemployment in the asbestos industry, the companies vide alternative, safe employment rather than continue to subject their involved must be forced to pro- workers and the community at large to a lethal hazard. Don't depend on the asbestos companies and their propaganda fronts for in- formation. Refer instead to: Nancy Tait, Asbestos Kills: New Facts, 1977. (Available for 25p from Nancy Tait, 38 Drapers Road, Enfield, Middx EN2 BLU.) British Society for Social Responsibility in Science, Killer Dust: Asbestos and Its Substitutes, available early 1978. London W1V 3DG) (BSSRS, 9 Poland Street, The main sources of chrysotile asbestos, which accounts for 95% of world asbestos fibre production, are Canada, South Sfrica, Rhodesia and the USSR. Britain imports it from Canada and Soth Africa. It must be remem- bered, though, that Rhodesian exports, despite sanctions, have been known to reach Western markets under the guise of South African exports. MONOPOLIES COMMISSION REPORT What was the Commission’s brief ? UNDE To criticise the Commission for its brief is like criticising a giraffe for having a long neck. The brief is only as good as the enabling legislation, which derives from the What does NAM say? The Monopolies Commission isas aware as anyone that it is not an exhaustive consumer protection agency and that there exist many other institutions, both statutory and voluntary, whose aims are differently or more broadly defined in the attempt tc cover this vast territory. To investigate by means of the National Consumer Council or the Consumers’ Association whether architects services operated in the public interest with or without a mandatory fee scale would be a very different and daunting task - though none the less worth under- -taking for that. This however was not the job in hand. The other aspect of the Department's original reference worth noting is the way in which by using the title “architects’ services”, as opposed to, say, “architectural services”, the condition of amonopoly existing (i.e. 33.3% of the given market) isreally automatically fulfilled -and thus also the Commission’s mandate to invest- -igate. Compliance with the RIBA Condit- -ions of engagement, in which the Fee Scale lis laid down, is required by Rules 1.1 A cynical explanation for this tautology might be that after the inconclusive NBPI investigation of the mid-'60s (under the Wilson Labour Government!) theDepart- -ment were quite determined to make no mistake the second time. Cynical or other- -wise, this makes all the more stupifying the RIBA’s desparate gamble in February 1975 (viz. para. 14) of hiringa lawyer doubtless at considerable expense, to proclaim that since over two thirds of the profession were salaried and therefore not fee-earning monopoly conditions did not prevail. Like an experienced angler watching the futile wriggling of some wretched fish he enquiry. Slate readers may be aware that the Monopolies Commission’s nine proposals on “Architects’ Services” reflect to a remarkable degree the recommendations the-New Architecture Movement made totheCommissioninitsevidence. “‘The Case Against Mandato ry Minimum Fees”’. As we now enter the vital period of discussion and negotiation for a new fee system, we have prepared the following “Plain Man's Guide”’ to the Monopolies issue, which we hope will clarify some of the primary questions and raise the general level of constructive debate. pad 3.2, which all registered persons are enjoined to observe. ON ARCHITECTS’ SERVICES ASHRAELI FORWARD by no means indisputable maxim that in any The Monopolies Commission’s brief was brief indeed. It consisted of three sentences, prefaced by a reference to the enabling legislation*, and was sent to the Commission by the Department of Trade and Industry on 19th September 1973. The Commission was asked to investigate and report on whether a monopoly existed a' defined by the Act, how it operated, and whether it did so against the public interest. It was asked to limit its consideration to cover ‘conditions which prevail...... by virtue of arrangements.....whereby two or more persons supplying the relevant service charge fees calculated by reference to an agreed scale.” This simply meant that the Commission was not expected to under- -take a wide ranging review of the architect- -ural profession in all its aspects. Although naturally other aspects of practice were perforce examined in understanding how given market other things being equal, price competiton is good and its reduction or elimination is bad. No doubt, the concepts -lap but they are not synonymous, and ,if the Commission entered the debate by sthe former route, NAM may be said to enter by the latter. That the paths do not necessarily converge was, we hope, made clear in our Hull press statement. 1. The Mandatory Minimum Fee Scale should be abandoned in the public interest, and a new system devised. 3. The establishment of any new fee system must take place’ within a reconstituted ARCUK with at least 50% lay represent- -ation along the lines proposed in the NAM report. ** of “competition” and “public interest” over- 2. The Monopolies Commission\definition of the public interest is unacceptable to NAM asitequatesthiswiththefree market, and restricts the public to mean clients, not users. .NAM considersthepositionofsalaried architects will continue to be weak with or without a mandatory fee scale until they exert their industrial strength within the trade union movement. the fee system worked, it was the mandatory fee scale which the Minister wanted invest- gated. Lastly, the Commission was advised that it was only the services of persons registered under the Architects Registration Acts, 1931-1938, that were releyant to the *Sections 2(1) & 6, Monopolies and Restrictive Practices (Inquiry and Control) Act 1948, as ammended and extended by Sections 1(3) & 2 of the Monopolies and Mergers Act 1965, **The Minister was then Peter Walker of the Heath Tory Government, the Undersecretary whose signature appeared on the reference rejoicing in the name of Mr. Coffin. rep eis has securely hooked - the Monopolies Report, para. 1.14) Cc ision was not i d. It pleted ving established, by October 1975, its brief and reported on 9th November, 1977 that over 90% of the suppliers of architects’ like the summary in NAM’s Report, though in notably inferior style. which were juxtaposed in fhe 2nd chapter of our Report (“The Fallacies and theFacts”) but al of which expose the difficulty of trying to link the obvious benefits to architects of fixed fee income with either the clients’ or the public’s interest. It is also notable how rapidly the solemn assur- -ances vanish when the RIBA postulates a market model without mandatory fees, All the so deeply ingrained qualities which a few pages earlier are deemed to create the very demand for architects’ services - THEMONOROLIESANDMENaERScoMnsioN and yet where printers and typesetters get good rewards because of their bargaining strength. 1977. services used the fixed fee scale and that there was therefore a case to answer, the Commission notified the monopolists of the issues they wished to consider in decid- -ing whether the monopoly operated against public interest. The response of the monopolists, that is to say the RIBA, FAS, IAAS, RIAS, RSUA and ina limited sense ARCUK, was coordinated by the RIBA, headedbythehaplessMr.AndrewDerbyshire-ingtotheircomplexity.Apartfromscale integrity,wisdom,altruism,etc.etc.,- ‘etn1ofheFT9 consequentlythenegotiationpositionof How did the e Architects’ Services Prin Patmos poms of Commission ° AReportontheSupplyof Architects’ServiceswithReference toScaleFes go about. it? As we noted in our Report, “‘Do not type - of other witnesses consulted. These in the main consist of clients rather than users, and it is-fairly clear that in many cases the ta’k of responding to the | Commission’s request for information was given to a professional rather than lay official.Inotherwords,itseemsJikely that the person answering for the corporate clients was often an architect himself. (See also below under “‘What did the users say?” Perhaps of more interest than this aspect is the argument that the very absence of user response reflects a real difficulty in linking these wider social interests with the mandatory fee scale in the manner proposed in the RIBA’s fifth assurance. (This assurance - which the client accepts in return for losing the right to negotiate the fee - states that “architects will work with a particular view it tends simply to state its disagreement without very full supportive reasoning. Those of us who prepared the NAM Report and who braved the perilous seas of a priori argument were frankly sorry to find no such rigour in the Commission’sstyle. Anyway, the Report consists of 8 chapters and 9 appendices, the latter being half as long again as the main text. The chapters cover 1. The Conduct of the {nquiry - a note on how information was gathered; 2. The Profession of Architect- -ure in the U.K. - which contains some interesting, if rather otd, figures on the growth in number of architects, their various types of employment, and the value of work certifiéd, (approx. £2,000 million in 1974); 3. The Scale Fee System - including a fascinating account of Govern- The importance of this allegation and its prominence in the RIBA report provoked our detailed critical examination (which is best followed by refering to our original text), but its overall thrust was essentially thatarchitectsarespecial,theirrelationship CommissionGoAboutIt?) . For the large or middle sized practice it would mean that in good times profits be minimal. The cost of the services will increase in good times because their will be more demand, and stabalise inarece The level of salaries then under the new system will be proportionally greater to the level of fees than under the old, and pass go.....Do not collect 6%”, whilst the Commissionisheadedby24appointed members, the main burden of investigative work isdischarged by the permanent civil servant officers. The group directing the enquiry into Architects’ Services consisted of eight members over the full period, and was chaired consecutively by Sir Ashton Roskill and Mr. J. G. Le Quesne, both Q.C.’s. Case Against Mandatory Minimum Fees” the employed to the employer would be similarly enhanced, Furthermore as industrial strength rather than the mand- -atory status of fees is the prime factor in salaried architects’ renumerations, there will be a commensurate safeguard against any decline in professional standards. Trade Unionism both in industry and within the professions - despite all media distortion - plays a major and decisive part in maintaining and improving the quality of the product. The small practice is likely to benefit under a new system, and it is hardly surprising that pressure is coming from the bulk of the practices in the regions for a more flexible system of fee scale. It will Despite the inevitable result the was also produced. Commission very properly began by After receiving and studying all the establishing the existence of the ‘monopoly’ written evidence the Commission conducted What did the In the aftermath of the Commission’s Report and in the present depression it is ‘demand elasticity’ not the assurances which is now the RIBA’s primary argument - though contrarily there is no mention of the service cutting that currently prevails by means of design speed ups, undermanning, 17guments. temp labour, etc., nor of the substantial and unsavoury “redundancies” that have occurred in the private sector despite the much vaunted balancing effect of fixed fees, by conducting a postal survey of one in seven of private practices in the U.K. 878 questionaires were despatched, of which 588 were returned, together With 729 letters Then followed the long period of gestation giving related evidence. Although this gave before the present report ‘Architects’ general information on revenue, the Services” was published on 9th November Commission also rightly considered it within 1977. RIBA say? their brief to examine the profitability of architects’ practices. But having commenced an investigation into the relationship| between individual project costs and profits in ten selected practices, it was persuaded by the RIBA to abandon the exercise as the results “would be unrepresentative”’. However, when challenged to produce its own survey, the RIBA failed to satisfy the Commission’s requirements, and so in the event no such survey was undertaken - a notable shortcoming of the final report. A more serious defect in our opinion, What does the Commission’s Report consist of? The Report is in some ways disappoint- -ing. Although the chapter structure is convincing and the presentation of witnesses’ cases exemplary, there is a clear disinclin- -ation to enter the dangerous arena of the The reasons given by witnesses in opposit make the small practice more competitive -ion to the RIBA position (which included with other suppliers of architectural services, the Consumers Association) almost all touch the market will increase and therefore the however. is the limited number -or rather ~argument. Where the Commission disagrees users say? We have already noted the semantic who had scarcely finished cleaning the egg of the advertising debacle off the back of his neck, before receiving the Commission’s custard pie full in the face. Their report was presented in the Spring of 1976 at the same time as the original NAM Report, “The reduction for repetitive house plans, our U.K. system is virtually alone in ignoring this sophisticated approach. In total therefore, the Monopolies Commission Report isa215 page document, and costs £2.85 from H.M.S.0, are apparantly to be abandoned directly the architect has the option of reducing his fees. This provoked our as yet unanswered question - are architects likely to cut their fees at the expence of their throats? (NAM Report, para 2.5). Alternatively, the only other explanation is that these assurances are not worth the paper they are not even written on. Cent TeRomeofComes Fd ‘eRe P7 Lownon MER MASESTY'S STATIONERY OFICE 5 wt 2. Many of the reasons given in favour of the existing scale fee system do not depehd on its mandatory status. 3. Most of the reasons given in favour have nothing whatever to do with the “‘five assurances’, or indeed any other RIBA a series of “public interest hearings” in which the monopolist is, in effect, cross- ined by sof the C isi The prot chinks is:that there is no way of knowing if anyone real is inside. The RIBA’s lengthy written document, which contained much repetition but no intentional jokes, leaves one uneasily pondering how the picture of perfection presented to the Monopolies Commission marries up with the palpable disillusionment and low morale throughout the profession. The keystone of their argument was what we in the NAM Report christened “The Hollow Bargain”. The RIBA alleged that it is reasonable for the client to forego the normal right to search the market for an acceptable fee because in return his architect offered him a series of assurances of integrity, unlimited liability, competence, loyalty and altruism. The second strand of the RIBA case was within the framework of a set of social and -ment involvement in the profession with the ‘demand elasticity’ argument. This -eration of the profession as a whole, and do believe in “professionalism” then now 80% of the profession are salaried compares is their opportunity for their practice to aesthetic values which ensure that the tegard to the fee system; 4. The Observance alleges that it is in the pfblic interest to insulate architects by means of fee control Commission attributes this to the poor David Waterhouse claimed at the recent industrial strength of architectural workers. interests of society, as well as those of clients are served by the best architecture that they of Scale Fees - the proaf that a monopoly are able to create.”) In examining the exists; 5. Architects’ Profits - only 24 Salaries paid to employed architects ARCUK meeting on December 14th that form, in the main, the costs of architectural the basis of the mandatory fee was not from the vaguaries of a market characterised dubious linkage between the assurances and pages!; 6. Evidence from Users of Services by sharp fluctuations in demand, but not by The Commission’s conclusion was that nearly “half the witnesses gave a view which services, the market for architectural “an architect should agree and charge the fixed fee scale - “The Hollow Bargain” and Others - gained from about {120 of the by an equal ability to modify supply. could be interpreted as definitely favour- -ing retention of the scales, dwith only about one-tenth against”, (Para. 98) However, this is less reassuring to the RIBA than it sounds, for at least three reasons: 1. Many of the witnesses seem to have been architects or advised by architects, and there therefore were judge of their own cause. services being determined by general level an adequate fee”, but is intellegent enough - our original Report expressed misgivings on precisely this point: “The final assurance raises questions relating to the 170 witnesses approached by the Commission Where elasticity of supply - for reasons of of ic activity of go it spend- -ing. Costs will be determined by the supply of and the demand for architects, the level of competitive salaries paid in the public sector, and whether architects are able to organise collectively. If you doubt this reasoning then look at the newspaper industry, dl idaly weak to know quite well that the present arrangement is not the only means by which this principle will operate. To “agree and charge an adequate fee” is a conventional 7. The Views of Bodies Representing Architects — comprising firstly the RIBA lengthy training, staffing methods etc., - cannot closely reflect that of demand, the measure of fee fixing maintains, we are told, case made on behalf of all the above listed public interest at large involving supra- -client matters beyond the terms of contract bodies, and secondly the case made by NAM, the profession’s capacity to survive a depress- to which themandatory element of the present arrangements is that are unenforceable on the basis of the the only objector in this category; and -ion in readiness for the ensuing boom. This leads the RIBA headlong commercial practice i ly, one can argue that fee scale and perhaps even at all.” NAM lastly 8. - Conclusi and R d -ations - the latter reading remarkably into a morass of contradictions, some of The appendices generally contain further details of subjects covered in the main text, together with the bulk of statistical inform- -ation. Of particular interest is Appendix 6 covering methods of charging for architects’ services in other countries. These show remarkable consistency throughout Western Europe and America in modifying the crude ‘x% of construction costs’ system by the classification of building types accord- of a suit of armour with no with their client is special, their market is special and that therefore their mode of payment should be special. Again, the interesting conundrum which emerges is how such a unique species could succeed in re-entering our rather untidy society in the style not proposed by the current RIBA Community Architecture working party which recommends not a re-orientation of: * architects but/re-education of the public. (See “Educate Public Says RIBA Group”, Building Design, September 30th 1977). The various categories of “users” who gave evidence may be summarized thus: Government Departments - DOE/PSA, DES, DHSS, UGC, the Home Office and the Scottish Office etc., Local Authorities, the New Towns Association, Associations of Metropolitan Authorities, County Councils Councils and UDC’s, Public Corporations - such as British Gas, the NCB and CEGB, the UK Atomic Energy Authority, British Railways, London Transport, British Airports Authority, GPO, BBC etc., the Housing Corporation and Housing Associations, Industrial and C ial i various manufacturing and retailing groups, and at very long last (listed under “other evidence”) The Consumers Association! consortia as being symptomatic. affect salaried The second alternative is less palatable The recurring metaphor is that of the Folies Bergere fan dancer who must dance with increasingly frantic ingenuity as one by one her fans are discarded. The final spectacle of the RIBA with no fans at all is however, less pleasing. on - one way or another - the main defect economic position of the employee will ° What did the Conundrum Partners are confronted with an unenviable dilemma between either going commercial or accepting, if there is one, a new concept of professionalism. The first alternative has long since been the choice of some practices and we can cite the advertising debate, the relaxation of the Code on fee tendering for swerve whereby the “public interest” is virtually confined to mean the users of services, at the expense of the users of buildings. (See under ““How Did the How will the newfeesystemoverseascontracts,andtheformationof of any fee scale, mandatory or otherwise, which bases fees on a percentage of constr- suction costs. As noted above, the UK is virtually alone in ignoring the amount and complexity of the architects’ work in determining his fee. The nub of the matter is that architects’ revenue must be based on fheir costs rather than on the capital cost of the building. Only then will the anomalies either of reaping vast additional fees on fluctuations for no additional service, or of making a pitiful living out of small but highly work- intensive commissions be ironed out. improve. architects? for the more staid and uninformed elements of the profession who apparantly consider NAM asa bunch of long-haired wierdos carrying guitars and wearing sandals. Salaried architects will rightly view the arguments that have been put forward by the RIBA with suspicion, since the:statistics Acceptance of the simple virtues of real published by the MMC show that under the service, accountability to the public and a present arrangements large profits have been social ethic seem beyond their imagination. earned and yet the average level of renum- If the principlals of private practice really bly with other p i The coincide with their principles. The partner’s under the present mandatory ad valorem scale the client has no more certainty of the fee than he has of the cost of his project. This hardly squares with the surety of an “agreed fee” that propogandists claim for under the present arrangement. Undera new system it is in fact more likely that a client will know in advance what fee will be charged, since the dramatic late additions for “fluctuations” will not be admissable. Similarly, the present “conditions” are so confused in attempting to make the scale of charges more appropriate to the nature of the project that interpretation has been as varied as chalk and cheese. A negotiated fee derived from the complexity of a project will enable the client to determine the fee that he will be required to pay and the confidence that it is an accurate reflection of the cost of services provided. Within the formal terms of reference of the Inquiry the user of architects’ products (as opposed to the users of architects services) has been virtually excluded. It is to the user of the product that we wish the profession to be accountable and it is society at large, the users of buildings, that we define the public interest and not only those clients who supposedly act on their behalf. Architects are ultimately accountable to their client because the client has the power to withold payment and in some case certainly does so. Clearly in the fear that his client has hasthe power to withold the fee an architect is less likely to give an inferior service to the client who has deliberately chosen to hire an architect rather than “‘an architectural designer”. If we argue on analgous principles but substitute the user of the product for the user of the service, then public account- -ability of the profession will become a reality rather than a dream. Whether it be the government’s proposed independent committee in the short term or a reformed ARCUK as proposed by NAM in the long term, is the agency that determines the level of the profession’s livelyhood and the method by which must be under the control porate ET se 2|| {9pity 2 93 square, London, WC1X 8EZ. Tel PAVLUITOPULMOS From Mr John Burkett Sir, The problem with lengthy ‘sorernmer -o7 of lay people. If there was widespread dissatisfaction with R]BA appointees little time to adjust their architects, then doubtless there would be Portland Place and Hallam Street gives ARCUK hats before entering the Council puppet status of ARCUK to be exposed - the the Council confined its evidence toa description of ARCUK’s statutory roles and the way in which its Code merely requires compliance with a recognised fee scale issued and fixed by others. Although ARCUK thus clearly supports mandatory minimun fees it argued, correctly in our opinion, that the onus, of proving them to be in the public bodies where the scales orginate. Hence it took a very minor part in the Inquriy. filled with life and breath. AN END TO ARCHITECTS' MONOPOLY It were abolished as 1972 there is a current ret... towards selection by merit rather than by fee competition. _To reach any other conclu- sion than that the current system of charging is by and Jarge in the public interest one would need to place very hea reliance on the contrary evi- dence from the smal] minority of private users and in parti- cular on the evidence of the New Architecture Movement whose “contact list” in June 1976 numbered just over 200 Persons drawn from al] areas of architectural] activity includ- ing the lay public, But this is precisely. what the Monopolies Commission has done and the conclusions that the: have reached are that th- ory -uli> . es <n it- neat report was presented to i. . ment and I trust that Parlia- ment will read it and ask the appropriate questions. Yours faithfully, JOHN BURKETT, 10-14 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NF November 23. _ What was ARCUK’s position? is well known that the proximity of "There has not been any compulsory scale of fees fixed by the Institute and there never will be'' RIBA 1926 ee Its behaviour since the Commission’s Report was published has, however, been less consistent. The RIBA appear to have decided that ARCUK must now be used as another weapon in the undignified struggle to retain the fee scales at all costs. The previous rather disinterested tone has there- -fore been replaced by strident pronounce- -ments both in Council and to the press that ARCUK firmly believes the fee scales to be in the public interest, to uphold the quality of architecture etc. and that any registered person found ‘jumping the gun’ and reducing his fees will be in serious trouble. Fortunately the officials with whom we have been in contact at the Office for Fair Trading, have made it clear that they know what is ‘‘going on’’ as regards ARCUK and the RIBA. Nonetheless, it would be adyiseable in the remainder of the six month period of current negotiation to keep ARCUK under the most viligant observation, since the RIBA leadership is bound to try to to present the picture of an homogenous profession united in its opposition to the :Commission’s findings. To maintain avigilant and constructive posture in this regard is still more vital since for the reasons already given in our Report IT IS IN ARCUK THAT WE SEE THE WAY FORWARD. THE YTIMES pressure on the committee to apply economic (4, mber. However, surprisingly - or possibly sanctions and reduce the profession‘s income to suit the ‘quality’ of its products. Conversely, architects would be less inclined to provide poor service, if, to maintain revenue, they were forced to convince’ pecayse it was felt impolitic to allow the their consumers that it was worth paying for what only architects could offer. Only in this way does the Monopolies issue become relevant to the ‘user’, as against the mandatory fee geared to the ‘public interest’. The empty shard of that Sth assurance of altruistic interest mustibe| borne by the/constituent service to the community might then be ’ Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Andrew Brown/FLeP Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1977/January 1978 https://newarchitecturemovement.org/files/original/692555f988890b49d602faeee4ba34f5.pdf 2c271f6c4b8cc514fa5790ce5451ee02 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE Description An account of the resource To help promote its work and reduce dependence on the established professional press, NAM created its own newspaper SLATE. The editorial group met bi-monthly to gather together latest events, activities and ideas emerging from radical critiques and challenges to the established order of architectural practice and education. The content of each edition was collated, and cut-and-pasted into layouts of the magazine which typically ran from 16 to 28 pages. Each edition included a brilliant cartoon by Andrew Brown who emerged as a clever graphic artist synthesising NAM's radical ethics. SLATE's production ran to 17 issues in total. The SLATE Group also produced occasional annual calendars, of which three survive Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SLATE 12 Subject The topic of the resource Contains: 'Women and Space Conference Application', Sat 10th and Sun 11th March 1979 'Speculation Over The City' Description An account of the resource [ aa . oe ecul: Bs ance a2 at Peed oA oé ao a Fence rs to, a Le Ee Se is REPRESENTATIVES ae orbluish-purpletockeasilysplit Anetworkof30representativeshasbeen housing bill trauma THE SHELTER CONFERENCE on the 1979 Housing Bill was held on the the 16th of February, its aims were to help tenants and housing activists to campaign for a more radical hous- ing Bill than that proposed by the Bte!, n.,a,&v.t. 1,Inds ofgrey, {nto flat smooth plates; plece of such fhe ~, rid oneself of or renounce oblign- tons) +~-black, -blue, -grcy, modifications of these tints such as occur in~; jl-~-cltb, smutual benefit society with small weekly contributions; ~-colour(ed), (of) dark bluish or greenish grey; hence slat’y? a, 2. adj. (Made) of~. 3, v.t. Cover with ~s esp. as roofing; hence slit’er' n, (ME -). Criticize severely te hor in reviews), scold, rate; *nominate, propose for office etc, Hence slit’1xc(1) n. (app. f, prec.} SLATE IS THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, published bi-monthly and edited by the Moyement’s Publications Group. News und features of broad interest to workers in the profession, the building industry and to the general public are inc- luded to stimulate general debate on a wide range of issues and to bring the Movement’s Views and activities to the attention of the largest possible readership set up throughout schools and large prac- ticesuloverthecountry.Theonlycomm- itment of each representative will be to receive 5 copies of SLATE every two months and to try to sel 4 of them, return- ing £1.00 to SLATE. ’ Al this should help SLATE acheive a far wider circulation and become more truly representative of the views of rad- icals concerned with the industry and the environment WORK ON SLATE SLATE needs more workers, more writers .more ideas and more reps in order to produce a better, larger and cheaper newsletter. If you would like to work for SLATE: become a rep., join the group, send in articles or suggest topics it should cover then contact us soon, : : The copy deadline for the next issue is Friday 11th May 1979 and THE PLIGHT OF SUB— URBAN WOMEN Commercial development and women's employment ACOMMUNITY LAND ACT? Was itever effective? PLANNING SYSTEM ON TRIAL The implications of the forth- coming South Bank Enquiry BAKER STREET BLUES A complex inner city area under threat P20 ARCHITEKT P20 LETTERS P23 :[ + SUBSCRIBE! the recent election among thenearly 4400 architects considered by ARCUK as ‘unattached.’ Although the four incumbent NAM—affiliated | NAME |ADDRE If you would like to receive SLATE without SLATE 12 PAGE 2 Councils an incentive to produce a clear SLATE ispublished by the Publications Group of the NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT, 9 Poland St., London W.1. (Letters should be addressed to the Publications Group) ; Contents NEWS THE SLATER UNATTACHED NEWS EDITORIAL PENSION FUNDS: YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE Pensionfundsandproperty speculation P8 Printed by Islington Community Press, 2a St Pauls Rd., London, N1. Trade Distribution by Publications Distribution Cooperative, 27, Clerken- well Court, London, E.C.2 ; joining NAM fil in the form below and send ittogether 7 notincreasebecausewageshadincreased. bythecouncilofSTAMP, On improvements there were demands section of UCATT. the non-manual for fostering action by councils in com- attached councillorsThe newly-elected un- NEWS FROM NAM workshops as to the ways in which the Bil should be ammended. In the work- shop on Allocations of Council Houses the following ammendments ware demanded:thatthereshouldbenogrounds councillors(BobMaltz,JohnMurray, P10 P16 P18 government . While Labours Bil is nolonger nec- essarilyas immediate asit was in February, the Housing Bil that the Conservatives may may introduce iseven less likely to match the conferences aims than that of the Labour Bill. At the conference there were workshops on the Tenants Charter, the allocation of Council Housing, Housing Subsidies, Home improvements and empty Houses. Specific demands were produced by these Architects Registration Council in which preyented a person for a council house and ‘that eligiblity for Ian Tod and Tom Woolley) easily led the balloting and increased their percentage of the votes over last government to publish for the its secret figures showing how the new subsidising system will work and to give to invest in housing and national policy on rent levels which did pulsary improvement powers, essential repairs and the production of an action programme on vandalised council estates. It also called for an increase in the homes improvement grant and the scrapping of the proposed tenants grant. In the Empty Houses workshop a ban on the demolition of good houses before are three NAM members members; John Allan, Sue Jackson and being considered transfering area should not only be con- sidered when achangeofjob was involved. year, the number of NAM members The subsidies workshop called on ARCUK has declined by two. Four NAM members who represented “unattached” architects for the past two years (Anne Delaney, Alan Lipman, David Roebuck and KenThorpe) did not stand as candidates this year and NAM member Adam Purser did not seek renomination NAM MEMBERS have won seven of the nine seats up for grabs on the Marion Roberts, together with Péter Cut- more and David Robson, neither of whom isexpected to throw in his lot with the RIBA Council’s “Gang of Forty” which stil controls the 67-seat ARCUK. While the ‘unattached’ are obliged by the Architects Registration Act of 1931 SLATE 12 PAGE 3 VSWEWSNEY to nominate only ‘registered persons’ (e.g. ‘architects’), the RIBA Council is free to nominate anyone,lay or profession— al,RIBA mamber ornot. Onceagain, however, the RIBA Council has nominated exclusively RIBA menbers to its 40seats onARCUK. Itappears,indeedthatit is becoming so difficult for the small group of RIBA fanatics who mastermind the RIBA’s use of ARCUK as an RIBA puppet to find sufficient ‘sheep’willing to toe their party line on ARCUK that of their 8 new nominees, the RIBA Council has had to draft five members of the RIBA Council itself. a public enquiry was demanded as was aduty of Councils to consider the 1se of empty property anda right of couzicil tenants to object to the demolition plans At the end of the conference it was emphasised that massive publicity must be given to the shortcomings of the Bil but it was reiterated that the campaign for a more radical Housing Bill would only be effective if it was linked to a Wider cam- Paign to reversethe housing cuts and win political commitment to everyone's right to have decent housing. victory at the poles 3 [ityouwoui ikefboeamemberoftheNewArchitectureMoverientfillinthefecmbeloawndsend} it together with a cheque/postal order (payable to the New Architecture Movement) for £5.00 ( if | you're employed) or £8898 (ifyou're are student, claimant or OAP) to NAM at 9, Poland Street |London Wt. 3-00 withacheque/postalorder(payabletotheNew ArchitectureMovement )for£9988toNAM at9, |feesina steeteeatt 250 As ever, the RIBA Council has nominated to ARCUK primarily bosses. Although lessthan 30%ofthe RIBAmembership are in management positions, over 90% of their Council’s nominees to ARCUK are. Indeed, two out of every three of the RIBA Council nominees are owners of private firms. And although the RIBA draws nearlyhalfofits membership from the public sector, over 75% of RIBA Council nominees to ARCUK are from theprivate sector. Despite the widely—trumpeted gains made in last year’s RIBA Council elections by the RIBA’s self—styled ‘SalariedArchitects Group’ (which includes some employers), there is still only one ‘SAG’ person among the forty RIBA Council nominees. Perhaps the thought of SAG people voting together It was recently reported in Building that the RIBA Council refused to nominate even one member of the Society of Architectural and Associated Technicians, which was originally established under the RIBA’s wing to keep the ‘second tier’ of the profession in line (and out of thealternative a a bona fide trade union) because that body, floundering though it may be, quite understandably refused to be bound by the RIBA whip. with NAM members elected by ‘unattached’ architects was too daunting aProspect for the bosses on RIBA Council . or for SAG! The six ARCUK Councillors nominated by other professional and employers NIEWSNE JSNEWSNEWSNEWSIREWS ARCUK by the RIBA itself and isapparent ly no longer a member of STAMP. The hopes of the representatives of the ‘unattached’foranincreasedturnoutin the recent elections were unfulfilled. ARCUK sent out the ballot papers so late that many unattached hardly had a chance to vote Steps are underway now to get ARCUK’s regulations changed in order to oblige the Registrar to allow voters su‘licient time Nevertheless, the elected unattached councillors al received between 338 and $00 votes. While RIBA Council nominees to ARCUK are not subject to election at al, it may nevertheless be worth noting that ARCUK Councillor Nadine Bedding ton, private practice boss and a RIBA and ACA fanatic, gotre-elected to the RIBA Council last year with 146 votes. That's the same Nadine Beddington who is re ported to have sought to field a slate of RIBA sympathizers to contest the “un attached’ elections, claiming that the NAM members elected were ‘unrepresentative.” Resultsof the ‘unattached’ election: standers) was ejected from the building. There were no arrests however and the demonstrators had stayed long enough tomaketheirpointandhavesomecons- iderable fun in doing so. The immediate reason for occupying these particular houses was to protest against their erec- tion by the GLC (at a cost of £75,000) in order to publicise this council’s policy of halting its housing programme and selling off council houses regardless of the social consequences. The protestors also raised more important broader issues, pointing out the need to oppose the hous- ing cuts as well asthe attack on council housing that accompanies them. They challenged the very idea of an ‘Ideal Home’ exhibition while thousands are homeless and millions remain inadequ- ately housed, and they brought the anger of the homeless and badly housed into the heart of this funfair for the wealthy, well-heeled and well-housed. The people involved came from avariety of organisations and areas, some of them travelling from Cardiff, Portsmouth Plymouth and other parts of the country. The Ass- ociation of London Housing Estates, the Federation of Short-Life Housing Groups, London Squatters Union, Middlesex Poly Not all visitors reacted too warmly of course, there being the full quota of complacent owner occupiers that would Bob Dumbleton from South Wales Housing Action Group started the day with an introduction on the whole sub- jectofpensionfunds.Heemphasizedtheir outtheargumentsforthenecessityfora Elected Not elected unequal opportunities "THE NAM Feminist Group is to do battle with the legislative machinery of anti-sexismTh.e RIBA swung into action in November on the issue of sexism in the profession by sending out a survey to al women registered architects. The survey asked such highly relevant and un- biased questions as “What does your fath- er do ?” and “Is your husband an archit- Ck am The RIBA had been commissioned by the Policy Studies Institute which in turn had been requested by the Equal Oppor- tunities Commission to carry out this sur- vey on women in the profession. A similar study was done ten years ago and the conclusions which its distin- guished researchers came to were that “women architects did not succeed bec- ause they were not ambitious enough” and “the architectural profession was not inherently sexist”. size: for example ICI’s fund is£593M and the National Coal Board’s is£1037M. This concentration of capital should in theory give immense power to the workers who collectively own it. Bob elucidated the paradox of pension funds: that they are in effect workers deferred wages and must therefore guarantee a certain minimum return. As a consequence the investment of pension funds is left to “experts” : investment consultants, who pick up a fat fee for advising on safe returns for the money invested. The kind of investment that yields a consistently high return in the short term is in the areas like property speculation, and not in the manufacturing sector. Thus the contradictory situation arises where pension funds are investing in soc- ially destructive projects, to the detriment of other workers living conditions. A poignant example of this isthe develop- ment of Swansea City Centre, in which some money from the miners pension fund is invested through a development company. These funds together with the local authority funding are diverting investment away from the Welsh valleys and are thus contributing to their econ- omic decline. Bob emphasised the importance of campaigning for a good state-owned pen- sion fund scheme which would releive the necessity for this kind of investment in the private market. An interim step could be greater trade union representation and participationontheboardoftrustees of pension funds. planned programme of investment which would put capital in the prodiictive sect- ors of the economy. He reminded us of the subjectivity of the investment elite and it’s desire for short-term returns. The distinction between social ownership and social control was discussed and the imp- ortance of the latter, with special refer- ence to eastern europe. Holland drew the parallel between the health service before it was nationalised and pension funds now. He thought that the way forward lay eventually in state/social control over pension funds with a long-term strategy for investment. One step towards this could be the use of a key case, such as the ones spoken earlier in the day, where an exposure of the contradictions of the present mis-use of funds could be given full publicity. The discussion following each speaker's contribution was lively and the conference ended by breaking into groups and dis- cussing the way ahead. Thus the propo- sals which came out of the conference are in the long term: 1. The nationalisation of pension funds under social control with a system of “pay as you go” contribution. 2. Government direction over the invest- mentofpensionfunds. and in the short term: 3. More effective trade union represent- ation and participation on the boards The representatives on ARCUK of ‘unattached’architects are concerned thatmanyarchitectswhooughttobe areinterestedingettingarealistic |IDEACHOMES FOR AL. Wi individuals involved in housing. It exists to further the fight for decent housing _ forall. ideal homes for all THE IDEAL Home Exhibition found itself the scene of something alittle outside its usual artificial affluence on Friday March 9th when agroup of demonstrators occupied the two GLC show houses in the Exhibition ‘village’. A group of about 30 people entered the houses as ordinary visitors and then told the GLC officials inside “This is an occu- pation”, escorted them out of the build- ings, and secured the doors. Meanwhile another squad had climbed onto the roofs of the houses and unfurleda fifteen foot long banner saying “Ideal Homes for All”, and a hundred supporters gathered in the vicinity kept up a continuous barrage of chanting and singing, as well as saturat- ing the exhibition with leaflets. Stuart Holland followed with an anal- ysis of the crisis of productivity. He drew Text of this article by courtesy of the Housing Action Campaign HOUSING ACTION isadecentralised net campaigningnetworkofgroupsand Report of the conference held in Birming- ham on January 20th. The conference was reasonably well att- ended in spite of the snow: about 60 delegates came from places as far afield as Swansea and North Shields. There was a mixture of people involved in commun- ity action, trade union officials and active trade unionists which lent a wide resource of experience to the discussion. Police moved in rapidly, kicking their way through the locked doors and breaking a couple of windows, and everyone invol- ved in the occupation or who looked like asympathiser(includingahandfulofby- beexpectedatsuchanevent.“Whyaren't_ and the RIBA too many. They should also write to the Registrar of ARCUK stating that they are not membersofRIBA,AA,FAS,[AAS or STAMP and asking to have the The representatives of the unattached In response the NAM Feminist Group haswrittenalettertotheE.0.C.point- ing out the deficiencies in the RIBA questionnaire and the previous report, and explaining the difference between the RIBA and ARCUK. We have asked for funds with which to carry out our ownsurvey.Theanswerisstilyettobe rarytotheinterestsofworkerslivingin HousingResourceLibraryTM.LadbrokeHouse received....... these areas. Alan Spence from Covent Highbury Grove London N.5. view of how widespread the practice isand would like to hear directly from architects who think they are unattach— status as unattached. Any architect ed but did not receive papers in the resigning from any of the above recent election. Please write to mentioned associations is advised of pension funds. 4.Theuseofakeycommunitystruggle regarded by ARCUK as ‘unattached’ are considered by ARCUK to be ‘attached,’ particularly to the RIBA This means that they do not receive nomination and election papers and alsomeansthatthe‘unattached’may UnattachedRepresentatives,c/oSLATE,toinformARCUK’sRegistrarofthe be allowed too few seats on ARCUK 9 Poland Street, London W1. fact. SLATE 12 PAGE 4 to publisize the contradictions and anomolies inpension funds. Students Union and local building workers were among those who gave their support. Registrar confirm inwriting their Speakers from community action groups in North Sheilds, Cardiff, Birming- hain and Southwark related the ways in which pension funds had invested cont- you at work?” yelled one well-dressed gent gentleman, to the quick retort from a pro- control testor of “Why aren’t you at work?” The point was probably lost, but the action asawholeleftthoseofusinvolvedfeeling pensionfunds elated and just itching for the next time. | Garden pointed out how a trade union pension fund could play a constructive role, by buying up the development in Covent Garden for housing and social fac- ilities which had been won by the direct actionof the local community. This devel- opment isnow owned by the GLC and since it has turned Tory wishes to sel al cf the dwellings at £30,000 per flat. In the afternoona trade union official from the GMWU explained the philosophy behind his union’s investment of its pen- sion funds and the way in which worker representatives came on to the board of trustees. He emphasized how pensions had originally been a gain for the labour movement and their importance as a def- erred wage. A more detailed account of the conter- ence may be obtained from the “Self -Help SLATE 12PAGE 5 VSNEWSNEWS\S associations in the building industry are prevented by law from beingarchitects. Of the remaining 61, 51 are members of the RIBA. This is because the five minor ‘professional’ bodies with nomination rights under the 1931 Actall nominated exclusively RIBA members to their total of seven seats, as did the government, with the exception of one senior civil servant. In addition to nominating a RIBA member to ARCUK, STAMP has also nominated RIBA stalwart Kenneth Campbell to fil its places on ARCUK’s Board of Education and Admissions Committee. William Kretchmer, who lost his STAMP nomin Pwore |THY SEP ation last year after voting with the RIBA faction to keep ARCUK investing in apartheid, has now been given a seat on John Murray Bob Maltz Tom Woolley lan Tod 550 Eddie Walker 337 492 MJB Jackson 333 489 HP Massey 315 478 lan Cooper 299 433 John Allan David Robson Peter Cutmore Sue Jackson Marion Roberts 338 391 356 343 VSNEWSNIS SNEWS1Y associations in the building industry are prevented by law from being architects. Of the remaining 61, 51 are members of the RIBA. This is because the five minor ‘professional’ bodies with nomination rights under the 1931 Act al nominated exclusively RIBA members to their total of seven seats, as did the government, with the exception of one senior civil servant. In addition to nominating a RIBA member to ARCUK, STAMP has also nominated RIBA stalwart Kenneth Campbell to fil its places on ARCUK’s Board of Education and Admissions Committee. William Kretchmer, who lost his STAMP nomin ation last year after voting with the RIBA faction to keep ARCUK investing in apartheid, has now been given a seat on ARCUK by the RIBA itself and isapparent ly no longer a member of STAMP. The hopes of the representatives of the ‘unattached’ for an increased turnout in the recent elections were unfulfilled. ARCUK sent out the ballot papers so late that many unattached hardly had a chance to vote. Steps are underway now to get ARCUK’s regulations changed in order to oblige the Registrar to allow voters suclicient time. Nevertheless, the elected unattached councillors al received between 338 and 500 votes. While RIBA Council nominees to ARCUK are not subject to election at al, it may nevertheless be worth noting that ARCUK Councillor Nadine Bedding ton, private practice boss and a RIBA and ACA fanatic, got re-elected to the RIBA Council last year with 146 votes. That’s the same Nadine Beddington who is re ported to have sought to field a slate of RIBA sympathizers to contest the ‘un attached” elections, iming that the NAM members elected were ‘unrepresentative.” Results of the ‘unattached’ election: JQEAL- HOMES FOR ALL. ARRAS eS Elected John Murray Bob Maltz Tom Woolley lan Tod John Allan David Robson Peter Cutmore Sue Jackson Marion Roberts Not elected $50 Eddie Walker 337 492 MJB Jackson 333 489 HP Massey 315 of organisations and areas, some of them travelling from Cardiff, Portsmouth,Plymouth and other parts of the country. The Ass- ociation of London Housing Estates, the Federation of Short-Life Housing Groups, London Squatters Union, Middlesex Poly Students Union and local building workers were among those who gave their support. Not all visitors reacted too warmly of course, there being the full quota of complacent owner occupiers that would be expected at such an event. “Why aren’t _ They should also write to the Registrar of ARCUK stating that they are not members of RIBA, AA, FAS, IAAS orSTAMPandaskingtohavethe SLATE 12 PAGE 4 these areas. Alan Spence from Covent Highbury Grove London N.S. SLATE 12PAGE 5 478 lan Cooper 433 39] 356 343 338 299 The representatives on ARCUK of ‘unattached’architects are concerned that many architects who ought to be are interested in getting a realistic regarded by ARCUK as ‘unattached’ areconsideredbyARCUK tobe ‘attached,’ particularly to the RIBA This means that they do not receive nomination and election papers and also means that the ‘unattached’ may beallowedtoofewseatsonARCUK 9PolandStreet,LondonW1. 1. The nationalisation of pension funds under social control with a system of “pay as you go” contribution. 2. Government direction over the inves'- ment of pension funds. and in the short term: 3. More effective trade union represent- ation and participation on the boards of pension funds. THE IDEAL Home Exhibition found af S standers) was ejected from the building. There were no arrests however and the demonstrators had stayed long enough to make their point and have some cons- iderable fun in doing so. The immediate reason for occupying these particular houses was to protest against their erec- tion by the GLC (at a cost of £75,000) in order to publicise this council’s policy of halting its housing programme and selling off council houses regardless of the social consequences. The protestors also raised more important broader issues, pointing out the need to oppose the hous- ing cuts as well asthe attack on council housing that accompanies them. They challengedtheveryideaofan ‘Ideal Home’ exhibition while thousands are homeless and millions remain inadequ- ately housed, and they brought the anger of the homeless and badly housed into unequal opportunities itself the scene of something a little outside its usual artificial affluence on Friday March 9th when agroup of demonstrators occupied the two GLC show houses in the Exhibition ‘village’. A group of about 30 people entered the houses as ordinary visitors and then told the GLC officials inside “This is an occu- pation”, escorted them out of the build- ings, and secured the doors. Meanwhile another squad had climbed onto the roofs of the houses and unfurled a fifteen foot long banner saying “Ideal Homes for All’’, and a hundred supporters gathered in the vicinity kept up a continuous barrage of chanting and singing, as well as saturat- ing the exhibition with leaflets. Police moved in rapidly, kicking their way through the locked doors and breaking a couple of windows, and everyone invol- ved in the occupation or who looked like a sympathiser (including a handful of by- the heart of this funfair for the wealthy, well-heeled and well-housed. and the RIBA too many. The representatives of the unattached view of how widespread the practice isandwouldliketoheardirectlyfrom architects who think they are unattach— Registrar confirm in writing their 4.Theuseofakeycommunitystruggle to publisize the contradictions and anomolies in pension funds. ed but did not receive papers in the recent election. Please write to status as unattached. Any architect resigning from any of the aboye mentioned associations is advised iinformARCUK’sRegistrarofthe - act. A more detailed account of the conter- : The people involved came from avariety HOUSING ACTION isadecentralised campaigning network of groups and individuals involved in housing. It exists to further the fight for decent housing forall. Report of the conference held inBirming- ham on January 20th. The conference was reasonably well att- ended in spite of the snow: about 60 delegates came from places as far afield as Swansea and North Shields. There was a mixture of people involved in commun- ity action, trade union officials and active trade unionists which lent awide resource of experience to the discussion. Bob Dumbleton from South Wales Housing Action Group started the day with an introduction on the whole sub- ject of pension funds. He emphasized their size: for example ICI’s fund is £593M and the National Coal Board’s is £1037M. This concentration of capital should in theory give immense power to the workers who collectively own it. Bob elucidated the paradox of pension funds: that they are in effect workers deferred wages and must therefore guarantee a certain minimum return. As a consequence the investment of pension funds is left to “experts” : investment consultants, who pick upa fatfeeforadvisingonsafereturnsfor the money invested. The kind of investment that yields a consistently high return in the short term is in the areas like property speculation, and not in the manufacturing sector. Thus the contradictory situation arises where pension funds are investing in soc- ially destructive projects, to the detriment of other workers living conditions. A poignant example of this is the develop- ment of Swansea City Centre, in which some money from the miners pension fund isinvested through adevelopment company. These funds together with the local authority funding are diverting investment away from the Welsh valleys and are thus contributing to their econ- omic decline. Bob emphasised the importance of campaigning for agood state-owned pen- sion fund scheme which would releive the necessity for this kind of investment in the private market. An interim step could be greater trade union representation and participationontheboardoftrustees of pension funds. Speakers from community action groups in North Sheilds, Cardiff, Birming- hain and Southwark related the ways in whichpensionfundshadinvestedcont- encemaybeobtainedfromthe“Self-Help rary to the interests of workers living in Housing Resource Library. Ladbroke House you at work?” yelled one well-dressed gent gentleman, to the quick retort froma pro- testor of “Why aren’t you at work?” The point was probably lost, but the action as a whole left those of us involved feeling elated and just itching for the next time. Text of this article by courtesy of the Housing Action Campaign |IDEA-HOMES FO Hos, control pension funds Garden pointed out how a trade union | pension fund could play aconstructive role, by buying up the development in Covent Garden for housing and social fac- ilities which had been won by the direct actionof the local community. This devel- Opment isnow owned by the GLC and since it has turned Tory wishes to sel al cf the dwellings at £30,000 per flat. In the afternoona trade union official from the GMWU explained thephilosophy behind his union’s investment of itspen- sion funds and the way in which worker Tepresentatives came on to the board of trustees. He emphasized how pensions had originally been a gain for the labour movement and their importance as a def- erred wage. Stuart Holland followed with an anal- ysis of the crisis of productivity. He drew out the arguments for the necessity for a planned programme of investment which would put capital in the prodictive sect- ors of the economy. He reminded us of the subjectivity of the investment elite and it’s desire for short-term returns. The distinction between social ownership and social control was discussed and the imp- ortance of the latter, with special refer- ence to eastern europe. Holland drew the parallel between the health service before itwas nationalised and pension funds now. He thought that the way forward lay eventually in state/social control over Pension funds with a long-term strategy for investment. One step towards this could be the use ofa key case, such as the ones spoken earlier in the day, where an exposure of the contradictions of the present mis-use of funds could be given full publicity. The discussion following each speaker's contribution was lively and the conference ended by breaking into groups and dis- cussing the way ahead. Thus the propo- sals which came out of the conference are in the long term: Unattached Representatives, c/o SLATE, JSNEWSMEWONEWSNIE WS ~THE NAM Feminist Group istodo battle with the legislativemachinery of anti-sexismTh.e RIBA swung into action in November on the issue of sexism in the profession by sending out a survey to all women registered architects. The survey asked such highly relevant and un- biased questions as “What does your fath- er do ?” and “Is your husband an archit- ech 2m The RIBA had been commissioned by the Policy Studies Institute which in turn had been requested by the Equal Oppor- tunities Commission to carry out this sur- vey on women in the profession. A similar study was done tenyears ago and the conclusions which its distin- guished researchers came to were that “women architects did not succeed bec- ause they were not ambitious enough” and “the architectural profession was not inherently sexist”. In response the NAM Feminist Group has written a letter to the E.0.C. point- ing out the deficiencies in the RIBA questionnaire and the previous report, and explaining the difference between the RIBA and ARCUK. We have asked for funds with which to carry out our own survey. The answer isstil yet to be received....... a ss nt eli da cc a 7 &, TheSlater CAREER PROSPECTS Pe wAS Jot oPanh “CHese JERK OFfARASTS AND otHERAplPelagING ided against distributing local lists of arch- off for ‘conspiracy to corrupt’. He had been itects.: a measure long advocated by the architect to Kirkby and Knowsley councils andhadacceptedgiftsfromthemanaging unattached.Althoughtheunattachedcan, director of a local builder in return for the award of contracts. The star turn of the afternoon was (sadly) deferred until june: The discussion onconfidentialityhadpromisedtobe very contentious. It was decided to defer after a submission had been received from STAMP (one of ARCUK’s constituent bodies)which,accordingtotheregistrar epicprosewhichconstitutedtheannual and his retinue, hada significant bearing report. Virtually each paragraph was ques- on the issue. At the last meeting in Decem- tioned by your heroes and the vast maj- bertheregistrar’sproposalthatalthe orityoftheirpointsweresummarily Inspite of none-too-rosy career prospects foryoungarchitectsandthesighofrelief os ES4) Dont professionalclimbers(womenthistime) in the shapeof a group to look at “Feminist Architecture ’(FAWG for short) and so cloud the fact that the profession Themeetingwasroundedoffwitha dogged duel between the unattached and the rest of the council over the registrar's heaved by the architectural world when it heard that, at last, the number of REM PMiCR YcHee on CrogcRbt wikis DAUGHTER OF CAWG UNATTACHED WE Far be it from this column to put ideas into the architectural establishment’s (Leas?N]Ght$)FULoF head, ifithas one, but the recent success of NAM’s Feminist Design Cooperative WEnt 2 Tals parly SLATE aims to provide an effective means of communication for the “unattached ” members of ARCUK through these columns and letters page. So if you feel strongly about these issues, don’t hesitate to write to us. For the lay reader of SLATE “‘ARCUK ”is the Architects Registration Council of the U.K. It was set up by the Architects Registration Act of 1931 to control the entry of people into the profession and itor their conduct once regi d.Itis composed of 5mainconstit- uent bodies; The RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), the IAAS (The Incorp- arated Association of Architects and Surveyors), the FAS (The Faculty of Architects and Surveyors )and the AA (Architectural Association ). has set in motion some speculation about PReindARH]tactoRth, theRIBA’spossibleresponsetotheidea ! 13 And “Comes|e of Feminist Architecture. The Feminists’ eke: LT LOOSE INGY Co-op has not onlya satisfied client and IT SARDEN Ov o SSPurdaY ajob on site, but has also earned itself a tidy sum in fees and the chance of NicHt.. ENoUgH AROUND Jn further work. Reflect on the RIBA’s response to the devotion and hard spare time work of the many architects who set out to help beleaguered tenants’ and residents’ groups in the early seventies: the establishment of the Community Architecture Working Group (CAWG for short) to co-opt the good name of Community Architecturteo polish up ARCUK Council ‘From our reporter on the spot It was the hallowed occasion of the 188th meeting of the Architects Registration CounciloftheUnitedKingdom-ARCUK. It was the last for the outgoing council and the first for the new and your SLATE rep- orter was there with sharply-pointed pencil and quivering ears. The meeting started in sombre fashion with disciplinary hearings againstfourARCUK-codebreakers.Fresh from the dramatic (by ARCUK standards) press coverage of Summerland’s architect Lomas’narrowescapefromexpulsion,the council focussed it’s gaze upon the new unfortunates. We the press were asked to leavefortheactualhearingsandwereush- ered in ceremoniously for the verdicts: The proceedings were rich indeed in lower court pomposities such as this. ARCUK is very aware that just one of these cases can profoundly affect the public’s already sceptical view of architects’ remaining scruples and verdicts seem to be affected more by the Public Relations angle than by any purist notion of professional integ- rity. Due to the fact that your reporter and the first defendant Arthur S. Cole were both excluded from the chamber at the same time the facts of the case were free- ly volunteered: Arthur was nervously chatty and was anxious to plead his case. Arthur had, amongst other things, run his wife’s car on the practice for over adecade: He had fended off numerous enquiries by the Inland Revenue but eventually found that there were too many holes in the dyke and was taken to court and given a two-year suspended sentence. Arthur avoided being struckoffbytheskinofhisteethpleading “well everybody does it, don’t they ?”. The council emphatically agreed with him and dealt out a severe reprimand. “Phew”, said Arthur. Mr Woodiwiss, case no.2, chose an even craftier defence -he didn’t turn up. His lawyer however did, but, in the time-honoured tradition of ‘let the man have his say ’they deferred the case.. Mr W had smuggled 1500 Kruger rands into the U.K. (presumably his own particular interpretation of the “International Style’.) Eric Stevenson, the third case, was struck ThE WE3k. As P58 UpsG0 iT VEn? por. you se WI.ACJFThey thetarnishedimageoftheleadersofthe “EReny?T |ALways OY The Bice hig =clLy- mich? LAV. Blew bAsPhs reluctant wotthies and ambitious in theory advertise as a bloc the council Sees fit to ignore the practical difficulties involved and its refusal to countenance area lists is but one aspect of its avoid- ance of this issue. studentsenteringtheprofession wasfalling, RED Dontrow stildescriminatesagainstwomen,both the Observer ran quite a bullish piece on cureersjin architecture in a recent issue. whAt HAP Penge To at work in architects’ offices and with GordonGraham,PresidentoftheRIBA, Alt PV)Renee THAR thebuildingsitdesigns? obliged -the paper and its enthusiastic young readers with some carefully chosen words of encouragement at the bottom of the article wider theheading, ‘Psst...a tip from the Top °.One tip was that “an eye for legalistic detail will stand an architect in good stead ”. Quite right too, and Graham should know. His firm, the Architects’ Design Group is currently being sued by Worthing Council over faulty design work on a swimming pool contract. Well, that’s enough to put off any enthusiastic young reader, unless, of course, s/he revells in legalistic detail. SKIN DEEP WIVES AND GIRL-FRIENDS Movey council members should sign a sort of ARCUK official secrets act declaration restricting publicity of issues defined by the the council was withdrawn at the eleventh hour and the honorary officers were asked to see whether the existing arrangements needed changing. These arrangements, dating from 1976, allows publicity of guilty cases only. The two documents tor discussion at this meeting essentially con- tained two proposals: -A press hearing would be called after the disciplinary committee’s hearing and the press would be told simply “guilty” or “not guilty”. -Apart from the above the press would remain in meetings but the council would resolveitselfinto acommittee and the press would be placed on trust not to report the proceedings. Comm- ittee hearings would remain wholly confidential since “a‘report of a committee’s recommendation would be misleading ifthecouncil subseque- ntly decided not to accept the recomm: endation”. The meeting trundled on labe:iously, thro- ats dried and your reporter whilst availing himself of the RIBA facilities mused upon the detailing of 66 ,Portland Place which any salaried architect could not fail to be impressed by -where else are the toilet mirrors rendered redundant by the shine on the brassware ! During the committee reports the un- attched again asked why it had been dec- flattened by either chairperson’s action or by the nudge-and-wink conspiratorial consent of the council, now impatient with tea-lust. After a rally on page 14 the chairperson grew thoroughly rattled and accused the unattached of “delaying tac- tics’. The unattached were, quite rightly. outraged and ina brilliantly direct but controlled response replied that they had been remarkably restrained before a dis- play of classic railroading. Metcalfe the chairperson climbed down and after an abortive attempt by one of the RIBA vouncillors to pass a motion approving the rest of the report ‘in toto” took issue once more with your fearless representa- tives. At last we broke for tea. After down- ing the nectar the first meeting of the new council was pretty small beer by comp- arison: The new council was ratified a:1. apart from the relatively colourful un- attached crew the changes were almost imperceptible -one less three piece suit here, one mofe collarful of dandruff there -that sort of thing. A single moment of humour illuminated the bland last laps: Su Jackson, an unattached rep had been nominated for the chair in competition to Metcalfe. Kenneth Forder, in a slip that was freudian in more senses than one, referred to the candidates as “Mr Jackson and.......”.The meeting guffawed over what had been yet another affirm- ation of the al pervading maleness of ARCUK: SLATE 12 PAGE 6 profession and to create a new source of clients for private practice. How long before the RIBA wheels out asimilar crew of ‘straight’ counterparts. ual for self build Housing ¢ d group is a subject upon groups will adopt totally different policies n of their visiting the site, to a very full SLATE 12PAGE7 (CIL: 3 Alternative ideologies are often as chauvinist, if not more so, than their Try this piece on self-build housing for instance from ‘Self Build -aman Associations’ put out by the National Building Agency. The part to be played by wives and girl-friends of members of a self buil which it is difficult to be specific. Experience shows that concerning the womenfolk ranging from a complete ba: involvement. Onethingishowevercertainandthatisthatforahappyandefficientselfbuildroup,neintriceaneial that the womenfolk fully understand and Support the commitment made by ie group. They should also be kept informed of Progress. Family ties and other.respo ibil te Hh naturallydictatetheamountoftimethatawifeorgirl-friendcanofferineerealoe valuableworkhasbeenprovidedinthepastinsecretarial,accountingand"If:Seee decorating, cleaning and landscaping etc, elfare duties as well as This article was written by members of the Green Ban Action Committee, an organisation set up to coordinate campaigns among trade unionists and others against envir- onmentally and socially harmfull development. MONEY AND YOUR LIFE Total net investment 1973-1977. 1973 11974|1975|1976|1977 1be 296 | 3347 434] 595 | 7221 590 ¥ SLATE 12 PAGE 8 SLATE 12 PAGE 9 We have chosen commercial development as the theme for this issue of Slate because there are many signs that the climate is right for a new drive to exploit the land in our cities for private profit: development companies haye recovered from the crash in the property market that followed the office boom of the early seventies; financial institutions and especially pension Tunds are seeking profitable investments for massive accumulations of capital , the government is faltering in it’s intentions to curb commercial development through the planning system and the Community Land Act. The way in which land in our cities is used is crucial to the well-being of the citizens and in part- icular working people. Commercial development ,the destruction of inner city communities ,the distancing and alienation of home and work for many people ,increases in the cost of providing roads, public transport, police and other services ,much of the burden of which falls on ordinary rate payers and the diversion of investment away from socially necessary We hope that this issue will go some way to explaining the process. and con- sequencies of the rule of profit in our cities and be of some help to those seeking a city designed for peoples need. PENSION FUNDS: YOUR But underpinning this improvement property companies’ sector lies what is in the known as ‘the weight of institutional funds’, The deferred wages of millions of workers and ‘small savers’ held in Pension Funds, Insurance Companies and Property Unit Trusts, which have increased rapidly in the 1970s. The funds invest a steady proportion of their investments each year in property. Immediately after the last boom these funds purchased al the surplus investments on the market from the property companies, Now we are at the stage where there is very little property left to purchase. Capital values are rising and development islooking attractive Once again. Many funds are setting up their own property operations. Others want to develop partnerships with existing property companies or are interested in taking them over The table shows the extent of Insurance Company and Pension Fund Investment in property since 1973, and the trend looks set to continue. In January the Henley Centre for Forecasting preducted institutional investment in commercial property would rise construction, very substantial deals have sparked off the present activity and it looks as though more will follow.’ The key question then is whether or not we shall be faced with another property boom in the early 80s, funded this time by the injection of pension and insurance company monies as opposed to easy bank money which triggeredoffthelastboom. Institutional investors are even better placed than property companies to overlook short-term market conditions in order to produce long term assets for their portfolios. The government, too, has no way of controlling institutional investment, unlike the controls it possesses over the banks. Faced with this background it is easy to see why the Planning Inquiry for Coin Street on the south bank isof great significance to many community groups throughout the country. A victory against the developers and financiers here could set the pace for the 1980s, but it is not going to be easy. Measures to nationalise land and control the property sector have been watered down because of the effect they have on the financial institutions who now control the market. The fight to get the kind of urban development we really need now has to tackle this financial sector too. The boom in property shares arises because after 1974 property companies cut their development programmes, sold off theirassetsandgraduallypaidofftheirdebts, Now the prospects for rental growth from their existing properties look good, and many companies are ripe for takeovers. According to the Investors Chronicle, property company Profits rose by 87.5% in 1978 and dividends ‘ sia paid out by the 32 property companies in the F.T. index showed an average rise of 34%, Not too bad. The public sector workers would willingly settle for a similar ‘average rise’, Year Insurance companies Total net investment each year % of total net investment each year in property * Jan -Sept 1978 only source: Business Monitor M5 +663 | 1902 | 2509 | 3029 3802 -—-- Visi a ae 18% | 21%] 17%]. 15% _ INSURANCE COMPANY AND PENSION FUND INVESTMENT IN PROPERTY development boom could take off, although it might not reach the same heights as in 1973. ' from £1.02 bn in 1978 to £3.54 bn by 1984. The funds are flush with cash and given the crisis in the industrial sector, after they haye financed the public sector borrowing requirement, there is little else left but property. Alternative invéstments to absorb their huge cash flows are just not available. The recent case of the British Rail Pension Fund illustrates the point. Itishaving to give up its investments in art treasures and stop investing incommodities. This ispartly due to political pressure, but also because these sectors » are just not big enough to absorb the huge sums the fund must invest. British Rail will now be forced to increase its property investments. ension Funds (land, property, ground rents, property unit trusts and overseas investment) Total net investment each year # of total net investment each year in property . 1217-| 1446 | 2208 | 2916 | 3118 2079 24% | 25%] 20%] 20% 23% | 22% 307 | 405] 406] 450] 410] 413 Of all the sources of development finance pension funds are accumulating capital fastest. Contracted contributions from millions of individ- uals to company and union pensions ensure a cont- rolled and steady income to the funds essentially Sree from the vagaries of the investmentmarket. _ By the middle of March 1979 the Financial Times Property Share Index stood at 332. The Estates Times’ Bruce Kinloch argued: Pension fund capital is likely to fuel anew develop- ment boom, but would large-scale investment in commercial property be to the advantage of either the social or economic interest of the millions of contributors to the funds ? et ‘not even during those heady days of 1973 was the sector rising so fast. If, as many brokers believe, we are only seeing the beginning of the next property share boom, the 1973 high of 357.40 points could be passed by the endofMarch. Idoubtifthemarket has got itwrong, although many The property market has not been in a healthierstatesince1974thanitisnow. 1978 sawasignificant Tevival ofactivity , especially in London, and all thesigns indicate that, givena little push, a brokers are stil] being very cautious towards the sector. In effect some peeeee Conurbation relatively very expensive, Indeed, those living in city centres today are either the very rich, or inhabitants of council dwellings, or people living in overcrowded conditions, or else the very old, whose housing choices do not reflect the current pattern of land values. As the cost per unit of housing has increased in central areas, the suburbs have become relatively More attractive to those who have the ability to mi- Table 2 Employment in suburban location (outside city ‘core’) as a percentage of all conurbation employment, 1971. Tables (Table 5) many different factors, not least the desire for in- creased space and the availability of transport lines, but increasing land values at the centre of the city, due at least partly to commercial development, is certainly one important factor encouraging people to move out to the suburbs, Having got there, many face a much longer, and more expensive, journey to work, since jobs have not moved to the suburbs at anything like the same rate as people have moved. In Particular, Table 1 shows that office employment, despite considerable suburbanisation in theperiod 1966 to 1971, remains more centralised in themajor THE PLIGHT OF SUBURBAN WOME Intensivecommercialdevelopmentisgenerallycone aiyen ae diistricts.Concentratioinofcapititalalincentralareasgiivvesrisetoto thetheciconcen ercial,industrialandresidentialuseoflandwithcorrespondingdistributionoFaad opportunitiesoftheclassiccitymodel.Insspiteofacontemporary ee pote oe commercial development into the suburbs, the arrangement of functions within ps capital- ist city is a major factor which militates against equal employment opportunities for women argues Jacqueline Tivers. The large capitalist city has aCentral BusinessDis- trict, an area more or less clearly defined according to the individual city’s importance and the strength of capitalist development in the country concerned. The C.B.D. is the heart of commercial development in the city, drawing in workers from surrounding suburbs and expelling them back to their homes at the end of each day. S Who are these workers? A lot of them are women, employed inofficejobs. Mostly theyareyoung and single, or newly-married -indeed, ‘glamour’ is an essential ingredient of the job in many cases. What happenstothesesamewomenwhentheybecome tactwithsuppliersandcustomers,andalsocompeti- mothers? How does the form of the capitalist city servetoreinforce‘traditional’familyroles? _ a Commercial development, land use zones, and employment The land use models of neoclassical economics structure the city in a series of zones. In the centre of the city commercial development takes pride of, place. Further out, industrial plants become the principal users of land, and even further out these give way to houses and zssociated community fac- ilities. This land use zonation implicitly assumes the existence of capitalism, but does not explicitly refer to it. If we are to understand the spatial structure of the city it is essential that we take full account of the economic and social structure within which cities grow and develop. Table 1. Employment in suburban locations (outside city core’) as a percentage of all conurbation employment, 1966 and 1971, Al1_in employment _(¢) tion between firms ensure that head offices will be locatedclosetoeachother.Thisproximityisfound in the centre of big cities and it is therefore heréthat C.B.D.’s develop. As individual firms become bigger and bigger, and the number of firms declines relatively, the tendency to centralisation increases. Office functions become increasingly detached from other production areas. Womenwiththroremeore dependent children 68.6 75.0 arises because of the need for specific head office functions. So long as individual firms are small ; (whether industrial firms or commercial institutions, like banks), officefunctions are not segregated from other aspects of production. Once a firm has a numb of branches, however, there is a need for a central- ised administrative function. This could, theoretical} be located anywhere, if one considers only the indiy- Table 3 1974 1976 Women with no dependent children 26.5 25.0 . Women with one dependent idual firm in isolation. However, the head office re- quiresawholerangeofexternally-providedprofess- ional services. In addition, many other firms are also enlarging and setting up administrative centres. Con- child 55.6 58.5 68.3 70.8 One result of this process of office centralisation is a sharp rise in central city land yalues. In turn, the mise in land values discourages other types of develop- ment, and these are forced outwards to less central cations. Here we can see the formation of the land use zones described by urban modellers. In particular, housing in central areas becomes Clerical workers (<) grate. Amongst these the largest proportion are nuclear families, both with and without children at the time of moving, The suburbanisation of housing has resulted from English conurbations than employment in general. This isespecially true in Greater London. Souree:: As Table 1 Women with two dependent children Total Source: 40.0 43.1 General Household Survey, 1976 Report (0.P.C.S., London) SLATE 12 PAGE'1] i The increase in part-time employment amongst women workers has been very significant in recent years. In 1961, one-quarter of al women in employ- ment were in part-time jobs. By 1976, the percent- age had risen to 43 per cent. Table 3 shows how im- portant children are in determining whether a woman will work part-time. Over the five year period 1971 to 1976, the percentage of part-time workers increased in al categories except that of women with no dep- endent children, and itisnotable that the highest in- crease occurred amongst women with large families. Women working part-time asapercentage of _alwomen inemployment, 1971 and 1976 (Great Britain). Labour power, reproduction, ideology, and women’s employment. Commercial development, as part of the structure of capitalism, depends directly upon wage labour. It isalso dependent on the reproduction of labourpower. Not only must new workers be produced and suitably Socialised, but adult workers must be cared forand Supported on a daily basis. This is the roleof married women in our society. But women are also needed as employees themselves -indeed, an army of women commute daily into central city offices. The contradiction is resolved by splitting the pot- ential work force. Young and mainly unmarried (or at least childless) women are encouraged by high salaries to work in the city centres, where their youth and attractiveness in any case serve as an added bonus to impression-conscious employers. (At a much later Stage in life, women with grown-up children may re- turn to similar, but less ‘glamourous’ jobs.) Once married with young children, existing ideology dic- tates that they should become the lynch-pin of the family, and closely circumscribes their outside em- ployment opportunities. Since they are to beprim- arily responsible for care of the children (in the abs- ence of both sex equality, and the provision of state child-care facilities) they are no longer able to work the long hours and commute the long distances which would enable them to keep their relatively high status, old jobs. They remain, however, anindispensible part of the wider labour force -a ‘marginal’ pool of labour, willing to accept any type of employment so long as it is both part-time and locally- or home- based. The need to work near (or at) home, in order to Save time-consuming, expensive journeys to work, and in order to be ‘on hand’ for the children, means that most women have to accept lower status jobs than those previously Occupied. A survey amongst women with young children, which Iundertook in a south London suburb in 1977, found that 70 per cent of those out at work travelled for no more than 10 minutes to get to their jobs (and only 8 per cent worked in central London, while 40 per cent of those who were employed before the birth of theirchildren travelled up to town each day, being mainly office workers). In addition, only 30 per cent of workers were in the same jobs as they occupied before they became mothers, while nearly half were doing work of a definitely inferior status. In general there had been a change from higher to lower grade work, or from clerical work as a whole into sales work, clean- ing or childminding. Tyncside S.E. lancashire Merseyside West Midlands Greater London 80.8 82.5 88.4 89.1 7 83.7 91.4 91.3 69.8 69.4 68.1 72.6 73.0 77-7 60.3 71.0 80.2 80.7 50.3 52.3, 1966 _ 1971 1966 1971 Source: Calculated from 1966 and 1971 Census - Workplace and Transport However, high land costs in the city centres also in turn have their influence on commercialdevelopment. It becomes increasingly difficult to justify the enorm- us expenditure devoted to head office functions, Rationalisation of such expenditure ensures that the truly managerial functions remain in centrallocations, but there is a tendency for lower-order, clerical func- tions to be decentralised to lower cost locations. 1971 Census figures indicate the higher degree of suburban- isation of lower grade clerical work, although the job categories are not very clear-cut in these official stat- istics (see Table 2). Conurkation Higher grade clerical employnent (junior administrative posts, senior secretaries, etc.) Lower grade clerica) employment ( e.g. tvpisis, clerks) Tyneside S.E. Iancashire Merscyside West Midlands Greater London 61.6 74.8 68.5 78.6 55.6 73.3 79.7 72.9 82.4 57-1 Commercial development in central locations SLATE 12PAGE 10 The jobs occupied reflected the local avail- ability of part-time employment, as well as the ideological constraint of limited career aspirations. Table 2 has already indicated the greater degree of suburbanisation of lower grade clerical work over higher grade employment, and Table4illustrates the easier availability of sales work in suburban areas compared to clerical work as a whole. This is especially true in Greater London, and could partly account for the switch in jobs from clerical to sales work experienced by my survey respondants. Employment opportunities for suburban mothers * The continued centralisation of admini- strative and and higher clerical functions in central city locations serves to diminish acutely the range of occupations open to suburban mothers, so long as existig ideology concerning family roles continues to dominate both individual and government atti- tudes to child care. But this ideology itself supports the whole capitalist system by ensuring the repro- duction of labour power, so it is unlikely that the relative distribution of job opportunities will change markedly, simply to reduce employment inequalities for women. Suburban mothers are a useful, “marginal labour force- relatively contented with low wages and poor quality work, so long as hours are flexible and the work is near home. This sort of employment is being increasingly decentralised from central city locations since it does not justify a high expenditure on land costs. a But the needs of capital are dynamic, not static. Over a century ago, most women worked very long hours -the need for an immediate labour force displacing the requirement of its reprodution from the position of greatast importance. After the last War, women were no longer required to keep the nation going and a new ideology, based on the generalised concept of ‘maternal deprivation’, emerged to keep them firmly in the home. At the present time, women with children provide an essential ‘peripheral’ labour force, both being actively in paid employment, and also taking the predominant role in domestic work and child care. It remains to be seen what direction the needs of capital, including those of commercial development. will tend in the future. All government attempts to intervene in, or control the activities of commercial developers of land have foundered and the most recent, the Community Land Act passed by the 1974 Labour government isno exception. The principle behind the Community Land Act was that the people should It is within the powers of the State to bring the land market under control and replace it with a tational system where land is allocated and devel- oped according to social need. Nationalisation of land out of the investment-speculation market. Over the past 60 years the Labour Party have re- 'peatedly expressed their intention to nationalise land. Land nationalisation is a vital necessity. 1918 Manifesto The Labour Party proposes to restore to the people their lost right in the land..... 1923 Appeal to the Nation The party will deal drastically with the scandal of appropriation of land values by private landowners, It will take steps to secure for the community the increased value of land which is created by industry Table 4 — employment, 1971. Clerical workers 72.6 77-7 71.0 80.7 52.3 Sales workers 73-7 85.7 81.0 86.3 72.4 and the expenditure of publicmoney, 1929 Manifesto. ~seturned to power in 1974, itwas under great pressure to come up with some solutions to the problems created by financial ownership. _Firstly, the negative effects of the ‘Land and Property boom’ were manifested most acutely on the spatial structuring of urban areas. Inner city housing was particularlybadly effected by commercial devel- opment. Tenants and community action groups sprung up everywhere and, together with Trades Councils and Trade Unions, Demanded land nation- alisation. Secondly the effects of the boom were also felt by the owner-occupied housing sector. This, inturn, effected the cost of living and, thus, the necessary wage. It also made entry into the owner-occupied housing sector extremely difficult and this created problems for the Labour Government as it was trying to encourage owner-occupation through mortgage sub- sidies. Thirdly, the social responsibility of financial instit- utions was called into question. An investigation into their investment policies by Counter Infomation Servicesconcludedthatenormous amounts)of production capital were being diverted into the hands of property owners, many of whom were already incredibly rich. Finally, British industry was undergoing asevere profitability crisis whilst, at the same time, financial landowners were muking enormous profits. The labour Governement would have to deal with this anomoly if long term wage restraints were to be negotiated with the the trade unions. : When in 1974, the Labour Gevernment published its White paper on land it seemed that the long- awaited first step towards a rational Land System had at last arrived. Their initial concerns and objectives were: SLATE 12PAGE 13 benifit, at least financially, from commercial devel- opment through the Act's mechanism for transférr- ingfinancial gains in land values due todevelop- ment from private to local authority hands. Andy Brown recounts how the act has never beenfully implemented and has failed to fulfill it’s promise. Employment in suburban locations (outside city ‘core’) as a percentage of all conurbation ened to tax not only realised but also unrealised Andy Brown is a mem- developmentgains,therewasconsiderabledoubtabout beroftheSlateEdit- the future profitabilityof I;nd and property. Asset orial committee. A COMMUNUNITY LAND ACT ? values began to drop. Concurrantly, interest rates rose dramatically, from 7 to 13% between July and Nov. 1973. In addition, the Government imposed Testrictions onlending to the private sector, The combination of a rents freeze and increasing interest charges proved catastrophic. Rental incomes and borrowing ability were no longer able to meet loan payments andmany small companies went out of business. A, complete collapse of the property sector was only averted through the intervention and support of the Bank of England. It was widely held in the early 1970’s that the activitiesof the financial landowners were damaging to the national economy. When a Labour Government was towards it..... we will provide for a revenue of public funds for ‘betterment’. 1945 Let Us Face The Future. The first requirement isto end the scrabblefor building land. Labour will, therefore, setup a Land Commission to buy ,for the Community, land upon which building or rebuilding is to take Place. Instead of paying the inflated market rates that have now reached exorbitant levels, the Crown Land Commission e buythelandatapricebaseduponitsexistinguse value, 1964 Manifesto. Labour believes in land natiozalisation and will work ~ (The land Commission never became Operative asitwas abolished by the incoming Tory Government in 1970.) Despite their stated intentions successive Labour Goy- ernments have consistantly failed in their efforts to intervene in the private system of land ownership. During the 1971-73 period, the country witnessed a major ‘land and property’ boom’. The credit relax- ation and expansionist monetary policy initiated by the new Tory Party made it easier for the land and Property marketeers to borrow money from banks and enabled the land investment-speculation market to take off. Large ammouts of money capital were invested in land ownership by insurancecompanies pension funds and property companies. An unprece dented concentration ofcommercialdevelopment (particularly Offices, but also hotels, conference centres, etc.) mainly within the major metropolitan areas took Place during this period. But the activities of these financial landowners could onlybe sustained as long as rents and asset values of land and property continued to rise. When in 1972 the Government froze business rents and, in 1973, threat- 12 PAGE 14 The first objective was to be achieved by bringing © development land into public ownership through a Community Land Act. Local Authorities would be given first the power, then the duty, to compulsorily purchase land for development. The second objective was to be achieved by means ofaDevelop- -ment Land Tax. Increases in land values brought about by the granting of planning permissions for development would be taxed at a rate of 80%. Even more damaging to the original proposals was the Government’s concession to the property lobby, that the Community Land Act is to be introduced in slow motion. For astart, from the ‘First Appointed Day’ in April 1976, local authorities need only buy relevant development land if they feel like it. They are under no compulsion. Only when the ‘Second Appointed Day arrives will local Authorities be obliged to acquire al relevant development land. John Silkin, the Minister responsible for theAct said that a period of at least 10 years is likely to elapse before the ‘Second Appointed Day’ will be fixed. In reality, the ‘second Appointed DAy’ will probably never arrive. While we are waiting for the ‘Second Appointed Day’ to arrive, modifications made to the levels and tates of Development Land Tax are assisting land owners to maintain their profitability. The original rate of 80% only applies to development gains in excess of £160,000. The first £10,000 of gain in each year is tax free; while the next £150,000 of gain is taxed at the lower rate of 66.67%. In addition, allowances to cover interest charges and other qualified allowances should provide opport- -unities for financial landowners with a number of ways to cook their books. The Community Land Act became lew in 1975 and the Development Land Tax Act, in 1976. From the outset the developers and financiers, who were the the primary targets of the Acts, exerted massive pressure on the Government, principally through the British Property Federation and the Institute of Chartered Surveyors, to make the legislation work in their own interest. Originally violently opposed to the proposed legislation, they eventually agreed to in making the new ‘modified’ legislation work; but on their terms. The principal concern of the financial landowners and their backers was that the level of profit they require should not be threatened. The number of English Local Authorities who have implemented the Community Land Act is small enough to have been almost outnumbered by the number of documents issued by the DOE explaining its use. Only 1'50 out of 411 Local Authorities have purchased land under the Act during 1976-78. At the same time there are signs that the land and property market is beginning to pick up. Both the value of land and the demand for office office space have increased. Property companies have used the recovery period after the ‘boom’ to regularise their finances and consolidate their assets. The financial institutuions are bursting with funds and looking for profitable markets in which to allocate them. Large building contractors are intensifying their interests in land and property and already derive a substantial income from rents (mostly from offices and shopping centres.) A Tory victory in the forthcoming General Election will be a death knell for the Community Land Act and a sounding horn for a new round of ‘land and property” speculation. In the workds of Hugh Rossi, Tory spokesperson on Housing; “We have a very firm, absolute commitment to repeal (the Community Land Act) at the first evailable opportunity.” He goes on to say that a Tory Government would also introduce a reduced level of Development Land Tax payable on realised (but not unrealised) development gains. Without a return to Goyernment by the Labour Party and an immediate announcement of the ‘Second Appointed Day’ there will be little chance ofstarting off a renewed round of commercial develop- ‘ment. The urban and wider social economic problems posed by financial landownership will remain unresolved. The Community Land Act and Develop- -ment Larid Tax Act will join the scrap heap of brave words already spoken on land nationalisation over the past 60 years. However the Government's original proposals were considerably modified both during the formulation of the Bills and during their passage through Parliament. The definition of development land came under attack. The Government had originally proposed two categories; “relevant” and “non- televant”’ development land. But under pressure from the property lobby, these were expanded to three, “relevant”, “exempt” and “excepted”. Relevant development israther obscurely defined by what is not, that is, all development except 1. excempt development 2. excepted development 3. building of a single dwelling house After prolonged wraxgles in Parliament the Land to be included in each category was agreed. Exempt development comprises, firstly, categories of development which do not require planning permission and, secondly, agriculture, forestry and mining developments. Land in this exempted category is legally outside the new compulsory aquisition powers of L8cal Authorities. Excepted development covers, firstly, ‘minor’ developments including industrial premises up to 1500 sq.m, other developments under 1000 sq.m, adding less than 10% to existing buildings, etc. Secondly, it covers any development on land which, on 12 September 1974 1. had planning permission 2. was owned by an industrial undertaker 3. was owned bya builder or residential or industrial developer. Local Authorities are legally entitled, but not bound to aquire ‘excepted’ development land. By inference ‘relevant’ appears to consist of mainly urban land which did not have planning permission on the prescribed date and, on that same date, was not owned by an industrial undertaker, a builder or a residentail or industrial developer. Most land owned by financial institutions and property companies fall into the “excepted” develop- “ment category. Itisalready developed (mostly as ‘prime’ office space) and will not be obsolescent for some time. It is unlikely that Local Authorities will choose to purchase this highly expensive land for ‘relevant development’. This leaves land held by financial institutions and property companies which is Suitable for development and does not have planning permission. In practice, this does not amount to very very much. land. e SLATE 12PAGE 15 1. to ensure the community to control the develop ment of land in accordance with its needs and priorities and 2. to restore to the community the increase in value of of land arising from its efforts. co-operate with the Government and Local Authorities - SLATE 12 PAGE 16 PLANNING SYSTEM ON TRIAL attention to this fact for a number of years, and the rate of local shop and school closures recently has proved their point. (towards the end of last year the ILEA moved closure notices on two out of the remaining three Waterloo schools because of falling ‘pupil rolls’). The London-based Campaign for Family Housing, recently formed by community groups from North Southwark, Covent Garden,Fitzrovia, Battersea and Waterloo has emphasised that this loss in family accomo- dation throughout Central London is the most immediate threat to community life in the capital. Campaign for Family *‘ousing led to the formation of theeInner City Alliance with community groups from other English Cities and at their conferences it has become clear that the Government's understanding of inner city problems and needs is radically different from the understanding of those actually living in these areas. The South Bank Inquiry should be a major opportunity to publically debate these differences. Community setf-help on trial There is little doubt that the treatment of the Waterloo District Plan at the South Bank Inquiry will have a substantial impact on the willingness of individualsand community organisations to invest the considerable time needed to make public participation in planning a reality. At a time when Authorities throughout the Country are moving towards the consultative stages of the Local Plan process, it would be disatrous forthe first major test of the efficacy of District’Plans to show that the DoE and private devlopers are prepared to tide rough-shod over the results of five years of public participation. Further the efficacy of positive intervention in the planning process will be judged by the success or failure of the Association of Waterloo Groups’ initiative in submitting its own planning application for the South Bank sites. NATIONAL THEATRE The Association’s action puts to the test the Government’s verbal commitments to encourage self-help. Public Inquiry system on trial Commercial Properties Ltd., the Heron Corporation and Lambeth Council have each appointed QCs and supporting teams to prepare and present their cases at the Public Inquiry. The GLC have put their In the late seventies it is easy to assume that set - piéce struggles between local communities and comm: ercial developers are a thing of the past now that the emphasis in town planning is on conservation and gradual renewal rather tha: comprehensive redevelopment. Developers and indeed some local councils, may not see eye to eye with new trends in town planning. However, two large-scale develop- ments proposed in Baker St. and behind the Nation- The Secretary of State for the Environment has announced a major public enquiry to be held this summer into the future of 16 acres of Loddon’s South Bank. The inquiry has implications far beyond the manifest dispute, over, whether this part of Central London should be used for a hotel and over 14million square feet of offices or for low rise homes andariverside park. On trial at the inquiry will be: The new planning system (introduced in 1971) with its commitment to public participation. The Government’s Inner City Policy. The efficacy of community self-help activity The equity of the Public Inquiry system, and The future of residential communities through- out Central London The land under dispute lies between the National Theatre (by Waterloo Bridge in North Lambeth) and the Kings Reach Development ( by Blackfriars Bridge in North Southwark). The main parties to the dispute are: The local community represented by the Association of Waterloo Groups ( the local Neighbourhood Council) and the North Southwark Community DevelopmentGroup. The Association has applied for planning permission to develope seven sites for housing and ariverside walk and park. Lambeth Council which has applied for planning permission to develope four sites for housing, and The Heron Corporation and Commercial Properties Ltd, (back by the Greater London al Theatre in London fly in the face of the more sensitive planning policies that evolved out of many years of community struggles and threaten to rey- erse many of the gains made. Ian Tuckett examines the particular significance of the forthcoming Pub- lic Inquiry over the proposals for the South Bank site while Sarah Gillam visits Baker Street to find out about the possible consequences of redevelop- ment there. tequires relevant Authorities to draw up Structure Plans (e.g., the Greater London Development Plan, finally approved by the Secretary of State in July 1976) and then to produce more detailed plans (e.g., the District Plans now being drawn up by ~ Authorities throughout the Country). It is at this Local Plan stage that the 1971 Act intends grass- roots participation to take place. _ The Waterloo District Plan was adopted in September 1977 after five years of public’ consultation-and participationJt was confirmed by the Secretary of State in Afigust 1978 and is London’s first District Plan, ft is one of the few District Plans in the Country to have passed through al the stages required by the 1971 Act. The essential features of the Plan are “a substantial emphasis en housing and a severe restzaint on further office development ” in the Waterloo area. The South Bank sites are shown as the only substantial ones available for new housing. Any office development of these sites would therefore effectively undermine the whole Plan. The South Bank Inquiry is therefore a test case for the new planning system and for publicparticipation. Inner City Policoyn trial : : lanning, valuation and legal staff at the disposal of e private developers” teams. In contrast, the local In June 1977 the Government issued a white - permissiontodeveopeninesitesforwhatwould papercommitingitselftotheregenerationofInner Council) who have applied for planning be Europe's talles. skyscraper hotel ,over 144 million square feet of offices — equivalent to nine Centrepoint size blocks -flats and a riverside walk. City araas. A number of particularly deprived areas were chosen for ‘Partnership’ arrangements whereby the Government would cooperate with local and other public authorities in an attempt to break the cycle of deprivation afflicting these areas. Waterloo The sites are mainly owned by the GLC and designatedforhousingandopenspaceintheWaterloo isintheLambethPartnershiparea:Boththe, ~~ =e ei District Plan. Lambeth Council have asked the Government to approve a Compulsory Purchase Order, allowing it to purchase the land from the GLC#What the DOE has called a ‘vastInquiry’ into the planning applications and the CPO, will start in May 1979. The Government expect the Inquiry to last at least eight weeks. Following the growth in power of the consumer movement in the 1960s, a new system ofplanning, incorporating statutory duties to consult thepublic in drawing up plans, was introduced by the 1971 Town and Country Planning Act. The new system Partnership Committee (in its submission to the Secretary of State) and Lambeth Council have be ‘economically’ maintained: e2 S ae)Fs i SLATE 12PAGE 17 2s= 6 community groups rely solely on volunteers, The DoE have said that, despite regular requests, the Government have not'seen fit to extend thelegal aid scheme to community groups, and that the Association of Waterloo Groups will not receive any Central Government grant to meet the costs of @Particjpating-in the Public In quiry. Hiring Counsel on a similar basis f the other three planning applicants would cost in the region of £25,000 becatise of the expected duration of the enquiry. Itseems clear that this ‘Public Inquiry’ system is weighted very heavily in favour of commercial developers and aginst the general public A vital decision for Waterloo and for London The Waterloo community has suffered much from post-war developments but it has maintained a strong sense of identity and has united to fight off the threat to its future posed by the office developers. However, the South Bank Inquiry is also important because it raises the general question as to whether the Central London area is to retain any of its stable residential communities. Stable communities need a permanent base of families with some commitment to their area. Families need decent homes and, according to recent changes in Govern- ment policies, these must be low-rise homes. There is not sufficient of this sort of accommodation in Central London at present and, if stable commun- Planning magazine recently commented that “ Waterloo is not just a battle between specicific Office developers and the local community. It is Not too melodramatic to claim that the new- look development planning system ison trial”. Stated that if new houses are not builitn Watérlog”— and iffurther office development isnot restrict then the local community wil be destroyed. is because the loss af. family accomédatfonin the area (caused by redevelopment) has.lead to’a drop in the residential population below the level'at which local shops, schools and ther amenities can 1 eWaterloo, et CommunityDevelopmentGro(aucopmmunity pibeetl ganisation formediduring the distr lanconsultation petiéd) has ben drav sp PRES)HASPepiat we # I a > Yet another office block going up, you may say sadly to yourself. Why is this always happening? Even more important how does ithappen? To try and find out Icycled off to Baker Street, scene of the latest redevelopment project in London to talk to some people involved in dispute with their landlord. Flairlifie Properties own the island block bounded by Baker Street, George Street, Blandford Street and Manchester Street W1. Most of the buildings on the site were constructed in the late i8th century but iave been neglected over the years so that some sort of repair work is needed if they are to be restored to their previous elegance. The buildings house workshops, residential accomm- odation, offices and shops which are juxtaposed haphazardly around the block. The rents are low for the area but have obviously been so for some time since the site houses many small businesses and workshops, some of which have been there for over 20 or 30 years. It would seem reasonable to assume that Flairline Properties do not reap large financial benefits from the site in its existing form. Flairline Properties must have been mulling over the future of their site for some time and came up with a solution in July last year. They hired the services of a group of architects, Fitzroy Robinson and Partners to redesign the block with accommodation for alarge international corporation in mind — Davy Power Gas Ltd is the prospective client. The scheme involves the demolition of the 18th century buildings on Baker Street to be replaced bya five storey modern block accommodating shops offices and arestaurant. The Georgian facades of the remaining perimeter of the square are to be refurbished while the interians are to be rebuilt to create SS SS VA. th = larger flats and some shops. The ‘central core’ is to be redeveloped to accomm— odate an underground car park, light industrial space at ground floor level and roof garden at first floor level. The developers — Flairline Properties notified the tenants of the proposed re— development scheme in July 1978 and Westminster City Planning department posted notices around the blockalittle later. At first the tenants were rather startled by this ambitious plan, they began to understand why requests for repairs had been ignored; why they had received letters from estate agents acting on behalf of FP offering to purchase the end of leases, flats had been made uninhabitable when tenants moved out and rent fefused from some tenants, implying that they were there illegally. After the initial confusion someone called a meeting and they decided to form themselves into the George Baker Blandford Society named after the streets proposed for redevelopment. The aim of the society was to fight the implementation of the proposals, arouse public interest in their plight through meetings and organize a petition in opposition to the scheme to which over 4000 people have put their signatures. They have also produced a booklet outlining their objections to the proposals. The tenants haye been in touch with various groups who have an interest in preserving the site in its present archit— ectural form such as the St Marylebone Society, the Committee of the Georgian Group, London Walks and the Sherlock Holmes Society. These groups and many other people have written letters ex— pressing their opposition to the scheme. The scheme is attacked from many angles, the preservationists argue that the proposal to concentrate the scattered shops and offices into one modern block SLATE 12 PAGE 1g SLATE 12PAGE 19 BAKER STREET BLUES driven out. Others said that by con— centratingall the office and shop space in one block, the charm and character of the area was lost and it made personal service that much more difficult. They felt that the destruction of al these features could not be justified by the office requirements, 67% increase in office floor space, of one large, international corporation whose needs could surely be met else— where, where no harm was done. The residents said that while the proposals show an increase in residential floorspace, the units will be larger and thus result in an overall reduction of accommodation. Rents will also be increased, again drawing in a wealthier class of tenant. The development’s car park will also attract many more vehicles causing safety hazards and further congestion in the area. After notification from Westminster City Council in October of the plann— ing application, planning officers con— tacted the interested groups to sound out their views on redevelopment. This is usual practice in any planning applic— ation. Officers then decide whether or not a project is viable in principle. They take into account any listed buildings and the use proposed, as well as the way the project fits into the City Plan (this is a policy statement on the borough’s town planning eg some areas may be more appropriate for offices and others for residential accommodation). Officers compile their information and recommendations for the scheme and give this to the Town Planning Committee who decide the scheme’s fate. The Westminster Town Planning Committee is made up of 15 councillors who are voluntary and voted in by the public. In this particular case it seems that the proposal was rejected by the Planning Committee in December due to the architectural and historic interest of the proposed scheme was put on display for a day in one of the hotels in the Baker Street area accompanied by a representative from Fitzroy Robinson on hand to supply any additional information. This was felt to be inadequate since it did not give individuals the opportunity to comprehend and analyse the proposals in detail. - Councillor Mordue kept in touch with the GBB Society but was hesitant in his opinion about the future of the site. Five of the councillors on the Planning Comm— ittee, however were adamant about the scheme and gave much support to the objectors. Councillor Mordue explained that he was concerned no’ only with the past and present con¢ition of the area, but also of the future. He felt that some sort of rehabilitation scheme was necessary if the houses were not to deteriorate com— pletely. This would involve the owners having to inject capital into the site and they would expect a return on their investment. Although opposed to the present plans he believed that somesort of commercial venture was needed. The developers have lodged an appeal for reconsideration of the scheme to the Minister of Housing who must now decide whether to reject the appeal and thus confirm the councillor’s decision or to go ahead with it and hold a public inquiry. This would involve the appointment of an inspector to consult planning officers, the developers, architects and interested groups involved in the case. The procedure usually takes about a year. In the meantime the George Baker Blandford Society are preparing for more meetings to keep public interest alive and have outlined an alternative scheme for the site. This would involve retaining existing frontages, re— furbishing the buildings while maintaining the existing craft and commercial activities albeit at increased rents. wioeof onBakerStreetcompletelyupsetsthe architectural style and concept of the siteie.apreservationistargumentwhich Soreturnoncapitalinvestmentseemstobe the crux of redevelopment. Need this be the case? An alternative proposal might be the Heritage Aid Bil currently passing through Parliament. This intends to strengthen the powers of local authorities to enforce repairs on deteriorating listed buildings and allow grants ie public money for the cost of professional advice and services. Certainly something of this nature seems necessary ifexisting buildings are not to be exploited further by property developers for private gain. For more information please contact the George Baker Blandford Society, 39 Blandford Street, London W1. site. They point out that the existing terraces and that part of traditional Baker Street which stil remains; and that the proposed materials to be used (large expanses of probably tinted and mirrored plate When the tenants first heardof the proposed scheme they also contacted their local Tory councillor Mr Mordue who advised them on possible action. As a result, representations were made to City Hall on a formal basis, members of the Planning Committee were invited to meet the objectors and they organized apetition. Councillor Mordue also chaired meetings - between the developers and those interested in the scheme. Those who were involved criticised the way separate meetings were arranged for the business and residential tenants with the developers. They felt this ~to be adivisive tactic. A model of the glass curtain walling) are inappropriate and have no relationship to the existing . fabric of Georgian London. Those who are concerned for theirlive— lihood explain that while the proposed was accepted in toto. Pp may be more modern, it is likely that the rents will increase by 30-40%. It should also be noted that the proposals show a reduction of 50% of floor area devoted to light industrial Space making it almost inevitable for existing businesses to be NAM introduction . NewArchitecturemovement, 9, Poland Street, London, W1 .to return control over their environment to ordinary people ,and social responsibility and accountability to the worl: of architects....... to fund- -amentallychangetheexistingsystemofpatronage toreturnavoiceboth to those who provide the labour for architecture and those who use its products. ‘Firstly while state welfare provision is for the benefit of the existing social arrangements, the means of provision are in opposition to those ideas which stem from and must sustain these arrangements.Secondly,althoughlocal fundamentalcontradiction,andmore itisnecessarytomakeafewgeneralpoints authorities provide for social use and particularly to the ‘boundaries’ which seek to because the ideas contained in this book although their departments are not based sustain it ,which in effect seek to insulate nurture among certain sectorsof the left an on the extraction of a surplus from their architectural workers, yet their arrangements and proceedures are such as to alienate both worker and user.’ PDS. reply to criticism democratisation and deprofessionalisation of architecture. It is misleading to believe that this is more likely to be achieved in community architecture initiatives. It is obviously important to relate Government funding of any enterprise to the role of the state as described in the May 1978 Public Design Group’s paper which is briefly summarised in this article. If the state is funding the voluntary sector it can only be in an attempt to conceal contradictions which are being exposed in the public sector. And according consumer from producer. There are many boundaries .Two existing distaste for the public sector. Cynthia Cockbum sets out to prove and is able to amass considerable evidence that Distaste for the public sector with its elected members, committees and standing orders runs deep in the souls of architects. It has done so for over a hundred years Only the arguments change to suit current fashions. Even the Jesuits must env: system of education, which in five y is able to reinforce the general ideology with its own particular variant to the extent that the heathen as well as the faithful are imbued with an unshakable belief in the virtue and necessity of the independent priesthood. But the local authorities and their departments of architecture exist for spec- ific historical reasons.* For equally spec- ific reasons the continuous antagonism from the right rises to a peak during times of economic crisis (eg. in the thirties, the immediate post-war years and the present time) would be better and cheaper if undertaken by several small private contractors. While these ideas ignore the historical forces which made the services public in the first place, they underline the mounting pressure to take over certain public services by an increasingly desparate private sector. In addition there have been fairly explicit references to the other advantages con— ferred by small scale operations. Namely they would either not be unionised at al, to our theory at least, such small scale We argued that the answer to these para- doxes is to be found in theories which explain the state’s role in society. It is the state’s function to secure the repro- duction of the labour force (by providing various welfare services) and also the reproduction of existing social relations, the most important of these that labour stays in the same relation to capital, ie. the reproduction of the classes. It was further argued that the state can only carry out either or both of these functions at the expense of the social relations of production, the users. They will reduce boundaries. or they would be so fragmented that coll- ective industrial action would be difficult. As far as public architecture is concern- ed we can anticipate a more sustained attack from the RIBA in their forthcoming report on the state of council architecture, than they were able to mount in the CAWG teport on community architecture. When the CAWG people were formulating their arguments to Freeson they were obviously initiatives are more likely to maintain the existing social relations since they are quasi-private and conform to that model. That is not to say that they also do not contain their own contradictions which may be exploited. But professionals who act in this sector in preference to the public sector would be well advised to consider their preference in relation to the role of the state and to their own professional ideology. As the radical . Interim proposals were put forward as firat but necessary steps which would at the same time extend democracy within the office and pave the way for full worker control, and alsa create the potential for a closer relationship with These crises give rise to suggestions that local authority departments of arch- unable and probably unwilling to identify momentum of law centres is diluted they Separately for a moment it will be seen that the barriers described by Malpass which Equally, only an organised department can —and ithas been—a totally false picture itecture should be dismantled, the work parcelled out to consultants with a few public architects remaining to act as expert clients. These periodic attempts to achieve a lasting solution are not confined to departments of architecture. During the vulgar commercialism as more important than service to the community. Others who are less liberal and who have more to lose will no doubt be less inhibited in their prescriptions. Both however represent different approaches to the same economic problem, that is, how to get work away from the public sector. are beginning to to look increasingly like the launching pad for the legal establishment of the 1990's. The theories of the state and of public architecture on which the report ‘Comm- unity Architecture: A Public Design Service’” was based were published in the May 1978 Conference papers already referred to. These theories drew mainly on the work of Althusser (‘Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays’) and were CLIENTS BECOME IMPATIENT exist between architects and users, do not result from the first (the provision of services to secure the reproduction of the labour force). The barriers are rather the result of of the need for local government to ensure that all aspects of the social telations are maintained intact. Thus, in Our society which is based on individual achievement through competition with other individuals, housing came to be regarded as a right, this would conflict with offer anything to tenants’ groups or other council workers. will emerge. That is not to say that Cynthia Cockburn says too much about the State. The problem is that she does not say enough. The analysis is not wide ranging enough either recent public sector manual workers strike there have been arguments, including an article in the London Evening Standard. advocating that education, some aspects of envisaged by the Public Design Group health care and of course garbage disposal bitter complaint in anoffice that is what you organise around. Similarly, if, in the public offices ,the proposals were to have any meaning they had to provide solutions to the most commonly voiced frustrations Ly is DoorEAE "nate TERT COMMUNITY ARCHIE TEKT Lag aef tenislo o SLATE 12 PAGE 20 SLATE 12PAGE 21 anid BRENTERT| WHY DONT You BE LIKE ME? The longer term potential for change calls for fundamental steps towards developed to describe the realities of local authority practice. They were illu- strated bya historical study and contemp- orary examples. We argued that local authority provision and public architect- | ural practice contained two main para- doxes; the basis of the society. One or other must be eroded, but both are necessary if the social order is to be maintained.” (May 1978 PDSGrouppaperP26) It was suggested that in an attempt to _ overcome this contradiction, conditions have arisen which effectively place ‘boundaries’ around State provision in order to secure the reproduction of social telations. And, since the resolution of contradictions is the mechanism whereby historical progress ismade, it was necessary for us to address ourselves to this while being within the grasp of an organised workforce. (The history of how this has been fought for in Haringey will hopefully bedescribedinalaterSLATE) and that this is the profound contradiction faced by the state. It can only carry out its’ function in society by putting the social order at risk. The functions of the state thus distort the pure form of capitalist ideology. Although these two aspects of the State’s function are indivisible, if they are regarded New boundazies will undoubtedly appear but that is progress. Reforms do not have to stay within the logic of the system and the proposals which we are pursuing break the logic of capitalist production and ideology. There was a second aspect to this. The interim proposals can only be achieved through the collective action of the staff. only were identified ,but they were important since they divide arcaitect and architect as well as architect and building user. They were office hierarchies and function based teams. The boundaries between architect and building worker will form the subject of a later Public Design Group paper. local authorities in general and liberal/left Labour councils in particular are bad news. It is unfortunate and possibly significant that over three quaters of a book is given over to a closely documented demolition job. The case studies do not illustrate the dialectical nature of the State’s role and, however correct they are, they tel only one side of the story .Positive, although very generalised comments come on all too few pages at the end. E.g., “The contradictions are not so immobilising as they seem, because, in their particular shape and form they are always changing and so opening up new possibilities for action.” The SLATE reviewers could be forgiven for not catching on to this remark as it does not occur until the last page. The overall meaning conveyed by the Local State is thus controlled by the ratio of hopelessness to hope. The evidence is all one way. And if this limited evidence is generalised from Trade unionists attempting to unionise the private sector will know that organisation starts in the world as it is. If unpaid overtime for example is the most historically or geographically to be taken In commenting on the three SLATE reviews of the Public Design Group’s report it is useful to draw out one or two points for further discussion. It appears at the outset that both Marion Roberts and Mark Gimson share a misplaced dependence on the theories of Cynthia Cockburn. While it is outside the scope of this article to carry out a detailed critique of ‘The Local State’, as sufficient proof of a theory, in this case Althusser’s. Losses are described in detail but not gains. Itappears that what an analysis limited in time and space cannot do is to describe victories, or more acurately 2090) partil victories, like council housing, GMWU, large sections of UCATT and the education and so on, which are classic TGWU, not to mention NALGO’s ‘two-edgedswords’asfarasthesocialorder 730000members.Itsoundsratherlikethe isconcerned. Further more they (and the setting up of Local Governmentitself for thatmatter)weretheresultofstruggle. COOPERATIVE ? UNLIMITEDCOMPANY? REGISTERED CHARITY? PARTNERSHIP? DHSS User Participation From CNickerson: DearEditors, assumptions of the magazine. Is SLATE’s main role to be that of a oor e of capitalist ideology and the social order is put at risk another way. , Tony Brohn: OI-240-2430 ext.185 Mary Rogers: 01-251-0274 Some SLATE readers may be ina position to use the system and encourage itsdevelop Anyuser ‘employed’who,asindividuals,wil effectivewayofdemonstratingthistype In many, if not al cases, national issues appear just as local pressures, and it seeme clearthatonlyatthelocallevelcancontrolPublicDesignServiceGroup over State provision be extended. Many people, including the Public Design Group believe that there is a better chance for pushing for this from inside rather that outside local government. -information and local support, but would a local wall poster campaign be a more In the ‘Local State’ the local struggles are Copies are still available from NAM, 9, isolatedoutofthiswidercontext.The analysis is static. Future changes in practice and perception which result from defeats aswellasvictoriesarenotconsidered. In addition, and possibly overriding these difficulties is a major theoretical gap in the basic analysis. Although Cynthia Cockburn talksratherlooselyabout contradictions she seems to be unable to pinpointtheoreticallywhatthecontradictior actually is — that the State can only secure the reproduction of the labour force and of the social relations at the expense of social relations. That is, it cannot actually achieve what it sets out to do. By not extending her analysis to this point Cynthia Cockburn is prevented from describing either the contradictions or their expressions alternative future for their company in detail and is consequently prevented from just as viable and certainly more taking apositive approach. C, Nickerson, Unattached Architect, 15, Durand Way, London, NW10. PS.Thesystemiscalled‘TheA&B Sheet Bank ’. needs must be met on monday. SLATE could be a useful tool rather than a NAM chat sheet. You delude yourselves in supposing that peoplewishtobeinvolvedinsomebroad debate on the built environment: rather, they are concerned with their own local By not relying on the ‘Local State’ for its analysis and by recognising ‘Community Architecture — a Public Design Service?’ as a political statement, the first reviews critiscisms of the report were helpful and to the point. Unfortunately the other two reviews did not seem to grasp either the purpose of the report or the thecries on which it was based. Leaving aside thesurprising inaccuraciesinthethirdreviewits Prescription for state funding for tenants’ groups so that they can have access “‘...to expert advice as a right ...” appeared to be advocating yet another extension of professionalism in the poverty industry. industry. In our society when housing standards space and scope, is a tremendous opportunity for London. The shape it takes will be with us a very long time. Although itnow houses sonie of the nation’s most important and distinguished cultural and theatrical centres, it also features some perfectly : perfectly hideous office blocks and some networks of of dingy and alienated underpasses and walkways. To concrete the South Bank over and make itempty afterdarkandatweekendswould leatragedy.It would mean missing the best chancz to civilise London since the Great Fire. And ifthat happened it might turn out that many of the office blocks and hotels were empty anyway — which would be bad for rateable value too. “It would be both feasible and desirable if there could be a living mixture of working and housing space, with:-gardens and vegetation in between. Not ony would this have obvious advantages for the residents and the employees of the area, itwould also makea fairer setting for the National theatre and the various galleries and concert halls The second reviewer pointed out that he did not wish to attack the local are falling, an energy crisis threatens and unemployment in the building industry is at disastrous proportions, who can doubt the need for a new and radical future for the industry? authorities. Having affirmed his belief in the public sector he then went on to vote against it, as it were, by Suggesting that, *...the potentials for making alliances with Progressive sectors of society seem to be greateroutsidethahinsidelocalgovernment” This appears to write off NUPE, NUT, SLATE 12PAGE 2 officedevelopersisadequatelypreparedandpresent- oftheriversidestretch.Inthelongruneverybody sort of unfortunate judgment which might emanate from (that elitist architectural establishmentinBedfordSquare.Hisanswer AConferencewillbeheldon15th newsletterwithintheNewArchitecture Movement? Most NAM members are able to follow the Movement’s affairsthrough theirinvolvementwithNAMissueand MajorStateprovisionlikehousingfollowed isthatrealprogressinpublicarchitecture June1979todiscussalternative TheDHSShastriedtoimprove localgroups.Despiteyourexertionsin iease!! z communicationbetweenhealthbuilding attemptingtoreachnon-architects,NAM longperiodsofworkingclassdemandsand willcomefromloneortwoexperiments.The forms of practice open to architects and other professionals. users and designers by issuing, in June 1976, a data bank for producing a detailed design brief. Although difficult to cost, it involves public investment of £mplus. Unfortunately the NHS, notably the Regional Health Authorities, seem to be sitting on the system and not using it. and architectural radicals of al kinds temain introspective and narcisistic. To be «effective SLATE must challenge architecture from a noh-architectural standpoint. Aim notattheinformedprofessionalclass but at the great mass of individuals whose actions are restricted by the meaningless broad groupings into which they are shepherded. It is the ‘housed’, the ‘homeless’, the ‘unemployed’, the demonstrations. The State intervened eventually to secure the social order. So Capital may have benfitted but so did the working class and, as we have argued, the securingofthesocialorderbytheState Despiteourmisgivingsaboutsomeof 2itherofthefollowingtwopeople immediatley conflicts with the pure form collective action of local Authority architectural and other workers does not appear to be a candidate in the progress stakes. The venue and other details have vet to be finalised but you can phone 2 ; the ideas expressed in the reviews, the space given to this subject in SLATE is most encouraging and we hope that the discussion will continue. f you’re interested in coming. demonstrated by full examination of particular cases. Their are plenty of local action groups in need of particular SaaSaneaee For a detailed analysis of the State see: ‘The Hisory Evolution and Structure of LA Departmentsof architecture’ which was published as a draft paper at the May 1978 Democratic Design Conference. would be welcome by the DHSS architects. . develope the tools of a libertarian ssciety. The millenium will come but mon:.ay’s of support? Is their any reason why SLATE should not become involved in the street level approach, perhaps in cooperation with local architectural support groups? SLATE asamagazine, could provide a link between local campaigns by including alistofcontactsandcurrentactivities, thus promoting wider support. However, if SLATE is to achieve anydegreeofcredibilityyouwillhaveto shake of its frivolous, rag mag tendencies and take on the mantle of maturity. PolandSt.,London, W1. Workers’ user control: why not zoom in on the problems and actions of a particular group insteadofpanningacrossavastfieldof view without pinpointing anything of 13, Severus Rd., directrelevancetoanyone?Yourproposals Fenham, for humane than the company manage— ment’s ideas. Their proposals for transforming Lucas’ production from armaments to equipment for which real need exists are now renowned NAM has been invited to take part in discussions with construction workers, economists and others leading to such an alternative plan for the whole construction A.J.Earl, Newcastle-Upon—Tyne. plan for societal changes would be more forcibly construction Workers at Lucas Aerospace have proved that they can plot out an Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning A RATIONALE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Changing relationships between land capital and construction in Cities details from: BARTLETT SUMMER SCHOOL, University College London, 22 Gordon St. London W.C.1. If you would like to take part in the development of a worker’s plan for construction, please write to the Secretary, NAM, 9 Poland Street London W1. who will forward details of the first meeting about the project. Summer School September 2nd to 15th i aay mt Slate’ narcissistic!problems.Yourcoveragehasbeendevoted to general issues, eg., Feminism, CABIN, From A. J. Earl: Dear Editorial Committee, Afterreadingthecommentsofsome of your NAM members in the last issue ofSLATE(number10/11),Iam prompted to question some of the basic Planning system on trial cont. ities are to be retained, new family homes must be built. But, as the Campaign for Family Housing has pointed out, the Government has not yet come to terms with the difficulties faced by Councils and other developers wishing to provide such new accommodation. In particular there is the problem of availability of land for residential dvelopment and the extremely high cost of this land, as deter- minedbycurrentvaluationpractices.TheSouth Bank sites are vacant or derelict and are largely publicly-owned (bought by the LCC in1953) and zoned for housing: they should therefore be cheap. However, the GLC and the private developers claim that even these sites are ‘far too expensive’ for homes. This assertion must be challenged at the Public Inquiry so that the Government is forced to come to terms with the reality of inner city needs and the effects of current land valuation practices. The size and ‘visibility’ of the South Bank sites also make it essential that the case against the ed at the Inquiry. The Evening Standard has |isthe loser ifthe South Bank becomesa soul-less commented: ‘The South Bank, with itsconsiderable commercial and parking precinct.” : SLATE 12PAGE P23 The Women And Space’ Conference took place on the weekend of March 10 and 1, attended by 150 women and men. Ina weekend of talks and workshops there was an attempt to define and discuss the ways in which architect- -ure has acted as an oppressive force on women in both anthropological and architectural terms, within a time span ranging from the Ancient Greeks to women shut up in modern tower blocks. It was shown that in most societies women’s lives were far more orientated around the home than the lives of men and therefore the degree to which the home encourages or discourages contact with others has had a far more significant effect on women Housing was shown to beeither a factor restricting women’s lives eg. women leading solitary existances in isolated flats or in isolated huts within an African compound as Julienne Hanson of the Bartlet School discussed,orelseasafactorencouragingcommunality withthepossibilityofhousingco-operativessuch as that described by Claire Cooper in San Francisco at St. Francis Square. It was always a moot point as to whether the housing had caused the oppression or if the oppression within the society was simply reflected in the buildings which it produced. An almost alegorical tale was told by Kate Young, a social anthropologist on the effect on the advance of technology in a Mexican viiiage, riddled with a superstitious belief in witchcraft which prevented women from visiting each other's homes. The one chance for women to meet each other was when| fetching water from the wells, an exhausting and arduous task. Yet when (on Kate Young’s interference) piped water was installed a far more deleterious breakdown occurred in the amount of opportunity for women to meet each other and thus to to lessen the hold of witchcraft on them. While the talks largely catalogued and discussed the effects of architecture on women in different societies, with the exception of Peggy Eagle’s vigorous encouragement of political actions they were very academic unlike unlike many of the workshops which seemed to point the way forward in discussion by women builders and women inyolved in housing co-operatives. There was however some:feeling of frustration among many of the women attending the conference about the presence of men and because of the academic nature of many of the issues; those women fromed a woman’s workshop to continue a discussion on the more immediate issues confronting us in relationship to building and design. Despite some fundamental differences in the ideas of those attending the conferenceand their reasons for being there, it was an event which gave a feeling of encouragement and solidarity to those attending it. because ;we were occupied with similar problems and fighting for a common solution. v Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Andrew Brown/FLeP Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated