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NEWS AND EVENTS
Putting Urbanism at the Heart of the Agenda
RIBA Conference 15 July 2004
Over 100 people attended a by-invitation
meeting called by the RIBA’s president
and John Thompson, chair of the
RIBA Urbanism and Planning Group,
to discuss what urbanism is and what
actions can be taken to achieve ‘good’
urbanism. The first hour was spent
trying to tease out what urbanism is,
by asking attendants to write their own
definition on post-it notes. The core
of the afternoon were nine parallel
workshops on topics ranging from RIBA
Awards for Urbanism, through Urbanism
and Sustainability, Delivering Urbanism
to Skills for Urbanism. The teams were
asked to suggest actions that could be
implemented in the immediate future
and to identify how and by whom this
would happen. After a couple of hours
of debate each group reported back to
a plenary session and a series of good
ideas was put forward.
Undoubtedly, the fact that the RIBA
is taking an interest in urbanism, and
by implication in urban design, is to
be welcomed. As was mentioned at the
meeting, for too long architects have
been concerned with the site and not
with its context. This was one of the
reasons for the creation of the Urban
Design Group over 25 years ago, and it is
good to see the RIBA joining us. On the
other hand, the fact that so many people
in the room did not seem to know what
UDAL was, or to realise that the issues
on the agenda had been discussed over
and over for years by the UDG and UDAL,
is worrying. It felt a bit like reinventing
the wheel without building it. There
were not many ideas that had not been
mentioned in this magazine or at UDG
meetings of one kind or another. And
why weren’t more people in the room
members of the UDG?
A related question is why is the
RIBA suddenly interested in urbanism
when it has not played a very active role
within UDAL? Could it be that the job
market for architects is changing and
urban design skills are becoming more
widely needed? Could it also be that
the RIBA acknowledges the changes in
the agenda and does not want to lose
its controlling role? Perhaps it does not
matter if more people come to realise
the importance of urban design and are
willing to promote higher quality places.
The actions that the RIBA takes to follow
this first meeting will indicate whether
or not it is all worthwhile. We shall keep
an eye on this.
Sebastian Loew
Study Tour of the Saxon Towns of Transylvania
15-23 May 2004
Above Sibiu Town Hall separates two market
squares
Opposite page top Sighisoara clock tower
Opposite page bottom Fortified churches
On the 15th May 2004, 30 UDG members,
spouses and friends set off by air for
Bucharest, where we were joined by
six French colleagues. Our goal was
Transylvania, where we were to look
at the German heritage of town and
village building. But first we were to
make the acquaintance of Bucharest,
a vast and sprawling metropolis whose
character can only be discovered by
peeling away the chronological layers
of which it is made up. In this we were
greatly assisted by Mariana Celac, former
president of the Romanian Union of
Architects, who gave us an illustrated
talk and led us on a coach tour.
Bucharest was the principal city of
Wallachia which until 1880 was part,
although a fairly autonomous one, of
the Ottoman Empire. Consequently, the
surviving historic areas are characterised
by Orthodox churches and low-key,
Turkish-style houses, but no mosques.
After 1918 Romania doubled in size,
becoming a relatively wealthy country
with a sizeable urban middle class,
and so the capital was replanned with
substantial modernist and neo-classical
buildings fronting new avenues carved
through the older quarters. It was
this period of expansion that inspired
Ceausescu to leave his own grandiose
mark and wreak destruction, though not
on a scale as great as one had been led
to believe. Today regeneration is taking
place in a patchy way largely following
commercial imperatives. Altogether a
complex and fascinating city.
We then set off by train for
Transylvania, which could have been
4 | Urban Design | Autumn 2004 | Issue 92