ManTowNHuman

 

 

Manifesto: Towards a New Humanism in Architecture

THE MOST IMPORTANT ARCHITECTURE MANIFESTO FOR A GENERATION

'I love this manifesto - it has guts and irreverence and gusto. Almost every aspect of it is designed to upset and maybe that is the point. It is wilful and dangerous, with a strong tone of belligerence.' Will Alsop

"The worm has turned. No more limp wristed architecture but buildings with a hairy chest and a firm fist." Jack Pringle, ex-RIBA president

"This manifesto is the big reminder not to be scared of being scared or being scary... I loved reading it." Thomas Heatherwick

Launch party, 3rd July. All welcome

Visit: www.mantownhuman.org Email: info@mantownhuman.org

WATCH HERE...

 

"The Enemies of Progress:"

The Dangers of Sustainability

See Blog site for more information and updates

 

 

1. THE NEW PAROCHIALISTS
Transport and mobility denied

2. THE OPT-OUTS
Energy and the end of universal provision

3. THE LIMIT-SETTERS
Architecture's loss of humanity

4. THE INDOCTRINATORS
Environmental educators' underhand tactics

5. THE PESSIMISTS [read an edited sample]
Putting the brakes on China and India

6. THE NEW COLONIALISTS
The Developing World's sustainable underdevelopment

7. THE MISANTHROPISTS
America's unease with Modernity

CONCLUSION
Reclaiming the future

pp96, (Imprint Academic) ISBN-10: 1845400984
Visit the Enemies of Progress blog site for further details, reviews and upcoming events

 

Previous Events

October 27th - 28th, 2007

Battle of Ideas

Royal College of Art, Kensington, London.
The Future Cities Project coordinated a series of events on architecture and urbanism:

Saturday,October 27th
13:30 - 15:00 "Age of the Metropolis" The future of the urban experiment:
Speakers:
Kieran Long (editor, Architects' Journal); Naresh Fernandes (editor, Time Out Mumbai); Tony McGuirk (BDP); Philippe Legrain (author, 'Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them'); Austin Williams (Future Cities Project)

Saturday,October 27th
15:30 - 17:00 "Imagining the City" on cinema's examination of modernity:
Speakers:
Sarnath Banerjee (fellow, Akademis Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart); Michael Chanan (author, 'The Politics of Documentary'); Wendy Earle (commissioning editor, British Film Institute), Karl Sharro (essayist and urbanist)

Sunday,October 28th
12:45 - 13:45 "Designing Behaviour;
Speakers:
Professor Anthony Dunne (head, design interactions, RCA); Martyn Perks (design consultant, CScape and journalist, Blueprint magazine); Molly Webb (business engagement manager, The Climate Group and author of 'The Disrupters: Lessons for Low Carbon Innovation')

Sunday,October 28th
14:00 - 15:30 "More then Bricks and Mortar"
on why we don't build enough houses:
Speakers:
Tristram Hunt (broadcaster); Adam Sampson (chief exectuive, Shelter); Michael Oxley (professor of housing, De Montfort University); Dave Clements (co-editor 'The Future of Community')

Sunday,October 28th
16:00 - 17:30
"Moving into the Future"
Speakers:
Andrew English (motoring correspondent, Daily Telegraph); Professor Dale Harrow (head of vehicle design, RCA); Tony Ridley (emeritus professor of transport engineering, Imperial College); Peter Smith, lecturer in tourism and tourism management, St Mary's University College; Dr Peter Martin ('engaging cogs')

'It was fantastically stimulating and I finished the weekend with lots to ponder.' Naresh Fernandes (editor, Time Out Mumbai); 'I enjoyed it very much... it would be good to investigate further.' Kieran Long (editor, Architects' Journal); 'It was actually all rather enjoyable.' Tristram Hunt (broadcaster); 'I really enjoyed taking part and will be happy to be involved again in some way.' Professor Michael Oxley (De Montfort University)

Monday, October 1st
16:00 - 17:30
Design in Denial
Once upon a time, designers were celebrated as people who dreamt of transforming the world. Today, it seems as if they are regularly blamed for that transformation: for increasing consumerism or for wasteful obsolescence. Once visionaries; today's designers seems much more cautious. A panel of four designers will question this, asking if it is legitimate, if designers are simply capturing the cultural 'zeitgeist' or if design is in denial?

Speakers: Clive Grinyer, director of Design, Orange France Telecom; Austin Williams, director, Future Cities Project; Tom Dunmore, editor of Stuff Magazine; Patrick Cox, creative director, Wolff Olins; Jonathan Barnbrook, graphic designer; chair: Martyn Perks, user experience consultant

 

The Big Draw

The Campaign for Drawing Launch Event, September 2007
The Bishopsgate Institute and Foundation


Austin Williams' workshop Condensing Complexity will get people thinking about how to take a range of complex everyday instructions - from fire safety to the Highway Code - simplify them, and convey them in graphic form.

Effectively, this is the visual equivalent of the "Plain English" campaign... The "Easy Graphics" campaign!

 

 

June2007:

Should We Build More Roads?

Shanghai Administration Institute Programme, University of Oxford

 

February 2007

The Human Footprint: Have we gone too far?

Austin Williams; Corey Powell, editor of Discover magazine; Ronald Bailey, science correspondent, Reason magazine; and Professor Emeritus Martin Hoffert at The New School, 55 West 13th Street, New York

For more information click here

January 2007

The Therapy Rooms - building esteem or housing discontent?

Nowadays, buildings are credited with changing our behaviour, promoting our welfare, and addressing intractable social problems. For instance, it has been argued that large windows in schools improve students' performance; natural ventilation increases productivity in offices; well designed homes and neighbourhoods prevent anti-social behaviour; healthy sports stadia reduce spectator obesity; and hospitals with soothing decor help people get better quicker.

This debate addressed the question of whether we have lost our ability to argue for better provision in its own terms and for its own sake. No doubt the way buildings are designed do make us feel good, but how transient is this response? In order to tick the right funding box, is it justifiable to over-claim for the immediate benefits of a project, or do we lose something in the process?

The Bartlett School of Architecture, London

Read Dave Clements' speech from the conference here

Other events

 

 

For more details, visit the Battle of Ideas website.