W.Who would object when Michael Gove wants his new building to be more beautiful? He wants a place that is created with “heart and soul.” He also hopes that opposition to new housing will decrease “if design standards are improved across the board.” Who would want the place of Venice to return to its former marshy islands, or the city of Bath to be stripped away and replaced by rolling green hills? The typical opponents of development are mostly motivated by non-architectural issues (the influx of other people, the pressure on schools and roads), but the aesthetic Quality is not only a matter of appearance. This includes the placement of buildings in the landscape, the quality of materials and structures, ditto for vegetation and paving, interior and exterior layout, light, shade and use of landscape. .
These issues can affect a housebuilder’s bottom line and this is one of the reasons beauty is hard to find. And it’s easier for builders to make superficial gestures to aesthetics, like making a pediment here and a cornice there, than to do the hard work of good planning. Gove’s comments are included in the foreword to a report by architect Ike Ijeh of the conservative think tank Policy Exchange. It’s a brief and sketchy document, but it at least states that beauty is more than a matter of style. It remains to be seen whether Gove has the necessary courage to stand up to vested interests (both homebuilders and rogues).
Statues have no laws
In yet another case of cancel culture, a bronze statue of Catherine the Great was removed from the center of Odesa. no way! But wait a minute. The statue was erected in 2007 with the backing of pro-Russian businessman and local politician Ruslan Tarpan, now on the run on embezzlement charges. It was built by the empire to honor the Empress from the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, but restored an earlier version removed by the Bolsheviks in 1920. Countries that fly missiles. This story shows two points about him that are overlooked by those who think that statues should at all costs be preserved in situ. One is that the removal of the statue may be a case of making history rather than erasing it. If you want to remove it, why shouldn’t you remove it?
Crushed by the rising waves of hatred
Henry Berg-Brousseau is a brave transgender man who has campaigned against legal restrictions on transgender people in his home state of Kentucky since he was 16 years old. This is largely due to the fact that by 2022 he will be part of a growing trend of such bills in more than 150 conservative states. All over the United States. Shortly before Christmas, the 24-year-old took his own life. His mother, Karen Berg, said a key factor was “his unacceptability in the face of the ‘hateful, vile, anti-transgender message being circulated across the country.'” She also shared what might be a good New Year’s resolution for all of us. Make an effort to love your neighbor.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the United States, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the lifeline for crisis support services is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
