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A Policy on Architecture for Scotland
PROGRESS REPORT 2005
THE QUALITY OF SCOTLAND'S BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS
IMPORTANT NOT ONLY TO OUR OWN QUALITY OF LIFE, BUT TO THE
PERCEPTION OF OUR COUNTRY ABROAD AS AN OUTSTANDING PLACE TO
LIVE, TO WORK AND TO VISIT.
FOREWORD
In
October 2001, the Scottish Executive published
A Policy on Architecture for Scotland and we
became the first part of the UK to commit ourselves to a
formal policy on architecture. Since that time, I believe
that we have made significant advances in delivering many
of the commitments set out in the policy document, and this
report sets out our progress in detail.
Across Scotland, we are seeing a growing interest in
good design and the value of well designed architecture and
we have sought to nurture this trend. Over the past four
years, the National Programme on architecture delivered by
The Lighthouse, Scotland's National Centre for Architecture
Design and the City has underpinned a series of
exhibitions, events, seminars and publications to stimulate
debate and to raise awareness of the fundamental importance
of architecture to the cultural richness of our society.
The quality of Scotland's built environment is important
not only to our own quality of life, but to the perception
of our country abroad as an outstanding place to live, to
work and to visit. As part of the international dimension
of policy, our best new architecture has now been exhibited
at a variety of key events in Europe, and Scotland was
separately represented for the first time at the 2004
Venice Architecture Biennale.
Within the policy document, we indicated that we would
be dependent on partnerships to take forward the
implementation of policy, and I have been greatly heartened
by the response to our call for a partnership approach. The
Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) and a
growing number of other partners have collaborated with the
Executive's Architecture Policy Unit on a variety of
initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the importance of
the quality of Scotland's built environment and the
importance of architecture as a cultural phenomenon.
I believe it is important that we maintain our momentum
and that we build upon the many achievements of the first
years of the policy. As the Minister with responsibility
for architecture, I look forward to leading the development
of policy in coming years. A policy on architecture must
have a long-term focus, and the establishment of
Architecture and Design Scotland in April 2005 is an
important factor affecting the way in which policy will
develop in the future. Architecture and Design Scotland
will become a new independent champion for good
architecture and design in Scotland's built environment,
taking over and expanding the present activities of the
Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland (RFACS). Its aim is
to inspire higher design quality across the public and
private sectors which contributes in a positive way to our
quality of life and to our built heritage. We have more
than doubled the resources previously available to RFACS so
that Architecture and Design Scotland can effectively
tackle the challenges of ensuring that our built
environment, our architecture and our infrastructure are
well designed, well thought out and of high quality.
In the earliest days of policy development, the
Executive recognised that for a policy on architecture to
remain relevant, it would require to respond to the complex
and changing nature of built environment issues and it
would have to evolve over time. We undertook, therefore, to
periodically review our objectives and priorities and to
assess the effectiveness of actions taken. When
Architecture and Design Scotland has bedded in, and the
ways in which the organisation works with us and others to
take forward the aims of policy have been tested, the first
formal review of policy will take place in 2006.
Patricia Ferguson
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
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