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2. CULTURAL CONTEXT

PROVIDING A SUPPORTIVE CLIMATE FOR DEBATE ON ARCHITECTURE AND AN APPRECIATION OF THE ROLE THAT ARCHITECTURE PLAYS IN SOCIETY; THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

From the outset, the Executive's policy on architecture has acknowledged that architecture has a deep cultural value and a resonance that goes beyond the functional needs of any particular building programme. In order to create a climate in which good design in the built environment is the rule rather than the exception, we need to continue to raise public awareness of the value of good design, and to encourage greater interest, debate and involvement in built environment issues. An engaged and informed public is more likely to be discerning and demanding about the quality of environment it uses and by which it is surrounded.

Good design encompasses cultural ideas as well as the physical reality of buildings and we constantly need to debate, discuss and analyse the complex relationship that we have with our surroundings. We may ask ourselves questions such as: "Are we meeting our needs?", "Are we building at the right quality and in the right places?", "What are the future generators and drivers affecting the built environment?" and "How do we meet the needs of an ageing population?" There are no easy answers to these and other questions about our buildings and our relationship to them, but the programme of activity set out in this section can provide the catalyst for that important debate.

RAISING AWARENESS

Since 2001, the Executive has supported a diverse range of initiatives driven by the aim of engaging a wide public audience in a debate about architecture, the built environment and the ways in which they shape our lives. The major delivery vehicle of this has been the National Programme on Architecture, developed and managed by The Lighthouse, Scotland's Centre for Architecture Design and the City. The programme has, through series of activities, events, exhibitions and publications set out to challenge, inform, and inspire.

SINCE 2001, THE NATIONAL PROGRAMME HAS:

• MOUNTED 15 EXHIBITIONS, SEVEN OF WHICH HAVE TOURED TO 12 VENUES IN SCOTLAND AND FOUR INTERNATIONALLY TO CATALONIA, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY AND THE NETHERLANDS;
• ATTRACTED OVER 200,000 VISITORS TO NATIONAL PROGRAMME EXHIBITIONS;
• INVOLVED 725 PARTICIPANTS IN EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING 420 SCHOOL CHILDREN);
• HOSTED FIVE SEMINARS AND GENERATED 26 TALKS, ATTRACTING OVER 1,100 PARTICIPANTS;
• EMPLOYED OVER 50 CREATIVE INDUSTRIES PROFESSIONALS;
• PROFILED OVER 130 CREATIVE INDUSTRIES PROFESSIONALS;
• FUNDED 33 PROJECTS THROUGH THE INNOVATION FUND; AND
• RECEIVED OVER FIVE MILLION HITS TO SCOTTISHARCHITECTURE.COM.

THE ACCESS TO ARCHITECTURE CAMPAIGN

We will build on the work of the National Programme by further investing in a new ACCESS to Architecture campaign, managed and delivered by The Lighthouse. The campaign will replace the existing National Programme, and will have two key strands. Firstly, there will be a celebration and promotion of the best new architecture, young talent, emerging trends and topics for debate by means of exhibitions, publications, digital resources and other events. Secondly, there will be a newly developed programme of outreach and community engagement aimed at bringing the debate about architecture into the heart of local communities throughout Scotland. In order to have the widest possible impact and provide long-term benefits, a key objective will be to actively engage a range of organisations and networks, both at a local and national level, in the development and delivery of the ACCESS campaign.

EXHIBITIONS

Although the nature of content will respond to changed priorities, the structure of the exhibition programme will continue to be based around its present three components:

• Keynote exhibitions
• Architecture in Scotland exhibitions
• 'SIX' Student Award exhibitions

Keynote exhibitions examine, explore and respond to influences on the past and future development of Scottish architecture. These action-based, research exhibitions, which are accessible and interactive, are designed to engage as wide an audience as possible. The biennial exhibitions open in The Lighthouse, and then tour nationally and internationally. They are complemented and enhanced by seminars, publications and related educational material.

Architecture in Scotland exhibitions highlight our best new architecture, illustrating themes emerging from the series of biennial reviews of Scottish architecture described below. The exhibitions feature the best urban, suburban and rural architecture and landscape projects in Scotland and reflect the diversity of building projects in Scotland today, from large-scale commercial developments to small-scale housing.

' SIX' Student Award exhibitions: The annual exhibition and awards, in collaboration with the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland ( RIAS), offer a rare opportunity to see the best work of students from all six of Scotland's Schools of Architecture together. The single focus and high profile of the awards offers an excellent opportunity for the public and profession to view the standard of student work.

FUTURE EXHIBITIONS

In the development of our new exhibitions, we will respond to priorities suggested in the consultation, such as providing a platform for the work of young and emerging practices. We will also now explore ways in which the ' SIX' annual exhibition, promoting the best of our student work, might be developed and expanded.

Over the past five years, the exhibition programme has engaged a wide audience both here at home and abroad, and several exhibitions created in collaboration with leading Scottish designers have won awards for the quality of their production. Visitor surveys at keynote exhibitions have been extremely positive and strongly substantiate our view that we have found a balance between what is challenging and what is accessible. We believe it to be important that these exhibitions continue to be both thought provoking and accessible.

PUBLICATIONS

We have, in partnership with The Lighthouse and, more recently, with the involvement of RIAS and A+DS, published three biennial reviews of Scottish architecture and urban and landscape design. These publications are important in their provision of a chronological record of the architectural highlights of the period they cover but, more importantly, provide a platform for debate around emerging themes in Scottish architecture. In 2008, the biennial review will celebrate emerging talent in Scottish architecture. The Lighthouse has also built up a strong track record in publications which have complemented the keynote exhibitions since the inception of the National Programme. Our commitment to develop affordable publications of an outstanding quality, which broaden awareness and interest in Scottish architecture, will continue.

DIGITAL RESOURCES

Launched in 2002, scottisharchitecture.com has fast become a national on-line resource for Scottish architecture and the built environment. It focuses on showcasing the very best of Scottish architecture through news items, featured projects, virtual exhibitions and tours. It also acts as a portal to other relevant sites, with dedicated links.

Accessibility to National Programme exhibitions has been improved by creating interactive, virtual versions of Architecture in Scotland, keynote and ' SIX' exhibitions. The 'virtual' gallery enables people to enjoy the content who, because of limited mobility or other reasons, cannot manage to visit the exhibition locations. In response to the public consultation, it is our intention that outreach will be an issue of increasing importance on scottisharchitecture.com as well as in the wider ACCESS to Architecture campaign. In future, the website will be active in call outs for views, comments and content for exhibitions, creating a dynamic hub for discussion and debate.

The website www.sust.org provides on-line access to reports, documents and case studies on many initiatives in the Sust. programme. This is a unique web resource giving access to a wide variety of information, resources and guidance on sustainability. To ensure that sustainable design is more widely accepted, clients and professionals need access to useful and practical tools and techniques. However, whilst parts of the site are aimed at professionals such as architects and designers, other sections are more general and will be of interest to anyone wishing to know more about this subject. The site brings together an overview of some of the key projects that Sust. has supported since its inception in 2002, with a focus on supporting the delivery and mainstreaming of sustainable building design. www.sust.org summarises all of the projects undertaken over the last four years and is developing into a one stop shop for access to sustainability resources in Scotland.

One of the most significant digital resources under development is a web-based Green Directory. This is being designed and populated in association with the Scottish Ecological Design Association ( SEDA), and contains details of ecological products and services available in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, Europe and Worldwide. The Green Directory is the first such resource in Scotland and, when complete, it will provide architects and design specifiers with access to valuable tools and resources that will help implement sustainable design. Each entry is referenced according to geographic location to help users to source materials as locally as possible and although not mandatory, detailed sustainability/ecological credentials are requested on each product to allow manufacturers the opportunity to fully promote the greenest products.

'MY SUST HOUSE', A "BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED AND ENGAGING" GAME, WHICH WAS DEVISED AND COMMISSIONED BY SUST. AND DESIGNED BY SCREENMEDIA AND JOHN GILBERT ARCHITECTS, SCOOPED THE BEST INTERACTIVE MEDIA AWARD IN THE 2006 SCOTTISH 2006 SCOTTISH BAFTAS. AIMED AT YOUNG PEOPLE AGED BETWEEN 9 AND 13 'MY SUST HOUSE' INTRODUCES ISSUES OF SUSTAINABILITY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN A FUN AND FRIENDLY WAY. IT CAN BE PLAYED EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR AS A GROUP.

OUTREACH

From regular visitor surveys, we know that the National Programme has succeeded in attracting an audience from varied backgrounds to The Lighthouse exhibitions and events. Many respondents to the consultation suggest, however, that we must not only aim to enlarge the audience for exhibitions and publications but that we should further expand the engagement and outreach of the programme. In order to engage a broader range of people and communities across Scotland in their built environment, the new ACCESS to Architecture campaign will bring together the existing Community Programme and Innovation Fund to develop a series of residencies, to create a mobile architecture facility, and to provide a focus on building networks aimed at creating local architecture centres which will complement the national role of the Lighthouse. The Community Programme carried out over the last five years by The Lighthouse comprised a number of projects involving people in their local environments. This past work with local communities has, however, been for very short periods of time on location, and we can envisage greater potential long term benefits through more in-depth engagement.

To support and co-ordinate the new outreach programme, a full time Outreach Officer post has recently been created at The Lighthouse. The aim of this post is to:

• assist the establishment of sustainable local networks to create a dynamic and participative scene around architecture and built environment issues and opportunities throughout Scotland;
• support a series of residences with local communities on current issues and develop tools, techniques and processes for community engagement that are transferable;
• develop a mobile architecture centre to visit communities around Scotland and provide a focal point for The Lighthouse's outreach programme; and
• develop a more long-lasting series of locally-based architecture centres and resources.

AWARDS

We view awards and recognition as a way of highlighting and celebrating excellence as well as generating debate around the concept of architectural quality. Following the untimely death of Andrew Doolan in 2004, we joined in partnership with the RIAS to ensure that the RIAS Doolan Award for Best Building in Scotland continued its role in recognising outstanding achievement. We will continue to contribute £15,000 annually to the award. The shortlist of ten projects for the 2006 Award illustrates the high quality of Scotland's best new architecture and the importance of our continued support for this award.

We will also continue to support the annual Lighthouse Achievement Award, which acknowledges exemplary achievement and important contributions to architecture and the built environment in its broadest sense. The Achievement Award recognises not only architects, but also people who have contributed to architecture in Scotland in other ways such as writers, educationalists and filmmakers.

The Executive also supports the annual Saltire Society Housing Awards scheme to highlight the best new housing from both the public and private sectors. To mark the 70th Anniversary of the Saltire Society's Housing Award scheme, we will support the curation of an exhibition reviewing the housing trends over this period.

PLANNING AWARDS

The Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning aim to raise quality in the planning process. The annual awards scheme is now in its tenth year. Nominations are invited in four categories: Development Planning, Development Management, Development on the Ground and Community Involvement. Linked to the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning is the 'Designing Places' Student Award. Students are invited to submit urban design work that has been carried out as part of the curriculum on a planning course.

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS

The first Six Cities Design Festival will be a three-week long series of events in May and June 2007, held across all six Scottish cities, and developed and delivered by The Lighthouse. Supported by Executive funding of £3 million, the Festival is a key part of a wider initiative to raise awareness of the contribution of design and creativity, including architecture, in enabling Scottish businesses to compete at the highest level internationally. The Festival aims to engage the public in a celebration of Scottish and international design achievement, providing Scottish businesses with a special opportunity to see the economic benefits that design can deliver, and to identify areas where training and skills are most needed. The education programmes planned with schools, colleges and universities will help to ensure that Scotland nurtures the design talent of the future.

The Six Cities Design Festival can also address several of the issues raised in the UK-wide 'Cox Review on Creativity in Business' published in December 2005 by HM Treasury. Against a background of rapidly changing global markets, there is a growing recognition of the value of design innovation as an increasingly important factor in national competitiveness. The Six Cities Design Festival has a strategic business and educational function. Through raising awareness of the value of design to successful business, providing opportunities to create networks and promoting interest in creative industry careers, it offers the opportunity to make a significant contribution to a stronger economic future for Scotland. The Festival also aims to attract broad public engagement in a celebration of Scottish and international design achievement.

INTERNATIONAL

When the European Forum on Architecture Policies came to the UK in 2005 as part of the UK Presidency of the European Union, we agreed with the other areas of UK Government that Scotland should host the event. This enabled us to show representatives of many other European governments what we are doing in policy, to share ideas, and to gauge the level of interest in Scottish architecture abroad. We were encouraged in this respect by strong signs of increased international awareness of the quality of architecture in Scotland.

Where our International Division is involved in the promotion of Scotland through participation in international events, our approach has been to look at ways that we can contribute usefully, through integrating architecture into wider Executive programmes. We thus built a strong architecture component into Entente Cordiale, Scotland with Catalonia, the Venice and Rotterdam Biennales and a number of other international events. Based on the effectiveness of this experience, we will continue to take this approach.

Scotland has four World Heritage Sites, and architecture is a significant element in two of them. This means that special care is taken to ensure the highest quality of design, particularly within the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh. It also means that Scotland must learn from, and set an example to, sites of outstanding universal value world-wide.

The Executive provides support for European Heritage Days and other European initiatives organised by the Scottish Civic Trust and funded via Historic Scotland. These are very well-attended, and we believe that such initiatives offer excellent opportunities for the public to engage with and appreciate architecture, both old and new.

DESIRED OUTCOME OF CULTURAL PROGRAMME

INCREASED DEMAND FOR A BETTER QUALITY BUILT ENVIRONMENT; A WIDER AND HIGHER LEVEL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT; AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LOCAL NETWORKS

CASE STUDY

CULTURE AND REGENERATION/PUBLIC SPACE/SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
THE BRIDGE ARTS CENTRE, EASTERHOUSE, GLASGOW

The Bridge Arts Centre, designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects, is a community-based centre for arts and learning activities. The project underscores the key premise of Glasgow City Council's cultural strategy, which is that culture is central to improving the life of both locals and visitors. Through the care taken in its brief and its design, the project also acts to strongly substantiate the Council's belief that it is the quality of delivery which is essential to realising this vision.

Among the many facilities provided by the new building are a theatre, library, dance studio, recording studios, visual arts spaces and a café. It also provides a base for the new National Theatre of Scotland. A central feature of the design is that it both links and enhances two adjacent facilities - the Easterhouse swimming pool and John Wheatley College. The architect has responded to the angles and varying levels in the gap between these two buildings as opportunities, creating elegantly articulated external and internal public spaces of varying degrees of grandeur and intimacy - and bringing opportunities for pleasant social interaction to within an area of the neighbourhood that is largely vehicle dominated. The skilful use of natural light throughout the building is an important element in its success as a pleasant place to be and to meet. The aptly entitled "Bridge" reflects both its many physical links and the opportunities for social and artistic linkages which the building offers.

Also of interest is the co-ordination between the creation of the new centre and the management of the existing facilities - John Wheatley College now provides training and courses within the centre. The swimming pool has also been fully refurbished - contributing to further raising of the collective standard of the services provided for the community.

The project will make a significant difference to the social and cultural life of Easterhouse. Through its client commitment to this and other recent cultural buildings, Glasgow City Council is demonstrating the importance that it places upon the links between cultural participation, economic regeneration and enhanced opportunity in the development of sustainable communities.

CASE STUDY

ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE AND THE HEALING PROCESS
THE MAGGIE'S CENTRES

The Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres demonstrate the way in which architecture and landscape can provide healthcare environments that positively affect the healing process and which improve lives. Leading architects have been involved in each design, and the quality of the architecture and setting of each of the Maggie's Centres is fundamental to its success.

The Maggie's Centres and the Maggie's Registered Charity are named after the late Maggie Keswick Jencks, wife of the architecture critic and landscape designer Charles Jencks (who designed the gardens at the Inverness Maggie's). Her own experience of receiving treatment for cancer led her to pursue and help to realise her vision for the Centres. She wished to see the creation of special, welcoming places which would provide psychological support, information about treatment and learning strategies to cope with stress. The building environments she envisaged had to be uplifting; special in their design and domestic in scale - and the relationships between the Maggie's Centres and their carefully designed gardens would be vitally important in providing a calming, positive healing environment.

Maggie Keswick Jencks convinced her medical team that such places were needed. A team of committed health professionals, friends and family spearheaded the creation of the first Centre, designed by Richard Murphy, in the grounds of the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh in 1996. Since that time, NHS Trusts across the UK have asked Maggie's to create new Centres for their own cancer hospitals. Five Centres have been completed to date in Scotland. In Dundee, there is a Maggie's Centre designed by Frank Gehry; Centres in Glasgow and Inverness have been designed by Page and Park and, most recently, the Centre in Kirkcaldy was designed by Zaha Hadid.

The Maggie's caring philosophy and the design of each centre combine to create environments which allow patients to feel as comfortable as possible whilst they deal with tremendously difficult circumstances in their lives. The Centres demonstrate a value that can be provided by architecture and landscape in relation to health and quality of life which is beyond measure.

LEADING ARCHITECTS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN EACH DESIGN AND THE QUALITY OF THE ARCHITECTURE AND SETTING OF EACH OF THE MAGGIE'S CENTRE IS FUNDAMENTAL TO ITS SUCCESS

CASE STUDY

CULTURAL IDENTITY
SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE

Positioned next to John Knox House on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Malcolm Fraser Architects' design for the Scottish Storytelling Centre sits in one of the most sensitive historic locations in Scotland.

The design approach is underpinned by deep research into the history of the former Netherbow building on the site and the wider history of the surrounding area. Growing from this level of understanding, layers of symbolism refer to past forms and uses, and the architects mesh ideas of historic gateways to the city with ideas of gateways to culture. The result is an unashamedly modern building which responds to both its internal functions and its context with great sensitivity, as befits the cultural traditions which it houses and the World Heritage status of the location.

A NEW TWO STREAM SCHOOL WHICH FORMS PARTOF THE EDINBURGH SCHOOLS PPP PROJECTS

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