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04
The Luma Building, Glasgow
Cornelius McClymont Architects |
05
Port Glasgow Municipal Building, Port Glasgow Page & Park |
There is a further dimension to buildings that is important. Buildings not only occupy and define space, they also persist through time. Most of the buildings we inhabit now and which shape our towns and cities we have inherited from the past. They are the most pervasive and tangible evidence of the social and cultural values and traditions of previous generations. The buildings we make for ourselves today will mostly outlive us and become our legacy for the future. They will provide the means by which future generations will judge our individual and collective values and our social and cultural ambitions. Buildings provide the means by which we define ourselves not only in space but also in time.
Buildings, then, are of profound importance to our lives, to our communities and to our culture. Good buildings can bring us benefits and be of value in a great number of ways. It is the purpose of architecture, through good design, to realise these values and benefits and to do so in ways which make buildings memorable and enjoyable places. Good architecture brings imagination to the solution of our practical problems and reflects what is of value in our lives. Good architecture re-shapes for the better our towns, cities and our landscapes. Good architecture affirms regional and national identity and enriches our culture. And good architecture contributes to the develop-ment and maintenance of a built heritage of lasting value.
The buildings of Scotland's cities, towns and villages and countryside are a testament to the skills and imagination that our forbears brought to solving the problems of living. Today we are materially richer and have a higher standard of living than those who have gone before. We are technically more advanced and have at our disposal a greater range of construction methods and materials. Yet despite these advantages much of our built environ-ment remains deeply unsatisfactory. Many new buildings are monotonous, spiritless in design and do not relate to their surroundings. Many parts of our towns and cities have become anony-mous and placeless. Much new housing is of mediocre and indifferent design quality and is frequently planned, sited and developed with little regard for the urban traditions and landscapes of Scotland. Much commercial building is self-referential and devoid of public value. And many of our historic towns and cities have been subject to pastiche designs which mimic superficial stylistic elements but which debase genuine heritage. The popularity of our unspoilt towns and villages and the vigour with which conservation groups often oppose new development are a measure of how unsatisfactory are many of the values which underlie our society and its architecture. For many, there is a lack of confidence in our ability to design and make for ourselves a satisfactory built environment.
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