HRH Prince of Wales, A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture, Doubleday, 1988

HRH Prince of Wales, A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture, Doubleday, 1988

p.7
‘For a long time i have felt strongly about the wanton destruction which has taken place in this country in the name of progress; about the sheer, unadulterated ugliness and mediocrity of public and commercial buildings, and of hosuign estates, not to mention the dreariness and heartlessness of much urban planning.’

p.9
‘we have ended up with Frankenstein monsters, devoid of character, alien and unloved’
‘the further I delve into the shadowy world of architecture, planning and property development the more I become aware of the powerful influence of various interest groups. Hence the frequently violent and vitriolic reactions to the points I have been making.’
Architects blamed planners, but HRH says ‘it wasn’t the local councillors or the developers who had read Le Corbusier and other apostles of modernism, and then persuaded reluctant architects to adopt ‘progressive’ ideas. Architects deliberately staged a revolution within their own organisation and their own system of education. It was the ‘great architects’ of this period who convinced everyone that the world would be safe in their hands.’

p.10
‘their philosophical approach to the whole question fo the design of the bult environment as it affects people and the lives they live, is what concerns me.’
Says architects want to reject past to reflect spirit of the age ‘whatever thast might be!’

p.11. quotes Egyptian architect Dr Hassan Fathy ‘we have abandoned human scale and ‘human reference’. We need to reintroduce human scale, human reference and musicality in architecture.’

p.13 approves of ‘village-like quality’ of Newcastle Theatre village scheme

p.15
says French ‘have been clever – and shown great taste’ in I.M. Pei’s pyramid by the Louvre. ‘while I am not sure that I would myself have placed such an edifice on that particular spot, it has been designed with great care in order to harmonise as far as possible with the Louvre itself.’
Likes courts of justice in Truro ‘happily enhance the skyline.’
‘we all need beauty. We can’t live without it – as we’ve all discovered to our communcal cost.’

p.17
says character of a country ‘which is so evident in the local architectural styles of the buildings you see in each country, is part of an extraordinarily ricj tradition which we’ve inherited from our forebears.’

p.21
‘all over britain cities were devastated by planners, politicians and architects who sought to build ‘cities of towers’.

p.23
housing association in skipton. ‘dseigned with respect for the place’s past, using local stone, and built in the traditional style. And the residents seem to like it.’
Then complains about skipton building society ‘out of scale monster’ trying ot dominate the town (more respect for scale9 and says shops on high street could be anywhere.’chain stores with their ugly shop-front designs do corrode local identity.’ Prefers craven court, roofed ove old street to look like arcade

p.41
‘gaunt and unlovely towerblocks which rose like great tomstnes from pointless and windswept open spaces.’

p.46
Mondial House ‘this excrescence.’ ‘Do humans work in there?’
Finds it ‘incomprehensible’ that no thoguhtgiven to buildings that ‘harmonise with, rather than scream at’ St Paul’s.

p.49
‘the poor old tower of London itself lies somewhere here, remorselessly buried by the crude mass of the Tower Hotel and overshadowed by the slovenly towers of commerce.’

p.59
‘the soul fo the city has been conquered by the hovering hordes of concrete giants.’
1960s ‘rising rot’

To help architects who might wish to apply the Prince's architectural ideas, His Royal Highness has summarized the main points into Ten Principles:
1. The Place
2. Hierarchy
3. Scale
4. Harmony
5. Enclosure
6. Materials
7. Decoration
8. Art
9. Signs & Lights
10. Community


p.78
‘we must respect the land… new buildings can be intrusive or they can be designed and sited so that they fit in.’

p.80
‘there are two kinds of hierarchy..one is the size of buildings in relation to their public importance. The other is the relative significance of the different elements which make up a building. Good architecture should be like good manners and follow a recognised code.

p.84 harmony
p.86 enclosure
materials
decoration
art
signs and lights
community

p.117
‘I have a feeling that there is a sincere desire now for buildings and tyheir settings and layout which will raise our spirits once again and give us joy by their scale and by their attention to detail. Such attention to detail and to human scale creates that elusive quality fo character

’

http://zeta.math.utsa.edu/~yxk833/Charles.html