The special and the ordinary

摘要

Architecture has two functions, John Ruskin wrote in his Stones of Venice: to provide shelter on the one hand, to glorify on the other. It's this second glorifying task that our new libraries, institutes, halls and hospitals have taken up with gusto. With the aid of rare materials and complex technologies, these buildings help to flatter their often neglected environments. Their appearance speaks to us of modernity and intelligence, of elegance and luxury. They help us to feel proud of where we live. And yet no amount of one-off high status buildings can hide the great, often unmentioned problem at the heart of our architectural profession: that we cannot build a good street. Whatever the beauty of our modern signature buildings, no contemporary British architect has yet been able to build a decent street that could compare with the simple pleasures of London's Doughty Street or Paris's Rue du Cherche-Midi, We excel at one-offs, but we cannot make the fabric against which our icons should stand.