| Dualchas at Six Cities Design Festival |
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As part of the Six Cities Design Festival, Scotland’s biggest design festival, Dualchas architects Neil and Alasdair Stephen gave a presentation on their work to a packed audience at Inshes Church in Inverness in May. In a joint ‘Designer Double Bill’ presentation with internationally renowned designer Wayne Hemingway, Neil Stephen made the case for design to be part of a cultural renaissance of the Highlands, saying, “Music, language and art is rightfully seen as central to Highland culture and identity, but it is architecture that future generations will judge our culture on. We as architects cannot let our generation's legacy be the kit house; we have to aspire to something better and we hope that our work will be seen as part of a broader cultural movement.” Pointing out the irony of the venue for the talk, Alasdair pointed out, “I hope the organisers were making a point by having us lecture in a church in the middle of an American-style retail park. This demonstrates the worst of Inverness. It reminds me of the depressing malls I saw in America and it is a terrible reflection on Inverness that the so called capital of the Highlands has managed to produce something which has beaten America when it comes to soullessness and banality.” Wayne Hemingway, who has become a champion of urban design after selling his world-famous ‘Red or Dead’ fashion label to set up a company specialising in affordable and social design, agreed with Neil and Alasdair. In a withering attack he said it was a disgrace that no planners had bothered to turn up for the lecture and showed a series of photographs of Inverness to illustrate the appalling developments that have been built in the city over the last few years. Hemingway also attacked architects in general, saying that most never bother to find out if their customers are satisfied with their products, and advocating a lot more market research within the profession. Click on the 'open article/item' link below to view the dedicated website This article/item is in Web link format . Clicking on the link below will open a new window.
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