Customer Reviews

A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture

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So much has happened in the years since this title came out that it's hard to remember what a storm The Prince of Wales' venture into architectural criticism caused. He seems to have made his peace with the profession now, but this is still an interesting and useful book that tells us as much, or more, about the author than it does about the art and science of building.

The Prince's opinions on architecture seem congruent with, for example, his more recent outspoken opposition to genetically modified food. As I've heard him described elsewhere, HRH seems to be a man not entirely comfortable with the twentieth (and now twenty-first) century. And a good thing, too: lots of discomforting things have come out of that century. While unpleasant architecture may not rank high on the scale of the twentieth century's crimes, one is reminded of Winston Churchill's saying that 'We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.'

The Prince's central point is that modern architecture has lost sight of its surroundings. Rather than creating structures that harmonize with their location, using local materials and respecting the history of the site, many modern buildings seem determined to draw attention to themselves -- or rather, to their architects. Like any art, architecture is a matter of taste. But while you can hide a bad statue or painting, an ugly building is a blot on the landscape that's darn hard to avoid. My tastes must be very similar to HRH's, because when he described a certain library building, for example, as looking like a place where books are burned rather than preserved, I nearly stood and cheered.

It's hard to say whether the Prince's activism had, in the long run, any impact on British architecture or the architectural profession. But it was noble (not to say 'royal') of him to use his position to present a viewpoint that seems all too rare these days.

This book is about an honest account of a royal layman about the visual quality of his country. I'm an architect and I appreciate what he is trying to say even if I don't agree with all the points he is making. Architects today are too much restricted to their out "sub-culture", we need a more "holistic" approach to what we do. I wish this "vision" would have been more "ambitious" and "deep" because it deserves to be so! In time the most of the points of this "vision" will prove right, I'm sure!

I found this book on the $5 table in a clearance book store many many years ago and as I'm a fan of good architecture and civic planning, I figured I'd go for it. I'm glad I did -- Prince Charles was quite brave to go on the offensive against the ills of post-modernist architecture (and post-modern thinking, for that matter), and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it.

As I understand it, Charles was (royally) thrashed when this book was published -- the architectural elite and general intelligentsia blasted him to bits for what they felt was an out-of-touch and backwards love-letter to an architectural age gone by by a member of the Ivory Tower Club. No doubt they felt that as a non-architect, Charles has no right to criticize architecture; and as his criticisms were so pointed, sarcastic, and instantly read by millions due to his fame, the attack was very personal and embarrassing for all concerned.

Now does Charles come across and being 100% in-touch? Not really. What person growing up with his wealth and privilege can be? But still, he has eyes and knows what is pleasant to look at and experience. I think that Charles was simply saying what untold millions of non-architects and common folks have been saying for decades -- "These new buildings are awful", "Why did they tear down that nice building to make . . . this . . this . . . THING?" Charles cites several examples and they are vivid, undeniable proof that Le Corbusier was a menace, not a genuis.

What I remember most about this book after all these years is that I finished it and sat back and thought, "You know what? He's RIGHT!" It all makes wonderful sense -- from building to a human scale to using natural, local materials to re-embracing the "rules" that served architects and planners well for hundreds if not thousands of years. These ideas have been echoed over and over again in the ensuing years as we come to grips with the failures of post-modern architecture and social/civic planning.

Charles stood up and went against the rushing tide of post-modernism with this book, and I thank him for it. His critics are slowly being replaced by followers as we explore sustainable buildings, creating community, and a better way of life for all. Along with Thomas Hylton's "Save Our Land, Save Our Towns", I'd say this should be standard reading for planners and architects who are more interested in creating a world that people want to live in -- rather than what feeds their ego.

Well intentioned, but hopelessly uninformed utopian view of what the environment should be like. Irrelevant to our culture and society, Charles opinions about architecture perfectly mirror those of less desireable political leaders.

Prince Chuck here...

All I have to do is remain silent for the rest of my life for the British to cut me some slack, but I've got a head full of half-baked ideas and lack the good sense to impede their flow from my mouth. Privilege does things to you... As you know, my life hasn't a prayer of being anything but a footnote in the history of Britain, and my whole existence is an anachronism. Like Hitler I'm an amateur painter and architecture buff, so I've decided to blame all my problems on modern architecture.
I've devised some rules that I'd like you all to follow:

Rule #1: Things should be pritty.
Rule #2: Let's go back to that time that was comforting to me.
Rule #3: Architects should ignore all developments that have occurred since the thirties... I mean the 1730's of course.
There are 7 more rules but I have a short attention span and a need to put my foot in my mouth on some other topics. I have to go shame the poor for being born poor. Visit me at Poundbottom, whoops, I mean Poundbury... my idyllic throwback to a happier time. Leon Krier agrees with me. Where is the royal flunky?

Cheers!