Opening Doors: Learning in the Historic Environment

Section E · Changing approaches to learning

E 8 · Studying architecture

Of all the forms of human self-expression, architecture is the most integral to our lives. It engages with all our senses. All of us in the United Kingdom live in, or at least close to, buildings, and spend most of our lives in them. They shape our daily experience; they can make our lives pleasurable or, if badly designed, they can create dysfunctional communities. The architectural character of our cities, towns and villages, and of individual buildings, makes a powerful impact on those who inhabit and use them.

All that said, architecture can seem a daunting subject, partly because it has traditionally played little or no part in formal learning. Relatively few people feel confident in discussing architecture other than in terms of comic analogies. At the University of East Anglia, the word ‘architecture’ in course descriptions acted as a disincentive to potential Art History students, and has been removed. At historic sites, architectural interpretation is often of low quality: guides refer to dates and architecture without explaining their significance, and words like ‘Palladian’ or ‘Gothic’ are tossed around without explanation of what they mean and how they are physically expressed.

Nonetheless, the past two decades have seen a rising interest in architecture and its preservation. The emphasis is perhaps on contemporary architecture, paralleling the enthusiasm for contemporary art stimulated by the opening of Tate Modern. People respond strongly to new buildings of character. They can be a cause for pride, as is illustrated by Walsall Art Gallery, a notable building in a town otherwise not noted for fine architecture, or Baltic in Newcastle-on-Tyne, or the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth. The 2003 television programme Restoration attracted high audience figures with 2.7 million people watching the concluding programme. The awards ceremonies for the Stirling Prize for Architecture are regularly televised.

CABE

A crucial response to this new interest has been the creation by Government of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in 1999. CABE aims not only to raise standards of contemporary architecture but to interest the public at all levels in the built environment. The work of CABE is restricted to contemporary architecture and design, but the CABE Education Foundation takes an increasingly holistic approach, including historic buildings in its brief.

The Architecture Centre Network

A prime initiative by CABE has been the establishment of the Architecture Centre Network. These centres, some based within existing institutions including the Hackney Building Exploratory, aim to secure greater knowledge, access, participation and influence, at all levels, in the creation of an excellent built environment for all. There are currently twenty centres in England and Scotland and more are planned.

As yet relatively undeveloped, these centres offer, with proper funding, a very considerable resource. There is scope for these centres to work in collaboration with other existing resources, such as the few surviving urban studies centres and the numerous local history centres.

Open Days

A notable independent venture is the programme of Heritage Open Days. Begun in 1994, this project has developed under the auspices of the Civic Trust, which receives core funding from English Heritage. Through 800 organisers around the country, the Civic Trust arranges an annual autumn weekend, when 2,000 properties (it was 1,000 in 1994) are open to visitors, half of which are otherwise not open. Some of the organisers are large, such as British Waterways, others are small individual properties. All the sites are advised by the Civic Trust on methods of opening and are expected to offer some interpretation: a guided tour, a walk, a photographic display or a leaflet. The essential aim is to encourage people to look at their local environment and become pro-active in considering its future.

With additional funding and more staff, the impact of these Open Days could be enhanced through the appointment of an Education Officer and local Field Officers to work with local communities and groups such as the elderly and teenagers.

Aware that its core audience is aged over 45, the Civic Trust would like to attract more young people to look at older buildings and join local civic societies.

Similar Open Day programmes are organised by the Scottish Civic Trust, which runs a programme called Doors Open Days running over several weekends. The Civic Trust for Wales organises Heritage Open Days for Wales, on behalf of CADW, with around 150 properties taking part. In Northern Ireland, the Environmental and Heritage Service arranges Northern Ireland’s Open Days, with 190 properties taking part (stimulating 10,000 visits in 2003, an increase of 38% on the previous year). A further possibility is offered by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society which organises, year-long, a rich programme of architectural events, directed primarily at the young.

A metropolitan equivalent is run by London Open House, an architectural education charity. One weekend each September numerous buildings in London are open, providing a largescale architectural exhibition. London Open House arranges numerous activities for children involving poetry, music and architecture, and provides workshops for teachers to fill gaps in their architectural knowledge. London Open House is dependent on donations and sponsorship (as well as volunteer help), and devotes much of its energy to finding such support.

These various enterprises all benefit from private initiative and private funding. It is very encouraging to see their work achieving public recognition and some public funding. If they are to achieve their full potential, this funding – whether from Government or from grant-making bodies – needs to be assured. An enormous amount can be achieved for modest expenditure.

Publications

Architectural interpretation is supported by a number of important publications. These include Tracing the Past Chasing the Future by Sebastian Tombs, Secretary of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. This explores the opportunities that architecture –old and new – offers teachers. The Dublin Civic Trust has published a series of books on Dublin. These publications, which include Dublin: A Walking Guide and a series of studies on primary historic streets, trace their social, cultural and architectural history and make recommendations for their conservation and enhancement.

CABE has been extremely active in producing relevant publications. These include Engaging Places, a series of case studies about using the built environment in different educational contexts, produced with the Architecture Centre Network and Neighbourhood Journeys, a guide to creative approaches to using the local environment for primary school children, developed with Creative Partnerships in Bristol. Web-based resources for teachers include Living Futures, looking at the future of housing; Creative Spaces, about the use of design quality indicators with pupils, and Making Better Places, in which urban design issues are applied to a site in Oxford.

Planning

Aside from the pleasure and understanding it gives, the study of architecture has important implications for the planning process. While local planning officers and English Heritage inspectors tend to be heavily stretched, the role of ordinary people in preserving their heritage is of crucial importance, particularly where there is no experienced amenity society. Many people do not feel involved in planning issues, partly because they do not feel they have sufficient expertise. This is something that organisations like the Fulham and Hammersmith Urban Studies Centre and Hackney Building Exploratory are well qualified to help people of all ages to achieve. Both these organisations stress the place of individual buildings within their urban context, in an holistic approach which stresses the place of architecture within our daily lives.

The Fulham and Hammersmith Urban Studies Centre

The Centre is funded partly by the Council and partly by fees. It places architecture at the centre of its agenda for helping people to understand the borough they inhabit. For children, the walk they are taken on looks not only at the urban fabric but at the architectural character of the buildings they pass. The Centre involves young people in the process of understanding the planning process by bringing them together with council officers (and even councillors) to hear about the factors that shape planning decisions. This process gives them confidence and a sense of ownership in their physical environment. One strength is that the Centre is sited immediately above the Local Studies Library, and the two resources collaborate in what they offer the public.

Learning about architecture within museums

In very recent years, a small number of museums have addressed architecture as a major theme, notably Sir John Soane’s Museum and Dulwich Picture Gallery. The results are extremely positive – it is clear that the subject holds enormous potential for exciting and involving both young and older audiences. As yet, however, these are rare initiatives though there are signs that such approaches are becoming more general: for example the Greenwich Foundation is working on a radical new education programme involving both architecture and urbanism.

An important new initiative will result from the partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Institute of British Architects, which will bring together two world class collections of architectural drawings and other material in a new Architecture Gallery (opening at the Museum in November 2004), the first permanent architecture exhibition in the UK. An active programme will provide events for schools and Education students, courses for adults and a series of critical debates and conversations presenting architects and their work in everyday and current contexts.

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