Budding Brits. (Comment).

I this issue devoted to recent work by an emerging generation of British architects we examine the wider condition that s ape and affect the practice of architecture in the UK and consider the future prospects for the latest fledgling designers.

Nearly 13 year ago, in May 1989, the AR devoted an issue to architecture in England. Subtitled Hope After Horror it examined the wider political, economic and social condition that governed the production of buildings (Horror) and focused on an emerging group of younger architects (Hope) that were beginning to make their mark on the British scene. All had served apprenticeships in the ateliers of Foster, Rogers, and Hopkins and represented what might be described as the second stream High-Tech generation. In its way, the issue was prescient -- architects such as Chris Wilkinson, David Marks and Julia Barfield, Ian Ritchie, Future Systems, Lifschutz Davidson and John McAslan went on to make the often problematic transition from working on a small scale (both architecturally and Professionally), to developing bodies of work that consolidated their respective approaches and philosophies.

In the late '80s, architecture in Britain was in fairly parlous state, dominated by a culture of greed and rapaciousness. The neglect of the public realm was presided over and encouraged by an ossifying Conservative administration, while the Prince of Wales made gnomic pronouncements on the sidelines. Assaulted by American patterns of development and management practices, architecture seemed in danger of becoming little more than a project management backwater and reduce to the status of a marginalized freemasonry. Thirteen years on, in a changing political climate, as a new generation of British architects begins to emerge, it seems an appropriate moment to take stock and consider their prospects.

The state of architecture

Now in its second term, Britain's New Labour government inherited a relatively stable economy (despite the recession of the early 1990s), but set against this is a depressing litany of imploding public services, compounded by a sense of anomic and growing public indifference to politics (the 2001 election was characterized by the lowest turnout in 80 years). The warm glow that accompanied Labour's initial accession has understandably worn off, and early nebulous promises to improve the standard of public architecture as part of a wider ideological commitment to the nation's creative industries' have failed to make much difference to how most people experience the built environment, through housing, hospitals, schools, and transport buildings. Prospects for a cohesive national strategy of urban design and planning through the much trumpeted Urban Taskforce have been quietly sidelined and the dread hand of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hovers balefully over the procurement process for public buildings. I n contrast to the powerful mayors who have led the renaissance of so many European cities, local political leadership in Britain has reached a historical nadir (although an emasculated Ken Livingstone has spiritedly donned the mantle of London mayor). The irresistible urge to do public things on the cheap still permeates most aspects of British life.

Paradoxically, within this national climate of inertia and bean counting, architecture actually has a higher profile, discussed and disseminated more widely beyond conventional specialist media (though perhaps not to the intense and involving extent of say, the Netherlands). Beyond the lure of lifestyle this has a moderately serious consequence as it heightens awareness, raises the level of debate and even encourages patronage. (The role of the enlightened patron is often overlooked, but without good clients there would be no good buildings.) The recent establishment of CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) as a heavyweight taste watchdog to succeed the Royal Fine Art Commission has also served to bring public discussions concerning the quality of design into sharper focus. Other bodies such as the Architecture Foundation have striven to encourage young talent through exhibitions and publications -- the Foundation's directory of New Architects, (*) now in its second edition, provides a lively snapshot of current activity, as well as being a primer for potential clients. The revival of parts of inner cities in London, Manchester and Liverpool has created a demand for urban homes, bars and shops, and these small projects often constitute the crucial first step for younger designers.

Transforming the landscape

Another surprising and largely positive development has been the ubiquitous National Lottery and its provision of substantial funds for new building. Launched at the end of 1994, the Lottery was seen by Conservative government mandarins as an elementary means of channelling resources to areas of traditional underfunding, such as the arts and sport. Lottery generated finance is slowly transforming the British cultural landscape, and it might be reasonably hoped that a new generation of architects is now getting the chance to design major projects. In this regard, opportunities for younger practices have, historically, been limited. Unlike France or Germany, Britain has no established formal competition system, so it can be difficult for less well-known practices to break through.

This issue surveys recent work by British architects under the age of 45. (It might seem like an optimistically elastic definition of young, but it still takes time to build.) Unlike the projects shown 13 years ago, a greater plurality of approach can he distinguished, as might be expected from a generation distanced from the once prevailing dogma of High-Tech. That is not to say that tectonic preoccupations have diminished, but there is less apparent obsession with yachting technologies and highly crafted planar glazing details. The potential of materials is still explored and celebrated but in a more eclectic way, in projects such as Cottrell Vermeulen's after school club made from cardboard (p56) and Thomas Heatherwick's urban square swathed in custom-designed blue glass tiles (p77). Issues of sustainability are also a more pressing concern of this generation, but unlike Germany and Scandinavia, Britain still lacks a structured political and social framework for the pursuit of such ideals, so that ecologic al concerns are rarely a prime generator of architectural form; instead they are present in more subtle ways. Many of the projects shown here deal with existing buildings (in itself a more sustainable proposition than new build) and remodellings such as Allford Hall Monaghan Morris's transformation of a former motor-way maintenance depot into offices for a fashion company (p72) and Alison Brooks' additions to a house in Hampstead (p56) respond to the nuances of contemporary life, but also sensitively reconnect with the past. Our selection is not intended to be exhaustive, nor for those who relish such things, deliberately provocative. Rather it attempts to give some sense of wider context and change, and how these affect the current practice of architecture. We see much cause for hope in the following pages but only time will tell if our budding Brits have the skill ,good fortune and single-mindedness to stay a difficult course. THE EDITORS

(*.) New Architects 2 - A guide in Britain's best young architectural practices, Merrell, London, 2001