The modern architectural quality of our towns and cities has been under mounting pressure since Margaret Thatcher stripped away in-house architectural and urban planning expertise from most local authorities. Thirty years on, the way buildings and places are conceived and designed seems to be collapsing into world-class mediocrity at precisely the time the Government pursues soundbite initiatives such as the World Class Places scheme, which will allegedly make our communities "high quality, safe and more sustainable places to live in".

The very word "architect", says the Riba's Building Futures think-tank report, "is perceived to hold practices back in terms of the type of work they are able to do. Some practices have already created offshoot companies with a separate identity and different branding to their main practice, avoiding use of the title 'architect' in order to reach more diverse markets and branch into areas such as lighting design, product design, industrial design, interior design, installation design, branding and community consultation".

cont'd....
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/the-death-of-architecture-2261212.html