3 10 310 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/55c71b1dd9b2cf8279144a4c1973a0cf.pdf a46174680044505fcd15c4d9bc5e1139 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brian Anson/ARC pre and post Harrogate Subject The topic of the resource Various documents describing ARC ideas and activities See below Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-1976 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Report Subject The topic of the resource ARC Report Argument for change (6pp). 2 copies Description An account of the resource ARCHITECTS, STUDENTS, TECHNICIANS & C MIiTwp oa GOs THE ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY 11, PERCY STREET, LONDON W TEL. 011.636.0974 XT 27 ARC calls on all those architects and others involved in the built environment who believe that we should cease working only for the rich and powerful minority or the bureaucratic cietatorships of central and 15¢e21 government and offer our skills and services to the local communities which have little chance to work directly with architects ana architecture. ARC maintains that the profession 2s.it now stands is a luxury profession and that because of this the architect is caught in the narrow trap of economic viability and profit, ARC further maintains that the RLBA Qrspogates this narrow luxury characteristic and ig thus directly responsible for the malaise of architecture ant the state of our cities, ARC believes that their are thousands of architects who would welcome a new franework through which they could work directly for the local communities which would then become the renal clients with alk the power ana privilege of traditional clients, ARC believes that the problems of architecture are all around us, but that people who suffer from them cannot afford architects to solve then; neither can architects afford to tackle them. It is this trap we wish to break, ARC is well aware that to achieve a new framework for architecture there will have to be radical changes in our present political and econonic system. Nevertheless first architects and students must denonstrate that they are prepared to fight for a new system in their Own art. ARC specifically believes that the students in the schools of architecture ery out for a new educational systen to replace the existing one where they are trained as fodécr for the profit orientated professional systen existing now. ARC calls on all these people to join together to forn a new international movement ond through solidarity help bring about the architectural revolution, The Draft Manifesto, REMEMBER UNITY IS STRENGTH. ARCHITECTS UNITE FOR THE REVOLUTION. REJECT THE RIBA, VICTORY TO THE ARG. Sopa Seg Pn thghtasTe | PURTHER COPIES oF THE LAMPHLET(15p each) and | |POSTERS (20p each) ARE AVAILABLE FROM:— ,ARC, 1 PERCY STREET, LONDON W.1. SS What is ARC. It is a movement of architects, students and others, which believes that creative architecture should be available to all people in society, regardless of their economic circumstances. It is a movement committed to revolutionary changes within the architectural establishment and spec— ifically to the replacement of the RIBA by a new architectural systen. Why is ARC needed. The term 'crisis in architecture’ is common today and not only because of Malcolm MacEwans book; the press is constantly filled with statements of alarm, disgust and desperation over the state of architecture and the dilema in which architects find themselves. We in the movement would refer everyone to MacEwans book which soundly castigates the RIBA, for in general terms we agree with his analysis, BUT WE DO NOT AGREE WITH HIS SOLUTIONS OR CONCLUSIONS. His radical reformist policy, which accepts the continuance of the RIBA, is doomed to failure, in the context of our architectural system, because, as Afidre Gorz says!....reformism rejects those objectives and demands, however deep the need for them, which are incompatible with the preservation of the systen..". Architecture should be done in the service of society. Social ethics and justice should be pur criteria, We all know this is not so and that the architectural profession has far too frequently been motivated by anti-social values. The profession is full of the whining and wheedling of the RIBA at the moment over the disasterous slump in the professions work load. Delegations to the government, lobbying of MP's anc Pooleys recent plea to all architects to donate £10 to the RIBA; these are all signs of a panic rush to protect the status quo. The reasons for Pooleys begging are, in his own words,"....that a strong RIBA is neccessary to the survival of practices everywhere and the achievement of a stable building programme. Apart from the fact that this is not even true (greedy large practices are at least partially responsible for the dilema of the small enterprise), there is not a word about the quality of the environment, nor about the dramatie social changes trying to break through igi our society, and in which architecture must play a part if it is to’have any credibility at all. The common ownership of workplaces, the desire for local control, the semi slavery of the technicians in the profession; there is no evidence that the RIBA is stimulated by such ideals. The RIBA's yearning for a stable buildigg programme is a wistful reference to the boom years of the late sixties and early seventies, Those boon years tell the whole story and they are the prime reason why ARC maintains that only revolution will do. This graph showing the rise and fall of commissions in the world of architecture, shows clearer than any words, just where the profession and the RIBA have stood in relation to our society in recent years. This coincides exactly with the Office Boom. So we know who the friends of the RIBA were, and why the profession is bemoaning the rec:. a .. The years of 1969 to 1975 will be remembered for a long time to come. They are our generations architectural heritage. T 200 VALUE OF COMMISSIONS/LAST DECADE. aMILLION 64 ‘65 ‘68 *"7071727374 41200 4000 +1. 800 600 % 400 = & RLenene) In this period the price of building and of land,rocketed;the term ®the - unacceptable face of capitalism’ was coined; the speculator and the developer became the villains in our society and corruption in the saintly architectural profession began to break through the thin veneer of ‘creative professionalism! that the RIBA had fostered for so long.In the words of many comnentators,"it was only the tip of the iceberg". Yet during that time leading members of the profession (some now on the RIBA Council) were saying such things as; iT+ is ridiculous not to develop the site to its fullest potential.... there is no point in underdeveloping on valuable land.." Pritzroy 2tobinson. "The most successful architects are those who understand property values and the mechanics of property development". iYes we did work for the spivs(developers) and when we did we felt terrible hypocites,.... but what could we do". Anonymous architect Building Design 4/75. Of course the RIiBa did not officially endorse such views, but neither did it, during these years of physical and social rape, once cry out in protest. For those in the movement, these past years have been the final straw. Like many others we have waited to sce the profession::face up to it's social responsibility and we were willing to accept even gradual reform as long as wecould see a sign of social spirit. We now see that we could wait forever. In our view, the greatest and lest chance for the RIA came in the property boom. This is when the profession could have been the vanguard in environmental ethics and morality. Instead the RIBA showed its true character and sided with the criminals who exploited the inflation in land and construction costs. The RIBA is part of the free market system and that is why the institute is in such a turmoil now as that system is under such an attack. We all know whit that system has done to our physical and social environment. Since 1971 three times as much capital has gone into property develop- ment as into our industrial production. The RIBA cannot imagine itself outside this system, and nor has it the traditions to do so. It has, however, always had a mandate to do so, as it's charter specifically demands that it'advance civil architecture'. This can only br inter- preted as serving society, which it has never done though it takes £100,000 a year from the taxpayer in tax and rate reliefs for this purpose. Where other professions have made moves forward in terms of social service,(some tentative like Legal Aid Centres; some which embrace the whole society, like the NHS) whilst the RIB: has only become more associated with the rich and powerful. So the RIBA is not fit to govern the world of architecture, nor is it capable of any reform of lasting value to socicty. 'The institute is dead! says MacEwan, but then he goes on to say 'The institute on the other hand is alive and well', THE INSTITUE IS NOT DEAD! 80j of arch- itects belong to it and it is the mouthpiecs of architecture in our society. Owen Luder. Louis Hellman(Ad cartoonist) was certainly right when he said of the ” RIBA "... the people at the top of this keeping things the way they are..." place have a vested interest in Architecture, said Hans Meyer in the 1930's'is +imes been wielded by the ruling class in his book 'Wasteland' says 'Bhe history of those whe had the power to build. Rembrandt's accomplished in poverty and rejection. governments, churchmen, merchants and speculative would not exist....because they would not Architects have always allicd themselves No-one can deny this. But we can change a weapon that can be used for the good the cause of those who live in degrading a weapon that has as all of human society’. Stephen Kurtz of architecture is the history greatest work was But without kings, noblemen and builders, architecture otherwise have functioned. with the rich and powerful’. this, and turn architecture into of society and particularly in environments. WHY THE TIME IS RIGHT. The many critics of the RIBA call for reform,. We eall for REVOLUTION and say DO AWAY WITH THE RIBA; It is an enemy of enciety, and the dictator of the lives of the poor and underprivileged. It is in the path of progress and must be swept away, it has abused the trust of society and must now go,to allow a humane and just design profession to flourish. The ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL sees itself in the tradition of past revolutionary movements in architecture; the Constructivists, ARSE, Atelier Populaire. These movements did not succeed because the time was not right, but they planted fertile seeds. WE BELIEVE THAT THE TIME IS RIGHT and we in ARC want to play our full part in the creation of the new mass movement in architecture. But this can only come about with your aid. There are over twenty thousand registered architects in this country. Per head of population this is more than any country in Burope. Over 80% of these registered architects are members of the RIBA. 807% of all architects are salaried;IE.they work for other architects. This alone should be unacceptable to the society that pays for their training. It is the taxpayers money that provides the grants to train architects to deal with the environmental prepblems of society. Architects do not repay this debt in any way at present,they are unaccountable and irresponsible to that society. Trained people are foreed to work in and are exploited by a bosses orgamisation;the RIBA, A large proportion of the archit—- ectural work is handled by a small proportion of the membership who have built up large practices. The RIBA has always been run by such people and thus the status quo is maintained. The tendency has been to become big and powerful with the emphasis on streamlining and management techniques. The RIBA's ethic, if it can be said to have one, is that of narrow professionalism; a service to the client. These days the client cannot be identified with the society and frequently not even with the user. All this is in direct contrast to the moves going on in our society; the themes of local autonomy and preservation, the revival of craftsmanship and e more human approach to developing the environment. Over half our urban environment is economically impoverished and environmentally deprived.The communities within these areas have helped through taxation,to train the profession. This profession returns none of this aid and where it does not ignore these areas (commissions do not come from the poor areas)it helps in the rape of them through development or subtle gentrification. The RIBiA upholds a 19th century elitist position and deliderately keeps lay people out of its club. This is particularly true as regards the yawning gulf between the profession and the working classes. The RIBA has a code that seeks to cushion its members from adverse eritisism;it is more important to the RIBA that members should be loyal to each other and to the institute, than to the society that it is supposed to serve. It refuses openly to condemn aparthied and therefore has no regard for civil justice. If it cannot have such principles fron 4000 miles how can we expect justice from it on the home front. It has never developed even such esoteric concepts as the competmtion systen, because the ruling elite wish to keep the rewards for themselves. But the RIBA and its ruling establishment, has worked itself into a trap from which it cannot escape. It's greed, especially over the last decade, and its narrow objectives have put it in such bad repute, that i it is fighting a last ditch battle to try +o build an acceptable image. It will not succeed. The 3000 unattached architects have already co clained in a recent survey that the RIBA has done nothing for architec— ture. Members of Parliament attack it for its social sins. The public and especially those in the poorer areas, now See along with the local bureaucrats and speculators who have ruined their lives, environments and communities, the subtle villian of the piece is the RIBA. « The people living ig. these communities are particularly incensed because the professiom passed itself off as being socially conscious. * But the tables are turning because of the massive number of redund- ant architects who will soon condemn the RIB for not building a firm social working base for architecture. Over a thousand architects will be out of work by Christmas and more than 60% of graduates will not. find employment this sumuier. These unenployed architects can blame, with some justification, world inflation and recession for their plight, but the main problem is the Brcedy inflexible char-cter of the profession. And as the redundancies occur who will be hit first? Not the powerful principles who run the big practices and back up the elitism of the RIBA, It will be the salaricd architects and technicians, the people who do the real work in architects offices. 411 those soon to be redundant should know that there has never been a lack of work. A large part of our environment is a slum and getting worse. But the RIBA has never taken the trouble to-ferge the professicn into.an organiser capable of tackling these problems. The first prerequisite of such capability is thw desire to do sonething about it; this presupposes a social conscience,,. Sonething the RIBA has never had. For Teasons such as greed and aloof-— ness the RIBA is incapable of dirtying itself at the level of the problen. The RIBA has no meaning fbr our siciety; a society that requires connit-— ment to a cause. It has no meaning for architecture students iciomelat continues to control their destiny. It has meaning to many purely as an enticement to letters after ones name, as a path to commissions or jobs. Soon there will be no jobs left. THE PRESENT SITUATION IN aRc. : ? The movement began sone eighteen months ago, when two architects, one English and one dugoslavian, decided that an international movenent was needed to take the profession out of its elittst and capitalistic franewrk and make it responsible to society. There was particular need to deliberately align the profession with the poorer areas of our environment were connection with architecture is non-existant. eSLL__e a_ But useless as it is the RIBA will not relinquish. power voluntarily. The status quo will not easily abdicate in the face of reason said Harold Laski. He was right. A strong architectural revolutionary movenent must keep attacking the RIBA, until the power is rested from them an@ a new order established. Prior t5 this, hope only “iny with the few. architects and students deeply commited to an architecture for all people Now many more will comnait themselves, because they are left with no other option. The new systen of architecture will need to be based on & mass movement just as the RIBA is, otherwise there can be no progressive and creat— ive attack on the environmental problems of our society. That is why the ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNGTT, does not pretend to’ be the new movenent, nor indeed itts embryo. ARC has constantly seen itself as 2 stall commited hovement totally opposed to the present setup. It wpuld also oppose the new movenent should it show tendencies +o beconing a bureaucracy intent -oh precerving - itself’ to the deteriment of society. ARC sees itself as helping to bring the new movenmnt abou and ciets nessessary acting as its vanguard. To this end it is organising a national convention in the Autumn ,of all erchitects, technicians, students and others who wish to see revolutionary changes within the profession. Seperate literature will be published shortly concerning this convent- ion. As regards ARC itself there is still much to be done to build the group into an effective architectural guerilla force, What follows is a brief history of the trovenent so far and ways in which you maybe able to help if you feel yourself committed. For as Malcolm X once said "...if you're not part of the solution your part of the problen". - Sorts ane wokeEERE) instincts of the founders was that there already , isted many hundreds, if noy thousands, of architects who are a part of th a novel ent in spirit; what was needed was to forge them into a ; Llective and formidable force for revolutionary change in the profe- ion. Commonsense demanded that national move nents be constructed first, i this penDnlet refers only to the English group. However it is known at there are embryonic cells in eight other countries so far; USA, rentina, Italy, Jugoslavia, France, Norway, Ireland and Scotland. In > course, perhaps within two years, the first ARC INTERNATIONAL will sur. 2 main core of the English movement is in London, and contains, in lition to architects and students, eae eee and lawyers. All the core ibers have worked extenisively in conmunity action and believe that, lid though that method ae it will not achieve total freedom in the fironnental field on its own. The profession themselves neve to be 7olusionised to aid community action. During the ee year the movement 3 been building strength based on commitment (for exareple one or two ve left because they could not live up to the idea which denanés tting the cause of the revolution before conventional success in arch—- scture. Others have joined after long and serious thought.) 2 core members have lectured at colleges in England, Ireland and Scot-— id, In addition a small group recently travelled throughout jimerica aking at colleges in Boston, New York, Chaoe San Frensisceo, Los and many other cities. One of the founder members recently essed the conference of the ¥oung Liberals. (We do not align with this ty but we will proclaim ARC anywhere) . sause eventually we will need parliamentary backing, the niovement is the process of naking contact with appropriate IP's Our contazvts th the unions are also developing and at the right t e we expect full oport fron*then, > moverient is drafting ideas for a new system of educathon; for the new 1ancial structure. (how architects would be paid under the new soc-— lly orientated system) and for the other ideas. These will be put to > Autumn convention as ARC's contribution to the mass movement. July the main core of the English movement(in LOndon) will have split, produce at least three new cells om units, in the Provinces; on the st coast, in the North West and in Scotland. Because these cells will constructed by totally committed ARC members we will be certsin of ar healthy cells by summer. iT CAN YOU DO. thin in,your practice, college or locality you can try to build up a it that would strive for the establishment of a new system of architectu re, based on the draft manifesto. It is better to have four people 9 can trust each other than a loose unit of ten. Remember unity is rength, and you will not te alone. Contact the main movement to let us ow you are attempting to build a cell then keep us in contact and let know your views. have a fairly extensive network of people throughout Britain and we ybe able to put you in touch with others in your locality. Your help 11 be needec in setting up the Autumn convention and to th@s end the C main group will be calling a meeting of all the British members rly in Summer. nally always remember that the reason that the status quo is preserved because peopel think they are alone. The minute two people get sether and say ew can do something, then a movement is born. This is wha at we said and a movement has been born and we shall win, because the me is right. chitects unite for revolution TORY TO THE ARC. cS Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource undated https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/968a269d300a98fd397e25e011dc0c55.pdf 1f46d1bcfe89abd69d12552c9c98706d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Harrogate Founding Congress Subject The topic of the resource The Harrogate Congress was the founding of NAM. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 21-23 November 1975 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A New Architecture Movement Subject The topic of the resource 2 sided report arguing for a New Architecture Movement Conference Description An account of the resource s A NEW ARCHITSCTURE MOVEMENT The Architects Revolutionary Counzil understands the need for a new architecture movement, and is glaé to instigate it. ARC has no intention / of becoming a mass movement itsel?. The new architecture movement wii be seriously concerned with the Social responsibility of architecss and the framework in which architecture is practiced. ARC hoses to bring a moral and social consience to the architectural prozession. It hopes to end architecture as an elitist profession and direcsly relate architects to those who them the most, our true allies, th: people. .3. So that people may control their environment. At the moment people have insufficient control of their environment in terms of planning and the use of resources. The Green Paper on Neighbourhood Councils now passing through Parliment gives only limeted participation to the people and by its lack of power reduces these Councils to purely advisory bodies easily over ruled. .Action must be taken with the goverment to give real power to the Neighbourhood Councils, 4, The environmental professions Should be subject to the democratic control of the public. In 1938 the Architects Registration Act came into being, due to the pressure from the RIBA to create a legal closed shop for the profession, while the Governments responsability for the public was sufficed by protecting them from sham architects. In todays society of worker control, user democracy and public accountability the Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom is obviously unacceptable, ARCUK must be reconstituted by Parliment to ensure that the public has adegate control of the architectural profession, Below are just some of the reasons for forming a new architecture movement:-= 1. To create a situation where arczitects work for the real clients the users. This can only be achieved if the users become the clients with the control of the capital fo> projects. Decentralisation of power and increased democracy are essens:al concepts of this direction and architects should play an active vole in obtaining them. But as individuals architects have no power, because they are controlled by the providers of the resources fo> projects. When architects combine they have only limited power whica is quickly shattered by the non- essentialality of their position in society. Thus architects have to gain public support for socialisirg their task, to be able to exert any worthwhile pressure. With this in nind a new movement could aim at putting architects talents at the aisposal of the public and because this idea is truly in the interests of the public it is capable of mobilising public support. 2. To make arthitectural services ay2ilable to all sectours of society. At present the architectural profession works for just two areas of society, firstly the rich minority and the powers of industry commerce and finance: secondly for local or national goverernment bureaucracies distant from the public they vainly try to serve. The majority of the population has hever had access to the aechitectural profession and so have been restricted in improving the quality of their environment. The self help attitude can only help a few people, while an architectural service could help those without ¢he time or resources of their own. The national health service was not created by doctors or patients on their own, but only came about when enough pressure was brought on the goverment to create it, Similarily neither architects ror the public on their own can create an architectural service that with all the ills of our present environment, movement will have to be responsable for taking action government, with the SS ee effectively deals A row architecture ye reeve 5. Architectural education should be controlled by a body equally representative of the public, the profession, the teachers and the students. At present architectural education is controlled by the RIBA, a private club, through its Board of Education, which has powers of recognition delegated from the RIBA controlled ARCUK, Government funding of architectural schools and students is dependant on this recognition, Thus the public pays for an architectural education over which it has no control, to produce architects over which it has no control, to create bad environments it can do nothing about. A reconstituted ARCUK could operate a new democratic Board of Architectural Education, 6. So that the RIBA's pretence at speaking as the "voice of architecture". ends. The RIBA is effectively controlled by a small group - of principal architects, and its "voice" is stongly in line with their own minority interests. Most of the group belong to the Association of Consultant Architects, a private practice organisation, Evidence for this the RIBA's determination to save the fixed fee scale now under attack by the Monopolies Commission. Their lack of interest in the dangers exposed by the Summerland Fire and the use of High-alumina eé@ment. Their reluctance to expose incompetant and corrupt architects, A new architecture movement must stand for all that is socially responsible in architecture, 7. The RIBA is not a progressive body. Many people have tried to create change within the architectural profession through the RIBA, most have totally failed. The RIBA is glad to absorb progressive ideas and people, in an attempt to portray an outward looking front, but in reality to smother people and their ideas in tedious committees and lengthy red tape. The result being to tire people out and make their ideas so impotent as to be harmless to the continuance of the RIBA's status quo. A new architecture movement must not be a stagnant tedious body, but vital, fleixable and ever responsive to the changing needs and ideals of progressive people. The first five points indicate the need for Goverment action, while the last two show the great inadequacies of the RIBA. Together they reveal some of the logic behind forming a new architecture movement. Once a new architecture movement has gained a wothwhile base in the architectural arena it can begin to gain the Support of the public in accomploshing its objectives. The first stage along this road will be to found a movement at a national conference of all interested parties. ARC hopes that its responsible role in this is understood, we are not trying to force anything upon anybody, we welcome critisism and constructive ideas, we abhor dogmatism. We would be grateful for as much help as possible-in this, and are asking for help, to get as Many people as possible to the conference, to make contributions, to help with the conference organisation e+.-. to make architecture socially responsible, CONFERENCE FORMING A NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT FRIDAY OCT. 31st 3pm. to SUNDAY NOV. 2nd. 5pm. MORECAMBE Bed and Breakfast £2.00 plus evening meal an extra £1.00 Conference fees £1.00 or what you can afford. Booking and information from:-— ARC 11 Percy Street, London w1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource undated https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/59fe7299ad1f94f55513a53ba33092c9.pdf 82afade476dd9ab8a61903b1b091eeb4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brian Anson/ARC pre and post Harrogate Subject The topic of the resource Various documents describing ARC ideas and activities See below Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-1976 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Start the New Architectural Movement Subject The topic of the resource 2 sided Flyer. Start the New Architectural Movement. Description An account of the resource ¢c£Ia Tn i nteoceebeona functionsoraotaticind.Stopsupportinga. 2°‘ Commence spiesmllge gave se cities, offices, colleges er ee les eae to uw 3 Fooegocanaycomittmtehenrttotsheeit and weee Souren Savi sonnen OtTnnoGtE screwing it for all itRiceeecen Come together and begin to organize a system of z design education which we can implement through Bay golgtecuni cep ste cesses tthe reeee universities, and polytechn to plac the present archaic Work ‘for auakmentien wes in a national Sonvention aueCCeCbeny teae tone eee eett en Ene ene ng i We see the establishment of these as paramount if we are going to have aworthwhile « neanen tes The present ,for the reasons stated,is incapable of the radical change ‘neccessary to ressurect architecture from its oe eeaeSao Councilisescalatingits activities to bring about the radical changes it envisages. We need committed people to make the architecturel revolution.Ifyourequirefurtherinformoraatssisotance oeetieoerganization,contact the following people at the ARC > ) 2843 JO OBNQe aN3 mo" *<tpucooS Donoeesaes,ewte%TaTSoSUT‘MoUSTTTa go} rx oe 9 46U U3 Gpauvacy pua zOz Supy1om ooumuso0o puu agouetoouoo azouy ie a03ouyow youn uoye o = |~- OB138qYPuaB,oBo tastrond per ge Mma mary SSHCHUAONTBT 0} guoT t x 4 83Gon ood mane | weanoge’sitecan soto | doony 30 L942. u obsFuosYsonar © nayep , 9u3 UNI Ta pua wewaguanasp HOO3 ; Om 2042 ‘osunod uoTZ00 ArUmZad ao oF JESTISAQ Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource undated https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/301e024af37cb9bfa60ac6b10d1fab1d.pdf a62fbc35fa44df6cdf0d96109b44aca9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Harrogate Founding Congress Subject The topic of the resource The Harrogate Congress was the founding of NAM. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 21-23 November 1975 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Harrogate Congress Subject The topic of the resource Flyer for Harrogate Congress 1975 single 2-sided paper Description An account of the resource PROFESSIONALS. TOGETHER / 09gL8KS Rio NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT Harrogate Congress 21:23Wev Costs from £1059 inclusive Info from Wew Architecture Movement 10 PERCY STR. LONDON WI O17 636 0798 NEW ARCULSECTURE MOVEMENT CONGRESS - 21st to 23rd NOVEMBER 1975 Royal Baths Conference Centre Harrogate FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER TIMETABLE 13.60 to 15.00 1. Registration of Delegates and Guests at Royal Baths Conference Centre. 15,00 to 15.30 3. Afternoon tea. 15,0 to 17,00 4, Opening Plenary Session. i) Initial address ii) Discussion and Initial Motion. 17.15.%o 19.60 5. Working session groups (1 to 6) to formulate approach and assess validity of the task. 6. Bar open between 19.00 and 22.30. 19.00 to 20.00 7. . Cold Buffet. 20.00 to 22.00 8. Optional Plenary Session. 22.30 9, Conference Centre closes. SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 10, OO: te 11,00 1. Plenary Session. dO%6T23202.Morningcoffee. 11.30 to 13.00 . 3. “Working Session 15400. to-14..00 4. Conference Session. 16.00 to 16.30 5. Afternoon tea. &B.30 to 18.00 6. Conference Session. 7. ‘Bar open between 18.90 and 23.00 29.00 to 21.00 8. Buffet Supper. 21.30 to 23.00 9. Optional Conference Session. 23.00 10. Conference Centre Closes. SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER 10.00 to 11.06 54 20.06 Lis Ti .30 €6 13.00 55.00 to. 14.00 14.00 to 15.00 £3.30 Conference Session. Morning coffee. Closing Session. Meeting of Elected Officials. Buffet lunch. Conference closes. 23.06. 06 15.30 2. Registration of Delegates at hotels and guest houses. 13.00 to 15.00 Free time, no lunch given. An onportunity to view Harrogate. DH uv & W DN EH BeilOeeeRe Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Nov-75 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/3a9f502870f65ee28d77a21263a93530.pdf 88e26df8d5133fce3cb39d0d9c0d6592 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brian Anson/ARC pre and post Harrogate Subject The topic of the resource Various documents describing ARC ideas and activities See below Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-1976 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ARC Subject The topic of the resource Single page introduction to ARC Description An account of the resource Over the past few weeks the Architects Revolutionary Council has been publ icising its aims in the press and media and pamphletting schools, papers and magazines. Certain MP's have also been given copies of our literature. This pamphlet expands our views and puts forward our strategy to bring about the architectural revolution. We see architecture today as criminal, in as much as it is practiced against the general welfare of ordinary people in Britain. These are the people ARC members see as their peers, not the present controllers and manipulators of our environment. Because of the injustice and chaos caused by architecture and its practitioners, we feel that though our approach is similar to other revolutionary groups, our enemy is slightly different. True, architecture is oppressive, exploitive, manipulative and ignorant of peoples desires, but in its present form it is also archaic, totally archaic. .: The practitioners and bosses of architecture are virtually unaware that they are so inadequate and i1]1 educated in terms of the directions that our society is trying to progress. Unlike unwanted governments, monarchies| or military Oppressors, they are unable to conmand physical force to directly implement their dictates. These two factors, unawareness and ill-equippedness make our enemy, the architectural establishment? vulnerable, yet unpredictable. We do not know how aware our eneny is of iteelf, or of the strength and versatility of ite opponents. The RIBA has resisted any real efforts to change this situstion, openly unwilling to ednit its social insdequacy and allow the emerging social forcee to influence its dictates. A more sensitive and socially responsive Overleaf is e primary action course, that we see as the foundeticn to the newarchitecturemovementcomingtofruition.heOeeaeeOecones tecChnicians, drsusguhgthetmeemnen aand studenetsn wiSatnheingetheourparosfessrions to Gscrarec,! SOCIAL HOMICIDE REV reason behind a structure manifesting itself, in the physical form was because it was croritenie. In terms of the scale of this manifestetion the equation is simple, the bigger the practice, the bigger the building, the greater. the profit and inevitebly the greater the social disruption and destruction. OLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE The Architects Revolutionary Council is not a populist movement. Unlike a total social revolutionary group, we are primarily concerned witn radical change within our *ield of work, that being architecture and How have we managed to achieve a total reversal in the eccepted reason for the existance of architects? 4 planning. Having said that, 1t would be naive to think that our writings and activities will not effect social change, we will have failed if they ao not. We are initially concerned with the heightening of the awareness, of our colleagues, the creation of a real empathy with the users of our designs, then producing a solidarity based on whst we see as a just cause. Our cause is a just one and we are committed to instigating our policies and strategies to bring about architectural revolution. A complete evaluation of almost any building erected in the vast two or three decsdes will show,in social terms, firstly how vowerful architecture has become and secondly, how the abuse cf that power has brought sbout a destruction of our culture. Architecture has ceased to function fcr the good of people, it now functions to satisfy profits, ego's end abstract aes thetics. That is the shameful cafession architecture has to make to society, now. ARCHITECTURAL SUICIDE Public sector architecture has pernetrated a syate of ugly, dominating and vast developments in the neme oF society,in the vretence thet it is 1 *the power structure, based on the economic infrastructure, yropned un end reinforced by the media and supported by the educations] couses. The architectural profession has been instrumental in the destruction of the physical rabviec of society, when its major purpore should have been the exact opposite. Collectively the architects, technicians, draushtemen and students in the profession have either eagerly participated or silently carried cut a systematic annihilation of our great citics and many of their cultures and sub cultures‘,In many ways architecture has created more havec and destruction than the Lurtwaffe in World War Two. The only difference being that architecture has hidden behind the viel of redevelorment or rehabilitation. The war was destructive in many obvious and clearly definatle ways. Architecture has been a ict more subtle.... but make no mistake the result has been precisely the same. Germanys motives in that war were also easily identifiable ond we found them very easy to hate; their succinct eggressive nature was plain to see. Yhe reasons for the architectural force taking over the aggressors rele is not as clear, yet in the vrivate sector the answer is simply profit. Though actual. building fascades varied, irrespective of purpose or locetion, the At peony ARC is uncertsin what grounds the establishment will submit on; what its greatest weaknesses ara Also we are uncertain of its potential | towards the areas of society that need our aseistance. The RIBA is too severity in repressing the indictments we are going to make, and ite i committedto the wealthy to change its direction,without loosing Sauce and capactty to resist a real attack on its very foundation, As well e2 cur j Jeapordizing ite professional status with that section of society. This manifesto, which basically states our beliefs, it is imperative that we dependance unon architecture being profitable is ruining cur environment, riot limproving it. Architecture in ites existing form is far too svorerveent lay down certain ground rules. On achievement of the mass movement which i we are striving for, theee ground rules can be used as a future basis oF : etarting point for the new architecture movement. It is our belief, in i® pefering te the RIBA and its members as the enemy or the establishment, to the economic structure to assert its real social responsibility. Therefore we are committed to its destruction and the replecement of it with » syetem of enviromental design that takes people as its peers, not money. that there exists a distinct 'us and them’ situation in architecture and Lanning. There are those who wield the power and those who are subject o it. The wielders are the RIBA, the principles in private ‘practice and the heads of lccal government denartment:. Avle recruits for these posit- ions are always in the pipeline thanks to the educationalists who constantly feed this archaic, yet, powerful group. Obviously we are aware - thede consciences and commence wor thet this nower structure is cubscrviant te finenciers, cornoraticns and rich clients, anc cf course develomers and syecalators. This heirerchy has always been eble to rely on the technicians, partially qualified designere end drevcatemen,who make un the bulk of people in tie offices, to carry out their dictates unquestioningly. They are guilty of silent ecquiesenct, working without a »rincipled mind, ebusing their conrciences, end foregoing eny rocial morale they may heave had. The resui+ of this power abuse ond cocial disregurd, is a lousy environment, Uroun chacs, rural decay, cocinl disruption, psychological disorders...architectural suicide. : solying housing and educational problems. Most of these prcviems are partially inFated by architects and planners thinking they can disgnose a society without even coming into contact with that society. In all honesty all that architects really need to know about people is that they are mostly between four and six feet high and take up varicus amounts of space, dependant on the activity they are involved in, That has been elmost the sum totel of expertise architects have applied to their buildings in distinct human terms. Architecture has successfully reduced people to the status of a design element, to be taken into account with all the cther elements such as lighting, plumbing, car parking etc. architectural order must remove them and begin to redirect our exnertise Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/b17e9882fc785f1a53cd1bd0b18b7d1f.pdf a6b3f14148108b20c6fffb32ef552b73 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brian Anson/ARC pre and post Harrogate Subject The topic of the resource Various documents describing ARC ideas and activities See below Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-1976 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Red House Issue No 1 Subject The topic of the resource Monthly magazine of Architects Revolutionary Council Description An account of the resource RD, THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY < = a (UTA Perhaps most contemptible of all the RIBA has killed the idealism of architect- ural youth by its stranglehold on education. The students are herded like so many cattle into an ever-narrowing architectural conveyor belt of the future modelled on the values of management and big business. We believe that there isindeed acrisisin architecture but one far deeper than that about which McEwen writes, Itisa spiritual, a moral crisis and the answer cannot be found within the usual narrow confines of right versus left. Nor has the RIBA any wish to tackle that crisis as its very position depends on preserving the status quo. Only byavoiding the real social p sur i i can the RIBA retain its monopoly; retain its fee scale which puts our profession out of the reach of most people and keep its stranglehold on education and thus the future of architecture. Thousands of our colleagues in the profession ‘live on their knees’ doing work which they despise; work that kills. The second-class citizens of hi the hnici do the same destructive work, and the ' students are manipulated by the dictators of Portland Place. In ‘Wasteland. The building of the American Dream’, architect Stephen Kurtz says: “As long as the primary form of getting what one needs is begging, cajoling, or persuading, for so long is the childish status preserved... Only the revolutionary transcends and escapes the tragic dilemma. Ina terrifying (even to himself) and ultimate defiance of authority, he gives up hope of seome day receiving what he has always been denied and decides, either alone or with others, to provide for himself. In this way then revolutionaries are this world’s only adults..”” RED HOUSE isacall to al such reyo- lutionary architects, Let us come together to create an architecture of life, and over- throw the profession that kills, Of what do we have to be proud being architects? WhentheRIBAjoinswithothersin ripping the heart out of aneighbourhood against the wishes of its inhabitants it isa killer no matter what fancy words it may use to justify its actions. When, inleague with bureaucrats, it brutalises people’s t lives through the design of certain types , of local authority housing, it kills ki people’s sensitivity. When it ignores the, i still vast, twilight areas of our country } because there is no money nor commis- { sions in them, then it is a destroyer, by Hy default, of the hopes of the inhabitants | that they will ever have a decent environ- { ment. And when such areas are ‘dis- i covered’ by the professional ‘gentrifiers’ the RIBA is a destroyer because it allows its members to plunder such areas and drive out the inhabitants. RIBATE NEWS FROM No. 66 The squeals of protest emitting from Portland Place in the face of the Monopolies Commision’s investigation are truly sickening to the stomach. The Royal Institute of Boss Architect’s whining defense of its price fixing and closed-shop operations isthat “The introduction of price bargaining... would concentrate attention on price rather than the qualitative aspects of the service”, What else has the RIBA stood for over the last ten decades but architecture as a business, stripped of any ethical or social responsibility? What “qualitative aspects’ of the service did the people of Covent Garden, Ealing, Dockland or a thousand other communities over the country get from their RIBA sponsored oppressors? How is it possible for the RIBA to descend any lower into cynical commercialism? “To identify and analyse the client’s needs” says the RIBA, “‘an architect must build upa close relationship with his client”. Yes, agreed! Private partners colluding and conspiring with speculators and the scum of society, principals in public authorities locked in secret, if not corrupt, intrigue with bureaucrat elites against the people. This close relation- ship would be “subjected to intolerable pressures as the parties sought to safe- guard their own interests” if fee bargain- ing was allowed squeal the RIBA. But how could they safeguard their “interests” of profit and power any more than at present? Then comes the bare- faced, hypocritical appeal to ‘the wider public interests” which the RIBA is at present supposed to “reconcile” with those of the client. Who the hell are they trying to kid with these pious, hollow, two-faced sentiments? This is the same RIBA which has been run by (openly or indirectly) those very environmental criminals who have ground their money grasping or politically sycophantic developments into the faces of “the public”. The RIBA plea that fee bargaining would increasebuildingcostsislittlemorethan blackmail. If the monopolies commission smashes the price fixing, RIBA members will cut down on their design services resulting in more maintainance costs. But lousy design service is rife under the present system. Talk about “quality of service” to al those tower block ghetto dwellers, to al those people who have had their lives and environments ripped apart and replaced by hideous tracks of mind- less “functionalist” dogma — al by RIBA members of course. The whole fee scale debate is irrelevant unless you look on the 6% fix as sacred. Who cares whether an architect charges tuppence or 90% for his services. Dedicated and committed architects are prepared to work for nothing for the Join the RIBA brutalise our environment and mar the and Kill There are many ways in which to kill and there is more than one way to die. *...We were as men who through a fen of filthy darkness grope... something was dead in each of us and what was dead was hope...” wrote Oscar Wilde in his “Ballad of Reading Gaol’. The spirit can be killed as can faith; it is possible to kil trust and destroy dreams. All those who conspire to subyert the struggle for freedom are potential killers for, should they succeed, they destroy more than the body; they wipe out the vision of a better future. To the sensitive nature physical death is not always the worst prospect as the Spanish Republicans proclaimed through their slogan, ‘It is better to die on your feet than to liye on your knees’. The struggle for freedom is universal and to be found in al walks of life Architecture is no exception. The community movements struggling against oppressive architecture schemes were, in a very real sense, waging a freedom fight to defend their homes, their land, their culture. One freedom fighter dies by a bullet, another succumbs to weariness, to hopelessness in the unending struggle against a power system which holds al the cards; the bureaucrats, the politicians, the planners and THE ARCHITECTS. Even as we write this journal we mourn thedeathofSamDriscoll,ayoungman of 65 who, for seven years, struggled valiantly in his home community of Covent Garden against oppressive archi- tectural schemes. Some might say it was the developers’ greed, the machinations of politicans and bureaucrats against which Sam Driscoll struggled and which, in the end, broke him, but how can our own profession be absolved? We indict the RIBA for complicity in his death. The RIBA is the official voice of archi- tecture in Britain; governments seek its advice, the media pays special attention to its views on environmental matters, it controls education in the profession. Yet al the time it is in league with those who lives of that 80% of our society which has no economic control over its physical environment. During the speculation boom, the RIBA, when it could have offered support to the many millions of people who were powerless, instead threw the weight ot its authority behind the environmental rapists. Many of its top members who control the profession made fortunes out of the-brutalising of our country. Now in a recession they scuttle like rats from a sinking ship to the money- wells of the OPEC countries. For such reasons many architects, and particularly the students, have come to despise the RIBA and some of us have grown to even hate it, as we hate al traitors to a noble cause. For architecture could be a cause for great good in our society. In an urbanised country such as ours it is nothing less than the physical backcloth against which we live out our lives. Though society is far from ideal, were we doctors we would at least be thankful that good health was no longer denied people because they were poor. Were we labourers we would be glad that no. longer did we have to wait each day at the gates of the dock, the factory and the mill for a decent days work. The right to health, the right to work, these were moral and noble causes; and so the architectural issue is a moral one. The tight of people to a decent environment and to feel secure in their home, no matter what their station in life. Some might plead that the profession has nocontroloversuchissues,thatitmust work within the socio-economic system of the time; that is to abide by the rules of big-business, monopoly capital and State bureaucracy. But did the small group of doctors who initiated the Health Service have control, or the workers who struggled for union- isation? They acted because the way in which they were forced to practise their craft was based on a fundamental in- justice. There has always been more than enough environmental injustice in this country to give the RIBA ample scope to show which side it is on; the privileged and powerful minority which controls the construction of our environment, or the communities and individuals so frequently oppressed by it. ments foisted on people, by the developers, 7 and b of the last two decades. The members of the group knew that the RIBA, having always preserved architecture as a luxury profession, could not possibly adhere or respond to society as a whole. It had perfected a practice and education system geared specifically to the rich and powerful and could not even begin to late any other clientel In terms of strategy, the ARC knew that, unless there was a more popular (albeit, less radical) movement of designers committed primarily to change within architecture, then there could be no revolution, merely reactive reforms. Throughout 1974-75, ARC built up a larger group of sympathetic followers, who responded to the cal for radical change. Synonymous with this the London based core were working on community architecture. In the West London Borough of Ealing, ARC members were working closely with the local people, whose whole way of life was directly threatened, through the oppres- sive designs of architects and planners within the mainstream of the profession. The congress ended with a small nominated body mandated to begin the process of expansion through further conferences and seminars. The New Architecture Movement and ARC former- ly split, to pursue their action early in 1976, each gaining token support and confidence from the others’ activity. At this time ARC regrouped as a body. Some people who had been members, joined NAM and vice versa; others, having long contemplated the ARC’s activity, realized its serious and committeed approach to architecture and joined the group. The strategy for the next phase of ARC’s campaign was evolved, part of that strategy was the production of ‘Redhouse’ as the radical broadsheet of our group. The ARC, through its many talks, designs, writings and publications, over the past three years, has begun the process of identifying the dimensions architecture has criminally ignored for so long — the primary dimensions of culture, affinity, self respect, dignity and community in the lives of the people we design with. It has attempted to work in meaningful and realistic ways with the people who live and work in buildings we design. It has received no encouragement for its activity from the institute that purports to represent architecture. The major reason being that ARC’s motivation is people notprofit,community notcommerce. The ARChas no illusions, the RIBA and the architects who financially and spiritually support it are our enemy. Architecture has no need of this old boys’ network that has colluded in the bastard- isation and destruction of the towns and cities of this country. The Architects Revolutionary Council will, through its work, philosophy and commitment, and through the pages of *Redhouse’, rupture, dismantle and expose Britain’s most archaic organization and its members, in the name of a people’s architecture. IF [FRIME DOESAT PRY...LUHERE DI ARCHITELTS GET ALL THEIA MaOney7 Early Campaign’s poster In the spring and summer of 1975, the major campaign aimed at spreading a radical affinity with ARC, achieved great Success; so much so that ARC was confident that it could organize its projected Autumn Congress to create the solid radical base within the profession specific courses of Continued page 6 ARCheology ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL Since its formation in 1973, the Architects Revolutionary Council has been the only truly radical voice within the architectural profession; the only group whichutterly refutes any claims that architecture at Present isasocially responsible discipline. ARC developed out of many community struggles, against the inhuman environ- A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE which itknew must exist before any change could occur in the future direction of architecture. The New Architecture Movement Congress was held inHarrogate in November 1975. The people who attended that congress came from al areas of the profession, technicians, students, planners, graduate andpracti- cing architects, each united in the urge to seek a more social and just base for architecture. it htectute “\ If only the architectural profession as a whole could operate in the manner in which ARC has done in Ealing then, we believe, our towns and cities would be better places in which to live. We consider itisshocking that ARC has to struggle not only against the financial and bureaucratic interests which control and lay waste our environment but also against its own professional body, the RIBA, which seems more intent on preserving tradi- tional privileges than in backing ARC's fight for community architecture..."" Sybil McRobie, Ealing Alliance Group Ealing Town Centre Introductory note What follows is a brief record of ARC’s involvement in the planning affairs of the London Borough of Ealing over the past year. The conclusions are the important part of this very encapsulated history of a year’s action. We in ARC have no desire to fool either ourselves or our readers with false claims of success. We are more interested in our failures at community level, for only by understanding these can we move closer to that revolutionary situation in which a true community architecture can arise. The first time we spoke to the fEaling at a public meeting we n defeating this plan we may go some way to making our kind of action unnecessary; we may succeed in letting governments know that they cannot rail- road their plans through, irrespective of the wishes of indigenous communities. If our colleagues in the architecture and planning professions had any morality, none of us need be in this room tonight. We feel a specific responsibility because these plans were done in our name, in the name of our art. That makes us angry and that is why we are architectural revolutionaries...” The Problem (Therewilbeadetailedhistoryof planning in Ealing in future issues). In 1968 the town council presented its plan for the central area, in conjunction with developers Grovenor EMI —our old friends from Covent Garden and else- where —and architects HALPERN ASSOCIATES. Itwasoneoftheworst examples of the sort of profit-orientated development that communities al over the country have been fighting against for the past decade. A massive road plan that would tear a great hole through the town centre; agreat covered shopping mall suitable for only the multiple stores ARC iscalled in In April 1975 we were asked to help. The request came not from the communities directly affected, but from representatives of other associations on the fringe of the area, ARC was then building up its National campaign and had turned away from local action. We agreed to spend only a specific amount of time, and to prepare alternatives for the vacant sites as ‘ammunition’ only (ultimately the plans must arise from the people) to help them organise a local action group and to arrange apublic meeting. We surveyed the area, we found out the facts and through numerous small meetings tested the ‘spirit’ of the local people. For strategic reasons we designed the latern- ative quite oblivious to the people; our plan was not the ultimate answer but it was a means of getting a response from the people. Our central concept was a medium sized town square, very under- designed so that the people could use it in Covent Garden, Bootle, Donegal and other places). But we are professionals doing this for nothing so we are limited. Given a fraction of the resources the enemy has (the local council, the establishment of this country), we could blow this plan to kingdomcome in a week. But we have no resources except you, the people. Ultimately the struggle isnot about rationality, Ultimately it’sabout power. There are only two kinds of power; money and people. The enemy has al the money (our money), we have the people. You and those you collect must constitute our power. The enemy has already decimated the community in the central area, so we must reinforce it. without such unity you don’t stand a snowballs chance in hell...” “Whatever one may think of ARC's revolutionary rhetoric, this sort of exercise and advice by professionals experienced in community action is desperately needed by those commun- ities still under the threat of large-scale developments. The humanity and obvious quality of ARC’s alternative approach, involving rehab and infill, and preserving the scale of the old residential area, won the meeting over and gave it new hope that such an alternative was not only feasible but quicker, cheaper and better than the council’s plan. Planning with the people We set out to demystify the planning and design process by proving that the elementary firstconcepts ofaplanning scheme could better come from them (the people) than from the so-called ‘experts’ of the local authority. We held meetings in ARC’s studio where we began tentative- ly to design together. Our varied projects for the core area were based on small scale spaces, on the traditional concept of streets; on flexibility and extensive rehabilitation. In the situation which we have today, where truly there are no real experts in urban design, it is logical to avoid large scale design projects, if only because the mistakes which are inevitably made can more easily be rectified. One of our schemes was costed and was found to be not only cheaper and quicker to construct, but (ironically) produced a better rateable value for the borough. The Ealing Alliance (of action groups) organised a large public meeting on February 10th. at which we outlined our ideastoanaudienceof400.Thisgather- ing by a massive majority of 383 passed a yote of no confidence in the council’s technical services department (the planning office) and declared the Council incompetent in planning matters. The aftermath Big articles appeared in the press picking up particularly the accusation of in- ~ Mpetence against the council. There is a major rule of radicals that says that action springs from reaction; the strongest weapon of the system in an oppressive ‘democracy’ is to ignore those who struggle against it. Once the system starts to react then you are in business for changing it. This is exactly what began to happen in the Ealing struggle. Threats First a member of the Alliance was subjected to verbal threats from a senior council official who declared “You people are in alot of trouble. We are going to sue you for a lot of money for your libellous attack on our competence.” The community people were worried they had gone too far in their public condemn- ation of the authorities, til ARC’s lawyer assured them there was nothing slanderous in their actions. Then the Council wrote a threatening lettertotheAlliance,butbynowthe people had their own legal advice and they treated the threat with the contempt itdeserved even considering action against the council for harrassment. A bartering system ARC receives no payment for the work it does, but it does seek the aid of local communities in its national fight against the profession and specifically the RIBA. Our message to communities is: “We'll help you fight oppressive plans. You help us defeat the RIBA”. Conclusions sess ** NTE? WED ¢ GREENHIGHion Ae which would wipe out traditional shop- keepers, and to cap it all, the usual multi- storey office blocks. Developers scheme Over the years, though the building has not begun, the central area of close-knit working class communities has been raped almost beyond repair. Where houses once stood, the distasteful National Car Parks and their permanent residents—RATS now exist. You might wonder how things have come to such a pass when community- action became such a common-place event during the early seventies. We can only believe that this indigenous community was slaughtered overnight by compulsory purchase, evictions and promises of a better life in council tower blocks; whatever it was, little fight appearstohavetakenplace. thenewformswouldbecomplimented by extensive rehabilitation. The raped central area 1eo HellmansupportstheEulingrevolution. gs anyway they wished. Eventually total support was given to this idea. No further demolition of the area was necessary and ARC concept First major event A public meeting was held on July 2nd at which 350 people assembled. We made some basic statements to the people; we said: “...Youdon’tknowusyet. Firstly we are not amateurs; if you once get that idea into your head and begin to live with it, then we will all have a mill- stone round our necks from which we'll Developers shopping mall ARC did not try to fool the people, to mystify them or make grand promises about design schemes. We told them the truth. We were right to do so. 350 people cheered ARC that night and the Ealing Town Centre Action Group (ETCAG) was formed to represent the central community. Publicity for the struggle followed imme- diately. Four Ealing Residents Associations publicly praised ARC. TheEalingTradesCouncilwassplit bitterly over the issue. never escape. We are professionals and here is the evidence (we showed some of our actions OE Hellman Federation ARC found that itcould not walk quietly away from this situation even though we had an urgent national campaign to get off the ground. So in the summer of 75 we were instrumental in founding the EALING ALLIANCE, acollective body of seven residents associations. Phase two It was under the direction of this body that we began to work in greater detail in October 1975. Wesetourtargetforamassivepublic meeting in February 1976, and this time we were to consider the wider area of Ealing town centre, not just the core area. Our work inyolved the production of several architectural schemes with models for the core area, anda critique of the Council’s planning proposals for the entire town centre. Ss An ARC project based on infill and rehab We found that the council’s plan was based ona ludicrous 800% increase in off: street car-parking; a situation that would mean the destruction of the entire town centre putting the cars at one level. In short we showed how the Council had designed a plan which haditself created the problems it would have to solve. This is a circular argument which occurs in nearly all large scale developments based onthecombinationofprofitmotiveand the worship of the private car. — \6FLL-THAT TARE CARE OF THE CAR PARKING PROBLEM was Mest? A.J. July 1975 EALING: CONCLUSION We mean the conclusions at this stage: ARC isn’t finished in Ealing, but the next move must come from the people and they must indicate they wish to carry on the fight at a more intense level. There has been too much so-called ‘community action’ where the activists hay have done al the work of the people; this merely puts another layer of mystification between the grass-roots and the system. Our campaign in Ealing proved to us that we had learnt lessons from previous actions in Covent Garden, Bootle etc. In Ealing the local residents took on an increasing amount of the organisational work and thus left us free to get on with technical problems In addition we al made a deliberate attempt to cross the boundariesofclassandpartypoliticsso that we could develop as a team with a ‘cause’, the defeat of an oppressive plan and the creation ofa more just planning and decision-making process. Doing things this way can prove very beneficial; people are treated as people and not put into some doctrinaire box. We could create a situation where we could discuss revo- lutionary processes with middle-class people, and wherewe could learn that the ‘working-class’ are not necessarily ‘God’s gift to creation’. So our successes, apart from creating panic in the local council bureaucracy, have been the creation ofa relationship with people based on trust, integrity and mutual respect. Our failures are connected with the mixed working-class and squatter community in the core area. We did our best to rally them at the first major meeting and they formed the majority on the Twon Centre Action Group. But then they drifted away. We appealed again. Still no Tesponse, so we worked with the fringe communities who were more middle-class, though not entirely, and developed plans and techniques of action. Furthermore, even the fringe communities who have everything going for them, appear not to have the true sense of fight. We believe that the British people are really more oppressed (in the most invidious manner) than almost anyone. That is why planning bureaucracies and the architectural profession can beat them in the long run. Does this depress us? Certainly. Will we give up? Never. We will only fight harder to revolutionise the communities so that they fight for their own decent environ- ment. OTHER PROFESSIONS Newham Rights Centre is one of the 15 neighbourhood law centres in this country. It is funded by the Nuffield Foundation whose grant expires at the endofAugust 1976whenitishopedthat the Government will fund the Centre directly. Like several other Centres, Newham Rights Centre does not undertake individual cases, although two evening advice sessions are organised by the Centre and staffed by volunteer lawyers each week in the Borough. The Centre concentrates its resources on test cases, cases for tenants’ associations and similar organisations, and education and inform- ation on legal rights, The Centre is staffed by two barristers, one solicitor, two community workers and three administrator secretaries. The Centre deals largely with housing, employment and social security matters. In the housing field a lot of work is done with tenants’s associations. Apart from major problems over repairs, public health and so on, much time is taken up with redevelopment. It is in this area that the Centre’s contact with architect is most vital. The situation is familiar. The tenants of a very run-down part of a run-down borough havehadpromisesofbetter things for the last ten or fifteen years. Their loyalties are torn between a deep affection for the area and the community spirit which has survived the privations of decades on the one hand, and on the other, a traditional east-end desire to get out and move further up the District line. The Council put forward unimaginative and insensitive plans for total redevelop- ment with the absolute minimum of public consultation, let alone participation. The plans are delayed year by year because of costs. The residents get hopelessly dis- illusioned in their desolate and half demolished surroundings. It is at this stage that the local Law Centre often gets involved. Its resources provide community workers to invigorate the tenants associations. The lawyers press for full compensation for residents whose houses are demolished and advise on other incidental legal problems. But community architects are the real key to the situation. They can provide the expertise to fight the Council’s planning department on its own ground. They have the authority to say to the tenants’ association that the word of the Council’s planners is not gospel. They have the sensitivity to translate into architecture the inarticulated aspirations of people who have no experience and little knowledge of what is possible. They can take into account the social, cultural, economic and other complex needs and wishes of the people in the area. Most. importantly, they can involve the residents in decisions that will affect their lives so deeply. There are other ways too, in which the architects and the Law Centres can work together, in the presentation of tenants’ cases against landlords to Court, and so on. But it is through community organ- isations such as tenants associations in situations like the one above, that law centresandarchitectscanreallyputtheir skills to the service of the people. John Hendy Barrister at Law Legal Adviser to ARC RIBATE (Continued) community and for the values they believe in. What has fee fixing to do with the true cause of architectural ideals that the RIBA pretends to espouse? 80% of architects have no clients or fees and yet the Architects Journal has the cheek to say that over this the RIBA is ‘the voice of the whole profession’. 95% of the community have no architects or access to fees and yet the RIBA has the gall to refer to the “public interest”. What really scares the RIBA mandarins isthe thought that under competition dedicated architects would start providing better services for less fees, especially if they had no expensive offices or over- heads to maintain. More frightening — they might actually get their just share of work based on ability by competing in thiswayinsteadofbeingexploitedby their pseudo architect bosses. Even worse, communities might be able to afford their own architects more and more; these would both combat the RIBA stranglehold and work for the people’s own interests. People are waking up to the fact that architecture as practised by the RIBA minority is irrelevant. Capitalism is also having its doubts. Ifthe Monopolies Commission’s investigation helps to loosen the privi- leged grip of the RIBA on the profession, then we support it. Why Red House?” We’re sorry to disappoint the categorisers, labellers and dismissers, but ‘Red House’ has nothing to do with the Kremlin. We are not Syndicalists, Marxists, Maoists nor indeedCapitalistsbut,ifwemusttalkin ‘ists’, then artists, revolutionists, human- ists and anti-dogmatists. The Red House was the first building designed by Philip Webb and William Morris in 1860 when they were in their mid 20s and symbolises for us the welding together of art and revolution, architect- lure and social responsibility, style and commitment that we aim to revive in our profession. We follow the traditions of English radicalism — the Levellers, the Diggers, the 18th century revolutionaries $well as Ruskin and Morris. Like Morris have arrived at revolution through our .In fact the Red House was designed before Webb and Mortis became radical- ised politically. Its title refers to the red of indigenous English brick and tile, not the tricolor. Ruskin and Morris were dater affected by the second wave of olutionary change in Europe and the dea that artists should serve the emanci- pation of the people and not “the winish luxury of the rich”, for “the chitect iscarefully guarded from the ommon troubles of the common man, wilding for ignorant, purse proud igesting machines”. (Morris). architectural terms Morris had the great revolutionary insight to see that the inspiration for a people’s architecture must come neither from foreign neo- lassical monuments nor from the equally monumental engineering structures ofthe new capitalist class but from the people’s own buildings — the vernacular dwellings to be seen in every village and amlet. This was as worthy of the name “architecture” as the monuments of the ling elites of the past — more so since itwas the democratic expression of the architecture of the future when “society... ilproduce to live, and not live to produce as we do, under such conditions, architecture, as a part of the life of the people in general, will again become possible...itwillhaveanewbirth.Ihave ahope that it will be from such necessary, npretentious buildings that the new and enuine architecture will spring, rather ‘an from our experiments in concious le.” Morris has consequently received unjust historical treatment by the bourgeois apologists for machine age “functional- ism”. Like Pevsner because he did not ioningly revere the hine and had the effrontery to be a romantic. We believe that Morris’ ideals could not be realised because they were far ahead of his time and perhaps because he looked too far back to the Middle Ages for solutions. But today the conditions that prompted Morris in his artistic/political revolutionism exist once more, only augmented and accelerated a hundred fold. What would Morris think ifhe were alive today about the destruction of our cities and towns for profit, about the third rate ghettos erected by indifferent committees of public authorities in the name of housing, about the desecration of our countryside and towns by motor- ways, airports and polluti 5 and what oh what, citizens, would be his opinion of the RIBA? Would he have any reason to alter his verdicts: “Is money to be gathered? Cut down the pleasant trees among the houses, pull down ancient and venerable buildings for the money that a few square yards of London dirt will fetch; blacken rivers, hide the sun and poison the air with smoke and worse. And it’s nobody’s business to see it and mend it.” But the difference is that today communities have started to make it their business; to fight back against the regressiveanddestructiveenvironments of the money grubbers and bureaucrats and their RIBA condoned lackeys. They are forcing the profession (or those in it who care) to question its basic precepts and to find them wanting ifnot down- right irrelevant. Our fight today is not Or architecture for a few. Thus “Red House”. Message from Jamaica Within the under-developed countries, the RIBA has abrogated to itself the “burden’ of setting standards of education and professional conduct for societies quite different from its own. To maintain the status quo, the RIBA has supervised the education of, and maintain- ed strong links with a generation of architects within the oppressed Third World. These professionals serve the interest of domestic and international capital, and are therefore against the aspirations of the workers and peasants of their Tespective countries. They represent the culture of imperialism and give it form in their b i “inter- national” style. The RIBA, together with its alter ego the Commonwealth Association of Architects, Organise conferences and jamborees to strengthen and refuel this parasitic native elite. The RIBA has very strong links with racist South Africa! Where then are the morals and professicn- alstandardsof the RIBA itself?! What right does the RIBA have to set our standards?! Progressive architects every- where must identify with ARC! Together... “Our force is irresistible, Away with al pests!” VIVA ARC!! Death of a Patriot for Community Architecture Sam Driscoll, the ‘King of Covent Garden’ as we called him, died on Thursday 29th April. He had been il for a year and at times had suffered great pain. Sam Driscoll created the Covent Garden Community Association many months before it became public, and to those of us who knew him throughout the struggle he always represented the true ideal of community action, no matter how much international fame Covent Garden achieved. Despite al the jargon that came to surround the community struggles, Sam clung to his basic belief that people hadarighttotheirhomes.Covent Garden was his home and he struggled for it. It is not melodramatic to say that he died for it. The unbelievable amount of work and energy that he put into Covent Garden affairs over the last seven years gradually took their tol. The Red House was the first iously designed building to take itsinspiration from peasant architecture — local materials used untreated, aformal planning from the inside out, an eclectic mix of elements, care for the natural environment and free expression for native craftsmanship. against corrupt classicism but mindless “functionalism” and it i tendencies, Our style isonce again the people’s own architecture — but urban rather than rural, those urban villages where ‘people’ and ‘buildings’ are inseparable, where the place is as much about community telationships as about space, and which planners, developers care welder... But Morris saw that the struggle for a dignified and egalitarian society which and architects treat with the same contempt they had for the vernacular in levelled up not down could not be effected by art and design alone, and he Morris’ time. But this style must not be confused with combined his revolutionary ideas on art with direct political action. the thin veneer of ‘vernacular’ architect- ure with which some local authorities use Thearchitecturalideasdevelopedinto daeee Uoaradae athaedlEingvleitshnnyFreeanaArecshiteactnuraeemsovement n n structiures. The peoSpaleast’ anrchitecteure will only really emerge when the people themselves have the power to appoint their own architects and advisors and not have these thrust upon them, “a taste imposed on the top as part of a subtle movements in this country was smother- ed and emasculateidn the fashionable middle class for their own ends, and later purloined by continental capitalism whose bureaucracy distorted and recast it as scheme for dividing off gentility from servitity”. Like Morris we “do not want machine age functionalism” — or the ‘moder’ architecture that has become art for a few anymore than education for the hated symbol of such regimes every- a few or freedom for a few”, where today. reviews A Short History of the Architectural Profession by Adam Purser Price 10p “Why me? Why pick on me?” I said when asked to write this review. Well, I mean, “A Short History of the Architectural Profession’ didn’t really hit me as some- thing Ishouldn’t miss, there were no tasty graphics for a kick-off. But suddenly it clicked. Could this really be a caricature of Eric Lyons on the cover? And if so this particular ‘History’ might have an interesting angle to it. And indeed it has. Adam Purser’s thesis can be split into two parts, the first dealing with the actual history of the profession, and the second being used by the author as a platform for his own ideas and ideals. The devolution of the ‘architect’ from the ‘master-craftsman’ is clearly illustrated and can be taken as the true starting point of the thesis and from here onwards the evolution of the profession can easily be followed, through the forming of the Institute of British Architects, through the granting of the Royal Charter, the setting up of the examination system in 1889 which is still the basis of archi- tectural education today as Adam Purser so rightly states, carrying on up to the immediate issues of the R.I.B.A. report to the Monopolies Commission. This thesis is good. It is clear, informative, and will no doubt be controversial. The front cover isby Hellman, the inside photos courtesy of the Architects Revo- lutionary Council, and on the inside of the back cover even an advert for the “Morning Star’. Irecommend that you buy this booklet, read it, and then think really hard about the validity of the R.1.B.A. existing in the society of both the present and the future. Rob Thompson The Rape and Plunder of the Shankill by Ron Wiener Notaems Press, 76 Shankill Rd. Belfast 13 Price £1.70 The British have a way of switching off when confronted by anything touching on Irish politics, particularly now that public opinion no doubt considers that saturation point has long since been passed as regards media coverage of the ‘troubles’. My instinct is that, because of this, many people will ignore ‘The Rape and Plunder of the Shankill’. class community struggled for survival, and clearly illustrates how power comes from the point of a gun...”". Unnecessary histrionics? Not in this case. In the final resort most genuine community activists will admit that the fundamental issue is oneof power; that despite al the technical and social arguments, the status quo, as Harold Laski put it, *...does not abdicate in the face of logic...’ Power is transferred by other means, The com- munity activists of Britain have just had to live with this frustrating fact and direct action has reached no greater heights than the occasional squat or temporary occupation of a building. But Wiener’s book isabout Belfast and, as the world now knows, threats made there are not idle. When such communities warn the politicians and planners to desist from smashing their BUM (Belfast Urban Motorway) through close-knit working- class neighbourhoods, the civil servants sit up and listen. In Britain threats result in marchers mouthing inane slogans like ‘Power to the People’; in Belfast they result in gelignite. The book deals specifically with one area of Belfast, the famous Shankill Road, the Loyalist counterpart to the equally well- known Falls Road, spiritual centre of the Belfast Republicans. Wiener has docu- mented the Shankill’s struggle against the planners with exceptional thoroughness and has placed his critique neatly in the context of the peculiarly complex local politics of Northern Ireland. With fascinating detail he describes how the ruling Unionist Party in conjunction with the ancient Orange Order, manipulated and deceived the Protestant working-class into accepting (at least initially) the decentralised, growth-centre planning policy which meant the destruction of the Shankill, by the old myth that the Catholic (IRA dominated) working-class were their true enemy. But through his book (which Wiener describes as ‘a horror story which just ran and ran’) he shows how the ‘troubles’ finally smashed al the tidy visions of the planners. The climax came with the total strike of June 1974 organised by the UWC (Ulster Workers Council) and backed by the para-military group, the UDA. After years of being deceived by the establishment the Shankill had an indigenous power-base to which it could turn. In 1968 the plans for the Shankill were based on 15 storey tower blocks, and 60% of al dwellings were to be flats, The community had persistently demanded 2- storey terraced houses. Once they obtained the help of the para-military groups overnight they got exactly what they wanted, and that ishow the plan stands today. Brian Anson |COMMUNITY ACTION IN EUROPE Sol lentunaholm Sweden, [5 - 21 August, 1976 lOrganised by the }INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FEDERATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND ICONSERVATION IFEE, including full board for six Inights and including one trip to Stockholm £30.00 iApplication forms from Xaver Monbailliu 30 Rue Sadi Carnot 192 Vauves, Paris. Civil Engineer Thomas Morrison was acquitted recently at the Old Bailey of charges of theft and arson. He was brought to court for stealing plans and documents (in some cases burning them) from the GLC where he worked. His aim was to help his local residents association fight road improvements on the Kingston-by-pass. Though Morrison was acquitted, he no longer works at the GLC and the fact that he was brought to court at al (especially to the Old Bailey) re-emphasises the tremendous struggle communities have against bureaucratic planners. What price freedom? SUBSCRIPTIONS Membership of ARC There are two rules in ARC: To practise, where possible, community architecture and, Synonymous with this, to work for the overthrow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, If you accept these rules we would be interested to hear from you. Anyone really interested in the struggle of communities against oppressiveplanning schemes will wish this book as wide a circulation as possible, but I doubt it will happen for, in a very real sense, TheRape and Plunder of the Shankill is dynamite. This would be a tragedy, as in my opinion, Ron Wiener’s book is arguably the most important yet written on community action and the planning process. It is in the same tradition as that other milestone in the genre After the Planners, and indeed takes Robert Goodmans critique further. The pre-publicity describes it as “...giving a blow by blow account of how a working- Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource undated https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/9e1c1988c729762d0725caa8e5c0ee5e.pdf 302d5ca281ae84e16fdccda4fbe424af Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brian Anson/ARC pre and post Harrogate Subject The topic of the resource Various documents describing ARC ideas and activities See below Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-1976 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ARC/NAM Subject The topic of the resource Trailer for forming NAM written by ARC (2 sides) Description An account of the resource A NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT The Architects Revolutionary Council understands the need for a new architecture move- ment, and is glad to instigate it. ARC has no intention of becoming a mass movement itself. eae The new architecture movement will. be seriously coneerned with the social responsibil- ityofarchiteancdttsheframeworkinwhicharchitectureispractised. ARChopesto bringa moral and social consciencieto the. architectural profession, —It. hopes to end architecturaes anelitist profession and directly relate architectsto those who need them the mosthe'p—eop-le. e pa - oe TM a Below are just some af the reasons for forming a new architecture movement:- 1. To create a.situation where architects work for the real clients, the users. “This can only be achieved if the users become the. clientt with the control of the capital “for projects. Decentralisation of power and increased democracy are essential concepts of this direction and architects should play an active role in obtaining them. But as individuals, architects have no power, because they are controlled by the providers. of the resources for projects, When architects combine they have only limited power which is quickly shatterebdy the non-esséntiality of their position in society, Thus archi- tects have to gain public support for ‘socialising their task, to be able to exert any worthwhile pressure, With this:in mind, anew movement could aim at putting architects talents at thédisposaolf the public and because this idea is truly in:‘the interests: ée To make architectural services available to all: sectors of society. At present the architectural profession works for just two areas of society, firstly the rich minority and ‘the powers of industry, ¢ommerce and finance: secondly, for local or national government bureaucracies, ‘distant from the public they vainly try to serve.: The majority of the, population has:never had access to the architectural profession and so have been restricted in improving the quality of their environment. The self help attitcaundoenly help afewpeople, while:an architectural service could help ; those without the time or resources of their om. The national health service was not’ TM created by doctors orpatientosn their own, but only came about when enough pressure was brought on the government to.create it... Similarly, neither architects nor the publicontheirowncancreatean-architecsteruvircea’lth.ateffectivelydealswith all the ills of our: present enyironment. A new architecture movement will have to be responsible for’ taking action with the government, eS 3. So that peopie may control their environment. At the moment people have insuffi- cient control of their environment in terms of planning and the use of resources, The Green Paper on Neighbourhood Councils now passing through Parliament gives only limited participation to the people and by its lack of power reduces these Councils to purely - advisory bodies easily over-ruled. Action must be taken with the government to give real power to the Neighbourhood Councils. : a of the public it is capable of mobilising public support. 4. The environmental professions should be subjecto the democratic control of the public. In 1938 the Architects Registration Act came into being, due to the pressure from the RIBA to create atlegal closed shop for the profession, while the Government's responsibility for'‘the public was sufficed by protecting them from sham architects, In today's society of worker control, user democracy and public accountability, the Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom is obviously unacceptable. ARCUK must be reconstituted by Parliament to ensure that the public has adequate con- trol of the architectural profession, 5« Architectural education should be controlled by a body equally representative of the public, the profession, the teachers and the students. At present architectural education is controlled by the RIBA, a private club, through its Board of Hiucation, which has powers of recognition. Thus the public pays for an architectural education over which it has no control, to produce architects over which it has no control, to create bad environments it can do nothing about. A reconstituted ARCUK could operate a new democratic Board of Architectural Education, 7.TheRIBAisnotaGroenessiveodyre biefaistriedto-createchange within the arch: Sectural pr: féssion through RIBA is glad to absorb prog: essive ideas and people, in an attempt to‘portray an out; ward looking front;; but in reality to smother: ‘people and thei? ideas in tedious tees and length: red tape. The result: being: to sO impotent aS ~o be harmless to the con tinuarice architecture movement must .ot be a stagnant: tedious body, but vital, ‘flexible and ever RORPPRRENS 30. the chan» ing needs: and ideals of progressivé’ ‘people. The first. Fine tine had oeite the need the great inadecuacies of the RIBA,. Pogether |Shey ‘reveal ‘somie of the ote behind forming a new architecture novement. gm nabs ‘Onceanewarch:secturemovment.hasgaindda*Romthiebdieihein~apaiutecbarad arena, it can begin to gain ‘the Support, of|the,“public in. accomplishing its objectives, The finest: stage xhLong. this’ ¥dad. will be, to." found ay‘movement at a. mation conference “ye ro all, intereste, apartiess.< oh ARC hopes that iis résponsi® le role . Jaiaiei s is nde in ‘|foree anything’ben enyhase:-we melee baeay onitaoian,and ee weabhor “dogmatism. ° We-would. be grat >ful’ for. as — a2: help as the RIBA, most ‘have totally. failed. The commits tire people out and*make their ideas of: the RIBA'ts status quo. Anew ° for, Government. action, while the last two show we are. noetibhe ‘in’ tig, and: are not asking for hélp, CONFERENCE TORMING A NEW. AROHTTEOTURE MOVEMENT 78s FRIDAY NC) 21st 3pm“to SUNDAY.“Ov cae Same pele _TARROGCADE. 7Pait lew3 eee tes becainad to 6. So that the RIBA's preicnce at speaking as the "voice of architecture" ends, The RIBA is effectively control'.ed by a small group of principal architects, and its "voice" is stroigly in line with their own minority interests. Most of the group belong to the Association oc Consultant Architects, a private practice organisation. Evidence for this is the RI7A's determination to save the fixed fee scale - now under attack by the Mcnopolies Comission: their lack of interest in the dangers exposed by the Summerland Fire and the use of high-alumina cement: their reluctance to expose in- competantandcorruptarchivects.<Anew eee.movementmust.Ceeforall.that is socially responsible in eee See! 35F to get as many -Foople’ as possible to the conference, to make contzibutions, to help withtheconferecemesheseenoeeeceecnestomakeSimoisesumeoeeeeete : ehact : Bogking and ’info: nation fro! od desc a RE ae: ae NAM, 10. Borey, Street, “Lendon w, * 041-636-0798 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Undated c Nov 1975 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/10d703df977f4e4dd4188c5e994dfd49.pdf 3bb7be10c541c4ae9d59bea87848e2ce Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Introduction and Origins Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource From Your Local ARC Unit Now Subject The topic of the resource Promotional booklet. Includes 'The Draft Manifesto' and test making the case for revolutionary change. 8 x A4 pages Description An account of the resource In thi“s period the price :of buildin, g and of land,rocketed;the term &the unacceptable face of capitalism' was coined; the speculator and the developer became the villains in our society and corruption in the Seinely, architectural profession began to break through the thin veneer of ‘creative professionalism' that the RIBA had fostered for so long.In the words of many commentators,it was only the tip of the iceberg". Yet during that time leading members of the profession (some now on the eee Council) were saying such things as; ft 1 is rcidiculousas nonot to developr thene s3ite to its fulle st poteenti eUlevonens there is no point in underdeveloping on valuable enay, oe at es "ThemostsuccessfiEularchIitectsiarethosewh ststearekeOEE5 S and the mechanics of property development". OyRioc Tides daHee acne d : Owen Luder Yes w"ie did wyoork for the spivss(develsolopers) anid when we did weé f terrible hypocites,.... but what could we do". ti HUE BOGE aro architect it hy aE ates ape ® al uilding Design . staoe eae ee oa not officially endorse such views, Bib See 1 rin, ese year hysica 3 7 ee gtheyearsofphysicalandsocialrape,oncecryoutin HFcor thpeoese in thehe movemeenntt,, theesse past years have been the final stra EeayCeneihavewaitedtoseetheputteuaiaiteastinegekeenaen aeweee ayandwewerewillingtoacceptevengradualreform ae 20,08 CORN Geuieiarer of i Sea spirit. We now see that we eet 4f ° regreatest caume in t‘he prrorpertyyboomme. ThTihsis isiswwhe:n th fessiion cou‘ld hain 3 anc last chance for the RIBA thevanguardinenvironmentalethicsandofa? eae sShowed:itstrxzuecharacterandsisdiedWie Tene meae8ee wis i inflation in land and conaenicriGee: ceae aes CEATEIGGE Jin°fat! sae aanin cSoepatbhine omBAensis noe i fy to govern the world of architecture, nor is it aeuaacareMevGyan.he,Caosvaluetosociety.'Theinaeteanene :an, he goesontosay'Theins other hand is alive and well', THE INSTITUE TS NO? DELDMGHe: beets itects belong to i it is ; society. & it and it is the mouthpiecs of architecture in our | Se Aalm ee cs20Ee ESS sae The people living ig these communities are particularly incensed because the profession passed itself off as being socially conscioys. But the tables are turning because of the massive number of redund- ant architects who will soon condemn the RI8A for not building o firm social working base for architecture. Over a thousand architects will be out of work by Christmas and more than 60% of graduates will not. find employment this sumer. These unenployed architects can blame, with some justification, world inflation and recession for their plight, put the main problem is the greedy inflexible character of the profession. And as the redundancies occur who will be hit first? Not the powerful principles who run the big practices and back up the elitism of the RIBA. Tt will be the salaried architects and technicians, the people who do the real work in architects offices. All those soon to be redundant should know that there has never been 2 lack of work. A large pert of our environment is a slum and getting worse. But the RIBA has never taken the trouble to-ferge the professin into.an organiser capable of tackling these problems. The first prerequisite of such capability is thw desire to do something about it; this presupposes a social conscience,. something the RIBA has never hed. For reasons such as greed and aloof- ness the RIBA is incapable of dirtying itself at the level of the problen- The RIBA has no meaning fbr our siciety; 2 society that requires commit— ment to a cause. It has no meaning for architecture students yet it continues to control their destiny. It has meaning to many purely as an enticement to letters after ones name, as a path to commissions or jobs. Soon there will be no jobs left. But useless as it is the RIBA will not relinquish. power voluntarily. The status quo will not easily abdicate in the face of reason said Harold Laski. He was right. A strong architectural revolutionary movement must keep attacking the RIBA, until the power is rested from them ang a new order established. Prior to this,hope only iay with the few. architects and students deeply commited to an architecture for all people Now many more will commit thenselves, because they sre left with no other option. : The new system of architecture will need to be based on 2 mass moyement just as the RIBA is, otherwise there can be no progressive and creat— ive attack on the environmental problems of our society. That is why the ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL does not pretend to’ be the new moverient, nor indeed its embryo. ARG has constantly seen itself as a guall commited tovement totally opposed to the present setZup. It wpuld also oppose the new movenent should it show tendencies to becoming 2 pureaucracy intent-oh precerving itself ’to the deteriment of society. ARG sees itself as helping to bring the new movermnt abou and if nessessary acting as its vanguard. To this end it is organising 2 national convention in the Autumn,of all erchitects, technicians, students and others who wish to see revolutionary changes within the profession. Seperate literature will be published shortly concerning this convent-— ion. e As regards ARC itself there is still much to be done to build the group into an effective architectural guerilla force, What follows is a brief history of the movement so far and ways in which you maybe able to help if you feel yourself committed. For as Malcolm X once said "...if you're not part of the solution your part of the problen". THE PRESENT SITUATION IN ARC. 5: The movement began some eighteen months ago, when two architects, one English and one Jugoslavian, decided that an international novenent was needed to take the profession out of its elitast and capitalistic franewrk and make it responsible to society. There was particular need to deliberately align the profession with the poorer areas of our environment were connection with architecture is non-existant. AIRE 0.07 ee ees ee certainly right when he said of the xeepAiNn.g.. tiiintghé t2eoepleMECaMCnCee batoar hi plaacce have a veesstedd interest in architectuere, said Hanss Meyer /in th é€ 1930'tsg'ais a weapon that h &ep geeseepedPUR ihe classofhumansoottakSree o:fthoseawmhoebaathersoneereaetoetba..neRembrcanadat'isgiergereuataesetcokrawac pee aeey andrejection.Butianoaekings,nowlencnand Se eaeeeeemerchantsandspeculativebuildersarchitecture ReeshanesReeceaonwouldnototherwisehavefunctioned yeaaaeneueeee themselveswiththerichandpowerful! aweapnonusthatcanbeuseseda fencGanoeeof seoceiety and oie yeaeee ae cause of those who live in degrading earivecnedes Dre he neta TqThehaeaeerRIBaA is Bipaartioct of£ thte freee mIaMzarket system and thaat is: wh: aeWhatGedRoe thatsystemisundersuchan aa cee aar vec a as done to our physical and social environment aoeoe eee asmuchcapitalhasgoneintopropertydevelos SicuuaanseeeieaoePreeeneThseRIBAcanotimaginegs nt 's lat"UtelvaSten)seotsaeh SO at This e itself Cae = eevee uCn yan or has i he traditions to d r s a oe ee erchitecture ' . ca n on i t e e PConOoD vee EereeaEae which it has never done Tuer eee eee Saeed ne ae the taxpayer in tax and rate reliefs for thi he ae eaeprofessionshavemademovesforwardintera" Seecaeyacle.gonieee@abtemeeieeeLidCentres:someeaaicec ¢ whole s like VHS ils 1 more associated with the rich and eee aeeeeS ee ova apelta i i 3 ee nt me of the primary i i existedmany ECCI ices oe erag- inaphnieeee:Sada :iToesrohatectawhoaeather&t.eFoaa 5 ive and formidable oD rek rfieevvoalta :Tens emegs thgen int eB|en tiete|aCo9memoznosnencBbt raesefaseaorshle SafoarecieoRafolr ssion. se denanded that nati onaorlaecmoSvedeantentssabboee conasatsrhuected fi a : enbegonie cells BoeFe eid Serguei er it is known Argentina, Ital yonic cells in eigh Saeunte sen oan a own Sebicee wshtonithy onoethedraftmaheBe ee excht eee c us eae us in contact and lefte aaa ane etteuntane ng, loose unit ‘ate atten e:aoe Leet unityis Beye one conan tinesaeRememnobverment to let aussout anda years, Nthoerwafyi,rstTeoAiRlCeniLeNaeTERNATIONAL will occur urse, perhaps within two Trance; ee Orcs YOUDO siwithin ian your practii ya ee would strive Doe tnee whoGatrusteeae ieeeSenItisbeteorfatneawesyiseteneofa dictator of the lives of the poor and ynderprivileged. it has abused the trust of society WHY THE TIME IS RIGHT. + on the home front. It has never developed even such esoteric concepts &S the competntion system, A000 miles how can we expe pecause the ruling elite wish to keep the rewards for themselves. than to the goeiety that ib Ls ondemn aparthied and therefore ave such principles fron nas worked itself into 2 especially over the last of progress and must be swept away, and must now go, to allow a humane and just design profession to flourish. The ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL sees itself in the +radition of past revolutionary movenents in architectures the Constructivists, ARSE, Atelier Populaire. These movements did not succeed because the tine was not right, put they planted fertile seeds. WE BELIEVE THAT THE PIMs 1S RIGHT and we in ARC want to play our full part in the ereation of the new mass movement in architecture. But this can only come about with your aid. There are over tw ed architects in this country - Per head of population this is more than any country in Burope. Over apers of the RIBA. 80% of aual vik for other architects. This alone ays for their +raining- ides the grants 4o train arc i tal pepblems of society. Architects do not repey any way at present, they are unaccountable and irresponsible +o thet society. Trained people are forced to work in and are exploited py a bosses organisation; *? e RIBA. A large proportion of the archit- ectural work is handled by & small proportion of the membership who have built up large practices. The RIBA has always been run by suc a thus the status quo is maintained. Phe tendency has been to pecome big and powerful with the emphasis on streamlining and management sechniques. The RIBA'S ethic, if it can be said to have one, is that of narrow professionalisns a service to the client. These days the client cannot be qaentified with the society and frequently not even with the user. All this is in direct contrast to the moves going on in our society; the themes of local autonomy and preservation, the revival of craftsmanship and @ more human approac environment. over half our urban environment is economice environmentally deprived. The communities within th through +axation, to train the profession. a where it does not ignore these areas (commissions do The RIBA has 2 code that seeks to cushion its members from adverse critisism;it is i the RIBA that members should be loyal and communities, the sub The movement i pest eyelet is drafting id A ad structure deas for a new iallyorientatedos,(nom,resieeeaDEeeeofeducation;fo m) and for the other Petes under the’ fet the wey as. These will soc— be put to The many eritics of the RIBA call for reform,. We call for REVOLUTION and say DO AWAY WITH THE RIBA; Tt is an eneny of society, and the i Tt is in the path The main core a ¢ a offtthe English novel ‘ addition to NoriDOne >archite movenent is i 5 meubeeeeene worked berenes sae Tape contains, in ates ough that nett 5 ly in coumunit e awyers. All environnental fi al hod is, it will n y action and peli the core revolutionisedoe itsown.Th otachievetotalf.lievethat SPURL ulgyreabeeMthfeatRAPaea putteftbecausetheySee onconmitment(eelastyearthemove a % 5 o aid er : e professic ieee reedom i y Paes causeoftheae liveuptothefaepeeve oneoroe % e. Others ha ae ion be 5 teals, whi smAn teaaenemeeeepoeeeafteree and, In addition ave etured at coll and serious though n arch- speaki a sue eges ght.) eee at colleges nels ShOpD recently Soe poets Ireland and § saeeaeteeoe Coshamte Grceedpecansmereee None ofithe Chats toundeSem eihan Franssiissco art: Raeneeo= e confére a Party Duden Peecinin Ane al Biperais,(ie aohowe Pent e Because ev i entuall . Se o not align withh thtihis p : i } ss of naki need parlianen ks in the proces y we will need fron"then, tevelopingandattheaigetaOkeCoe | ime we expect f ee ME ull the Autumn B an convention y July the main core ae ae contribution to th to produce 3 > at.tea English movem € mass mo nent movenent. East coa at least thre ; a i BecereeetheNorthvesta ee pea ponden)willhavesplit; fipur heasleny y totally and in Scotland. 1 ovinces; will be 0 put you in eeeee insetting work of people ee ee nere ees colle Byieeee a ee aR nauvene a oogel ingee clan3 1 We have a fai ay ¥ air] maybe able to ly extensive net mHher. x we will be ce rtsin ee of Britain and eae groupwillbecaptheautumncx yourlocality,Y¥ we n Summ callin Re Finally alwa mer & a meeting of all oie me to thés end pre ilampecanee ays remember tha ritish memb embers eeariea SP op tee the renson that the Wharnven cae say ew can @ are alone. +i we said and a 10 something ’ ime is right. a onvention : Your hel of this aid an not come from the poor areas)it helps in the rape of them through development or subtle gentrification. The RIBA upholds a 49th century elitist position and aeliderately keeps Lay people out of its club. This is particularly true as regards the yawning gulf petween the profession and the working elasses. movenent h ‘ i Hiapucm arte @ movement i ass bebeen two peonie seaman ee born and we arene ones: This is wha » because th € ‘oa my ne= status quo o But the RIBA and its ruling establishment, trap from which it cannot esc2pe- tls greed, decade, and its narrow objectives have put 4% in such pad repute, that i ios fighting 2 last ditch pattle to try to build an acceptable image. Tt will not succeed. The 3000 unattached architects have already C= clained in 4 recent survey that the RIBA has done nothing for architec— ture. Membe ttack it for its social sins. The public i s. now see along with the local pureaucrats and speculators who have ruined their lives, environments ¢le villian of the piece is the RIBA. Architects uniite for rev : VICTORY TO THE ARC. evolution Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Andrew Brown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/24b6bf27a8e586e107dbde60d8f56e62.pdf 507be80ea058dd350b7280de9aaadfb4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Introduction and Origins Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Harrogate Congress Subject The topic of the resource ARC Flyer and promotion of 1st NAM Harrogate Congress 13 pp total Description An account of the resource ARCHITECTS STUDENTS, TECHNICIANS & OTHERS. THE ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL, 11, PERCY STREET, LONDON W.1, TEL. 01.656.0974. Sx7.27. The Draft Manifesto. ARC ARC ARC ARC is well aware that to achieve a new framework for architecture there will have to be radical changes in our present political and economic system. Nevertheless first architects and students must demonstrate that they are prepared to fight for a new system in their own art. specifically believes that the students in the schools of architecture cry out for a new educational system to replace the existing one where they are trained as fodder for the profit orientated professional system existing now. calls on all these people to join together to form a new international movement end through solidarity help bring about the architectural revolution. REMEMBER UNITY IS STRENGTH. ARCHITECTS UNITE FOR THE REVOLUTION. REJECT THE RIBA. VICTORY TO THE 4£RC. eee FURTHER COPIES OF THE PAMPHLET(15p each) and POSTERS (20p each) ARE AVAILABLE FROM:— ARC, 11 PERCY STREET, LONDON W.1. calls on all those architects and others involved in the built environment who believe that we should cease working only for the rich and powerful minority or the bureaucratic dictatorships cf central and local government and offer our skills and services to the local communities which have little chance to work directly with architects and architecture. maintains that the profession as it now stands is a luxury profession and that because of this the architect is caught in the narrow trap of economic viability and profit. further maintains that the RLBA Qycpogetes this narrow luxury characteristic and is thus directly responsible for the malaise of architecture and the state of our cities. believes that their are thousands of architects who would welcome a new framework through which they could work directly for the local communities which would then becone the real clients with alk the power and privilege: of traditional clients. believes that the problems of architecture are al11 around us, but that people who suffer from them cannot afford architects to solve them; neither can architects afford to tackle them. It is this trap we wish to break. 2irateteentntimerA What is ARC, It is a movement of architects, students and others, which believes that creative architecture should be available to all people in society, regardless of their economic circumstances. It is a movement committed to revolutionary changes within the architectural eatablishment and spec- ifically to the replacement of the RIBA by a new architectural system. Why is ARC needed. The term ‘orisis “in architectyre! 18 common -ioday.and mot only pecause or Malcolm MacEwans book; the press is constantly filled with statements of alarm, disgust and desperation over the state of architecture and the dilema in which architects find themselves. We in the movement would refer everyone to MacEwans book which soundly castigates the RIBA, for in general terns we agree with his analysis, BUT WE DO NOT AGREH WITH HIS SOLUTIONS OR CONCLUSIONS. His radi¢al Péformist policy, which accepts the convinuance of the. RIBA,..i18 doomed to failure, in the contexs Of our archnivectupal system, because, as ANdre Gorg says!....reformism rejects those objectives and demands, however deep the need for.them, whieh are incompapibie with the preservation of the system..". Architecture shoulda be done in the service of “society.* Social euhics and justice should-pe “our Criteria, We all kmow. this.is not so.and that the architectures! profession has fay too frequently been motivated by anti-social values. The profession is full of the whining and wheedling of the RIBA at the moment over the disasterous slump in the professions work load. Delegations to the govertmen., lobbying’ of Wi"s and Poolewe receny plea vo ele architects wo donate £10 to the HIBA;s- these are all~ Sigs of s-ponie rue to protect the status quo, The reasons for Pooleys begging are, in his own words, !..as+sbat a Strong RIBA is neccessary’ to the survival of practices everywhere and the achievement of a stable building programme. Apart from the fact that this is not even true (greedy large practices are at least partially responsible. for the dilema of the small enterprise), there is not a word about the quality of the.environment, nor about the dramatic gocial changes trying to break through if} our society,.and in.which.erohitecture Must Play apart if-4a%-as to heave amy credibitaby at,ali,, Pie common ownership,of workplaces,.-the desire for local: control, the. semi slavery of the technicians in the profession;. there is no evidence that the RIBA is stimulated by such ideals. The RIBA's yearning for a stable buildigg programme is a wistful reference to, the boom years of the late sixties.and early seventies, Those boom years tell the whole story and they are the prime reason why ARC maintains that only revolution: wall. do. This graph showing the rise and fall of cormissions in the world of architecture, shows Clearer than any words, just where the profession and the RIBA have stood im Pelavion to our society in recent years. This coincides enootly Manin the Office Boom, So:-°2 weknowwhothefriendsofthe SaaecaedAe RIBA were, and why the profession s+“Delioatin theyreats.t+4he years of 1969 to 1973 will be rerienbered for a long tine’ 6 come. They are our generations architectural heritage. L Pay pare fj | | y et aMILLION [acre le ca eae es PSE peopl g [| | § i i | i| p PaPorees Seve ys| Ae |. aod Foal a TS aa 7. 97>cLaeaieaneTa oe 800 iesdues ae ee pory ce] ase ia' !ieo;Ee}aan cf6p~6s TOUTfayoe VALUE OF COMMISSIONS/LAST DECADE. sesilent: Ai} 4900 he) im this period the price of buiidine and of land,recketedt;he 4mm fae unacceptable face of capitalism’ -was~coined; the speculator and. the developers became sihe villains in our society and. corruppien-in-the saintly architectural profession began=toobreak: throygn-~the-thin-yeneer of 'epegbive prapessiauslasmi ctiao he RiBAchad:fosteredanfoxs sontong.in the words of ‘many commentators,"it wasonly the tip of the iceberg"; Yet during. that. time leading members of the profession (some now on the RIBA Council) were saying such things as; H1t is, Cideoulovssnot.t0 Gevelop the site to. its.fuliest potential... tmere.18 No poling. in iF aectietenceing on valuable Tand.."' Fitzroy Rovineon. "The most successful architects are those who understand property values and the mechanics of property development". Owen” Duder. ‘Yes we did work for the spivs(developers) and when we did we felt DOr eLoLe. NVPOCL tees. .a« Pl, Wal could we do”, Anonymous: arehitect Building Design 4/75. OT couwmse. the HiBA-did Hoy officially endorse such Views, Dub, Meivper didwit,;-durdug these-years.of physical and S0ctal rape, once cry, os in Protesty Hor those in the Movemeny, sete pesu-yoers Leave pecn tie Tie oie. Likemany.otherswehavewaited.to.seetheprofessichetacc.uptoi3 social responsibility and we were willing to. accept éven. gradual reform as lone a@s.weeould. see. a e260. 01. eo0cial Cpa « We now-sée. that we could wei lorevers.in our; View, the groabest,and last, chance, tor the RIB, Colca im ie Oroperw,). 090n,. Tits ico when. Loe prolession, could. have. bes the vanguard in environmental ethics and morality. instead the, RIBA showed, die, true character, and .sided.with he, ceriminats.who. exploLied pe infgiation-in,dand. and.consiruction. costs. Louis Hellman(AJ cartoonist) wa s certainly right when- he said: of the RIBA "4. the people at--the wets ow ‘this place have a vested interest in keeping things the way they aro. Architecture, said Hans Meyer in ine P9504 Sis? a weapon that-has as-all éimes been wielded by the ruling class of human society'. Stephen Kurtz in his book 'Wasteland’ says "She history of architecture is’ the history of those who had the power to build. Rembrandt's greatest work was accomplished in poverty and*reyection.’ But without kings, noblemen and governments, churchmen, merchants and speculative builders, architecture WoUuld=-Metoxis~wb.ec”au.se--lheywouldnototherwisehavefunctioned. Architects have always allied themselves with the rich and powerful’, No-one can deny this. But we can change this, and turn architecture into aSweaponthatCanbevusedforthegood*orsocietyeae?“perhEOUsarseyea1 the cause of those who live in degrading environments’, The RIBA is\ part of the free market system andi.that-is why..the-dnetisute is In“such a turmoil now as that system is under such an. attack..We all Wnow what that oystem has done to Since 1971 three times as much capital ment as into our industrial production. outside this system, and nor has it the however, always had a mandate to do so, as it's charter, specifically demands that it'advance civil architecture'. preted as perving society, which it has £100,000 a year from the taxpayer in purpose. Where other professions have social service, (some tentative like Legaal Aid Centres; some which embrace the whole society, like the our physical and social environment. NHS) whilst the RIBA has only become more associabed.with the rich and: powerful. has gone into property develop- The RIBA cannot imagine itself traditions -to do so. 1b has, This can, only be. inter- never done though it takes tax and rate reliefs form this made moves forward in terms of 2eeee reteeee adsense ere Oeous orees hon—6—s5 ofpanlis of any veform of lasting value to society, ‘The institute is dead! says MacEwan, Dut then ne goes on to say “The t7sti ite on the other hand is alive and well't,. THE INSTITUE IS NOT DEAD! 80% of arch- itects belong to it and it is the mouthpiecs of architecture in our society. WHY THE TIME IS RIGHT. ie many ovitior of the RIBk gall for reform, We eal) tor REVOLUTION and say DO AWAY WITH THE RIBA; It is an enemy of eociety, and the dictator of the lives of the poor and underprivileged. It is in the path of progress and must be swept away, it has abused the trust of society and must now go,to allow a humane and just design profession to Flourish, The ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL sees itself in the tradition of past revolutionary moverients in architecture; the Constructivists, ARSE, Atelier Populaire. These movements did not succeed because the time was not right, but they planted fertile seeds. WE BELIEVE THAT THE TIME IS RIGHT and we in ARC want to play our full part in the creation of the new mass movement in architecture. But this can only come about with your aid. There are over twenty thousand registered architects in this country. Per head of population this is more than any country in Europe, Over 80% of these registered architects are membems of the RIBA. 80% of all architects are salaried;IE.they work for other architects. This alone shouldbeunacceptabletothesocietythatpaysfortoed.Tren so is the taxpayers money that provides the grants to train architects to deal with the enviromnental prepblems of society. Architects do not repay this debt in any way at present, they are unaccountable and irresponsible to that society. Trained people are foreed to work in and are exploited by a bosses orgamisation;the RIBA, A large peoportion Of the archit- ectural work is handled by a small proportion of the membership. who have built up large practices. The RIBA has always been run by such people and thus the status quo is maintained. The tendency has been to become big and powerful with the emphasis on streamlining and managenent techniques. The RIBA's ethic, if it can be gaid to have one, is that of narrow professionalism; a service to the client. These days the client cannot be identified with the society and frequently not even with the user. All this is in direct contrast to the moves going on in our society; the themes of local autonomy and preservation, the revival of craftsmanship and a more human approach to developing phe environment. Over half our urban environment is economically impoverished and environmentally deprived.The communities within these areas have helped through taxation,to train the profession. This profession returns note of this aid and where it does not ignore these areas (commissions do not come from the poor areas)it helps in the rape of them through development or subtle gentrification. The RIBA upholds 2 19tn centuny elitist position and deliderately keeps lay people out of its club. This is particularly true as regards the yawning gulf between the profession and the working classes. The RIBA has a code that seeks to cushion its members from adverse critisism;it is more important to the RIBA that members should be loyal to each other and to the institute, than to the society that it is supposed to serve. It refuses openly to condemn aparthied and therefore has no regard for Civil justice. If it cannot have such principles from 4000 miles how can we expect justice from it on the home front, i2 has never developed even such esoteric concepts as the compethtion system, because the ruling elite wish to keep the rewards for themselves. But the RIBA and its ruling establishment, has worked itself into a trap from whieh it cannov escape. It's greed, especially over the last decade, and its narrow objectives have put 1+ in such tad repute, tiat 1 it is fighting a last ditch battle to try to build an acceptable image. It will not succeed. The 3000 unattached architects have already c2 clained in a recent survey that the RIBA has done nothing for architec ture, Members of Parliament attack it for its social sins. The puoi and especially those in the poorer areas, now see alone with whe Loeal bureaucrats and speculators who have ruined their lives, environments and communities, the subtle villian of the piece is the RIBA. But -usekess asnitlis ne RIA will mot welinguish.power volunvarily. The status quo.will.not..casily abdicate in the face of reason said Harold Taski. He was fight. A stronge°architectural révolyiionary moverent must-keep attagking.the RIBA, until the.power.is restéd from them ang a new order established, .Prior to.this,hope Only “oy Wiel the “tow. architects and. students.deeply commited to an architecture-for-atl people Now many more will commit themselves, because they sre left with no other.optien, fhée.new system.of architecture will need to be based on & mass movement just agrthe RIBA is, otherwise, there ¢an be no’ progressive and creat- ive atpack.,on.therénvironmental problems.of our-society. That 18 why the ARCHITECTS REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL Goes not pretend to be The ew movenent, wor indeed its embryo. ARC has constantly seen itself as a snall commited tiovement totally opposed to the present set#up. It wpuld also oppose the new movement should it show tendencies to becoming 2 bureaucracy intent-oh prererving. - iteelf.’ to’ the. deteriment, of SOCiEV. ARC sees itself as helping to bring the new movenant abou and if nessessary.acting as its,vanguard, To this end it-is organising & national, conyentaon.in.ithe Autuma,of all-architects, technicians, students and others who wish to see revolutionary changes within the professio Seperate literature will be published shortly concerning this convent- Long : Agawepards ARC Ateelt, there.ia,still much. to. be done to build the, group into.aM; 6licetivea.archdtectural guerilla forge, What-follows 18 8 brier history of the movement so far ‘and ways inf which you tayoe able Go molp Livyou,d¢ eel. gyourse.t..comyitted..For.as Malcolm xX. once gait. "...1f-you,.e not ~oseh, of pame. solution. vour,;part, of. the. problem”, THE PRESENT SLTUATION Th ARC. The movement began some eighteen months ago, when two architects,. one English and one Jugoslavian, decided that an international movenent was needed to take the profession out of its elitaést and, capitalistic framewrk and make it responsible to society. There was particular need to deliberately nlign the profession with the poorer eueam tous environment were donnection with architecture is non-existant. The peodle living ig- these communities are particularly incensed. pecause the professiom passed itself off as being socially conscioys. But the tables are turning because of the massive number of redund- ant architects who will soon condemn the RIBA for not building a firm social working base for architecture. Over a thousand architects will pe out Of work by Christmas and more: than 60% of graduates will not. find employment this sumaer. These unemployed architects can blame, with some justification, world inflation and recession for their, plight, put the main problem is the greedy inflexible charncter of the profession. And as the redundancies occur who will be hit first? Not the powerful principles who run the big practices and back up the elitism of the RIBA. Tt will be the salaried architects and technicians, the people who do the real work in architects offices. All those soon to be redundant should know that there has never been a lack of work. A large part of our environment is a slum and ‘getting worse. But the RIBA has never taken the trouble to-ferge the professisn into.an organiser capable of tackling these problems. The first prerequisite of such capability is thw desire to do ‘Ssonething about ity thie presupposes a social .conscience,. something the RIBA has never had. For reasons such as greed and aloof- ness the REBA “be incapable cofidintyingsttiselt problem «atithe -kevei.of the Me RISA has noieaming thr our 3iGiety: a seciety “that requires commit Hent to:49,.Gause... bee no meaning .for continues .fo control their destiny. It has meaning to many purely as -an enticement to letters after ones name, Soon there will be no jobs left. avchitectire “srudents veu 1t as-a path to commissions or jobs. Because eventually we will need parlianentary backing, the movement is in the process of naking contact with appropriate MP's, Our contatts with the unions are also developing and at the right time we expect full support fron*then, The movenent is drafting ideas for a new aystem of educatthon; for the new finenoial =siructure. (how architects would be paid under the’ new soc- ially orientated system) and for the other ideas. These will be put to the Autumn convention as ARC's contribution to the mass movement. By July the main core of the English movement(in LOndon) will have split, to produce at least three new cells om Units, in the Provinees; on ‘the Hast coast, in the North West and in Scotland. Because these: cells will be constructed by totally committed ARC members we will be certecin of four fpealthy cells Oy -SstUmmer. WHAT CAN YOU DO. Within, im: your vractice, College or Locality you’ can’ try-vo Dull: up-a unit that would strive for the establishment of a new system of architectu ture, based on the draft manifesto, It,is better to have. four people who can trust Gach other than a,ioose- unit: often. Remember unity is strength, and you, will not te alone, Contact the main movement to let’ us know you are attempting to build a cell then keep us in contact and let us know your views. We have a fairly extensive network of people throughout Britain and we maybe able. to put you in. touch with others in your.locality. Your help will be needed in setting up the Autumn convention and to thés end the ARC main group will be calling a meeting of all the British members Carly in Summer; Finally always remember that the reason that the status quo is preserved is because people think they are alone. The minute two people get together and say ew can do something, then a movement is born. This is wha what we said and a movement has been born and we shall win, because the ting, 12 Pier t.. Architects unite for revolution VICTORY -TOt THE AERC¢ « One of the primary instincts of the founders: was that there: already existed many hundreds, if noy thousands, of architects who-are a part of such a movenent in spirit; what was collective and formidable force for ssion. Commonsense demanded that national movements be constructed first, and this pamphlet refers only to the that there are embryonic cells in Argentina, Italy, Jugoslavia, France, due course, perhaps within two years, Ceol", The main core of the English movenent is in London, and contains, in addition to architects and students, menbers have worked extensively in valid “though “that. netitod tis ,:cit wilh environnental field on its own. The revolusgionrsed ‘to aid community action.: has been building strength based on have left because they could not live putting the cause of the revolution itecture. Others have joined after The core meribers have lectured at land, .In addition a.small group recently speaking at colleges in Boston, New Angeles and many other cities, One adressed the conference of the ¥oung party but we will proclaim ARC anywhere). needed was to forge them into a revolutionary: Changé, inthe: profe- English group. However it is known eight other: countries so far; USA, Norway, Ireland and Scotland. In the first ARC INTERNATIONAL will laypeop&fé and lawyers. All the core community action and believe that, not-achi eve total Inoeedem ain sbhe profession themselves have to be During the last year. the movenent commitment (for example one or two up to the ideals, which denangs before conventional success in arch- long and serious thought.) colleges in England, Ireland and Scot~ travelled throughout America York, Chicago, San Frensisco, los of<the founder members recently Liberals.(We do not align with this p [ere ARCHITECTS avian BEVOUUTIONARY cee COUNC START THE NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT | Ceaseoe membershipfeestotheRoyalInstitute of British Architects and stop supporting any functions or activities they organize or sponsor. 2 Commence setting up in regions, cities, offices, colleges or localities groups of people willing to participate in a truly social form of architecture and environmental design. 3 Forego any committment to the existing practice and education system and begin contacting and working for people and groups who are working towards ereating a better environment, not screwing it for all it is worth. 4 Come together and begin to organize a system of design education which we can implement through national and local government, colleges, universities, and polytechnics, to replace the present archaic process of design teaching. 5 Work for and participate in a national convention in October, to formerly establish the beginning of e new architecture movement, based on people not profit. We see the establishment of these points as paramount if we are going to have a worthwhile architecture. The present system,for the reasons stated,is incapable of the radical change neccesssry to ressurect architecture from its disgusting state. KEN “pone SOUTHERN REGION) ADAM PURSER( MIDLANDS) DAG FASTING( EASTERN REGION) GEORGE MILLS(NORTH WEST) BRIAN ANSON( LONDON) ANDY BURRELL( SCOTTISH REGION) REGION) BRIANeno) REGION) PAUL WALKER(WESTERN PETER MOLONEY( IRELAND) IlPERCY STREET LONDON WI. Ql.636:0974 EXT 27 The Architects Revolutionary Council is escalating its activities to bring about the We need committed people to make revolution. If you require further with organization,contact the following people at the ARC Offices. radical changes it envisages. the architecturel information or assistance Over the past few weeks the Architects Revolutionary Council has been its aims in the press and media and pamphletting schools, papers and Certain MP's have also been given cop ies of our literature. This pamphlet expands our views and puts forward our strategy to bzwasng about the architectural revolution. We see architecture today as crLM Wigs, an as mucn as ik a Sp ract iced agains t the general welfare of ordinary people in Bri 2ain. aHese are the people ARC members see as their peers, not the present controllers a manipulators of our environment. r my REVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE fhe Architects Revolutionary Council is not a populist movement. Unlike @ total social revolutionary groun, we are primarily concerned with Padical change within our Yiela of work, that being architecture and planning. Having said that, 1t would be naive to thin that our writings and activities will not effect social change, we will have railed if they do not. We are initially concerned with the heightening of the awareness, of our colleagues, the creation of a real empathy with the users of cur designs, then producing a solidarity based on what we see asa just cause. Our cause is a just one and we are committed to instigating our policies and strategies to bring about architectural revolution. At present ARC is uncertain what grounds the establishment will ‘submit on; What its greatest weaknesses era Also we are uncertain of its potential severity in repressing the indictments we are gcing to make, and its capacity to resist a real attack on its very foundation. As well «2 cur manifesto, which basically states our beliefs, it is inmerative that we day down certain ground rules. Cn achievement of the mass movement which we are striving for, these ground rules can be used as a future beais or starting point for the new architecture movement. It is our Pelice,. an refering to the RIBA and its members as the enemy or the establishment, that there exists a distinct ‘us and them! situetion in architecture and lanning. There are those who wield the nower and those who are suvject o it. The wiélders are the RIBA, the principles in private ~ractice and the heads of lIccal governnent denartment: Able recruits for these nosit-— ions are always in the pineline thinks to the educationalict: who constantly feed this archaic, yet newerful jroup. Obviously we are aware not improving it. CPV Le. to the economic structure td a Therefore we ari -conmitted te 1 of is with a system of enviromental design that takes neople as f ers, not Ssocarcuavectirad Because of the injustice and chaos caused by architecture ani its practitioners, we feel that though our approach is similar to other revolutionary grouns, our enemy is slightly different. True, architecture is oppressive, exploitive. manirulative and ignorant of peonles desires, Dut in its present form it is also archaic, totally archaic. 2: The practitioners and bosses of architecture are virtually unaware that they are so inadequate and ill educated in terms of the directions that our society is trying to progress. Unlike unwanted governments, monarchies or military oppressors, they are unable to coumand physical force to directly implement their dictates. ‘these two Tactors, unawareness and ill-equipredness make our enemy, the architectural establishment* vulnerable, yet unpredictable. we do not know how aware our enemy is of itself, or of the strength and versatility of its opponents. SOCIAL: HOMICIDE thes this powersare cane ‘rich elients, anuoct > cour tins alwnys be Gesigmerr end « Ber Car ly 2Ont, Wi Gery AEC’ ecqulesance, weoricrrs % end Porepui ns: Lad j power ubuce rural decay, eecizd disruption, paycholcgical suicide. *the power structure, baced on the economic infrastructure, propyed un end reinforced by the media und supported by the educational couces. Aa ind A conmilete evaluation of almost: any building erected in the past two or three decades will show,in social terms, firstly how powerful architecture has become and secondly, how the abuse of that power has brought zbout a destruction of our culture. Architecture has ceased to function fcr the good of people, it now functions to satisfy profits, ego's end abstract ees thetics. That is the shameful caression architecture has to make to society, now. ¥ ARCHITECTURAL SUICIDE The architectural nrofession has been instrumental in the destruction of the phyeical 1 ds of society, when its major, purpose should have been the €xact opposity. Collectively the erehitects, technicians, draushtsmen and students in the profession have either eagerly particirated ov silently carricd cut a systemutic annihilation of our great citics and many of their cultures and sub culturesI.n many ways architecture has created more havoc und destruction than the Luitwafie in World War Two. The only difference being that architecture has hidden behind the viel of redevelorment or rehabilitation: The war was destructive in many obvious and clearly detinarle ways. Architecture has been a lot more subtile.... but make no mistake the result hag been precisely the same. Germenys motives in that war were also easily identifiable and we found them very easy to hate; their succinct aggressive nature was plain to see. ‘he reasons for the architectural rorce taking over the aggressors role is not as clear, yet in the pvrivate sector the answer is simply profit. Though actual. building fescades varied, irfespective of purpose or lccetion,~ the reason behind any structure hsp chy Pee itself in the physical form was becanse it was vrofitable. In terms @f the scale of this manifestetion the equation is simple, the bigger the ptactice, the bigger the building, the greater. the profit and inevitebly the greater the social disruption and destruction. How have we managed to achieve a total reversal in the accepted reason for the existance of architects? is ODITeam fubscervaant, te singnevers, cornolatitns ani aevelcsers and srecalato This heirerchy un the bulk of peonle in the o>fices, ines (ane wgud ht y ofis? Lent Public sector architecture has perpetrated a spate of ugly, dominating and vast develonments in the name of socliety,in the pretence thet it is solving housing and educational problems. Most of these prcevlems ere paertislly inated by architects and planners thinking they can disgnose a society without even coming into contact with that society. In all honesty all that architects really need to mow about people is that the are mostly between four and six feet high and take up varicus amounts of syace, dependant on the activity they are involved in. That has been ealnust the sum total of expertise architects have applied to their buildings in distinct human terms. Architecture has successfully reduced people to the stetus of a design element, to be taken into account with all the cther elements such as lighting, plumbing, car parking étc. The RIBA has resisted any real efforts to change this situation, openly unwilling to ednit its social inadequacy snd allow the emerging escisl forces to influence its dictates. A more sensitive and socially rzsnonsive architectural order must remove them and begin to redirect our exnertise towards the areas ci society thnt need our assistance. The HIE j committed to ths ith jeapordizing it: io dependance unon 4 2 11s direction thout 1 S05 with thet, seetion of money. vrelritabl Overleaf is a pritary action course, that we eee as the fovndaticn to the new architecture wovement coming to fruition. We technicians, drew ctodents within the theis consciences eee ermo©rSmniees’, Ol. this acs, i All costs include VAT Please make cheques payable to the New Architecture Movement. @ecsseeeeeeeesaecevesseeovreeeenseseecse All costs include VAT Please make all cheques payable to the New Architecture Movement. HARROGATE 21st to 23rd Nov. 1975 evening meals on Nov. 21st & 22nd. £5.00 : tevecee eeeccee Bed and Breakfast, Friday 21st & Saturday 22nd Nov, Type of roon Cost per person No. of rooms available No. Req: 2Total 21 coccoses b5estee 31 seceeeee ae 29 eee bierte isan 25 soeevens eoeeeae a7 seeccces euseves 10 16eb eee eenbnes 28 @eeoeeees@ eseeee0es Single Single Single Double Twin Double £3.25 e355 (5 £4,590 fee 15 £2613 23500 £3550 Pert WAHT Twin eeee eee £GRANDTOTAL.scoeee NAME O.6'0'6'651666.660186068.90.40000:0600octeieoeoePeeSNeORVeephereeatieyoteerierneHeevaluetayoamegessoeae NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT CONGRESS APPLICATION FORM Please return by Nov 3ad to NAM 11 Percy Str. London Wi Cost per person No. Reds £ Total Conference Attendancé including 3 NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT CONGRESS HARROGATE 21st to 23rd Nov. 1975 YauwuPr nm oe Gt no el & ADDRESS PRCHSHHHE HEH HOES EHHEAEHSHHHCHEES HOES HS HOSE OHE EE EEAESES ESHER OESEEE SS aeeeda OtOeCOCo,Gan APPLICATION FORM Please return by Nov. 388, to NAM 11 Perey Str. London W1 Conference attendance including ~ Cost per person evening meal on Frid, 21st & Sat 22nd. £5.00 Bed and Breakfast, Friday 2ist & Saturday 22nd Nov. No. Req. coccvece EBTota. eecceces Type of room Single Single Cost per person £3.25 PER NIGHT £3.15 21 31 & TOTAL eeccccee wcvccce seceveee cdeeees Double Twin £2215 ELS 25 le] oocerene eeevece soceccee wteenes Twin £3.50 28 eeegeee a Se @orvecoes sees ee £>GRAND.TODATo:6esis ‘ No. of rooms available Wo.’ Req: Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Flyer Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Allan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Nov-75 https://nam.maydayrooms.org/files/original/a563fe2519ded93c9a1e09d8b7adb2f2.pdf 6255d45aa6e627b43f2dc4b4df0dd0b0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Introduction and Origins Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Harrogate Congress Subject The topic of the resource Poster New Architecture Movement Harrogate Congress with Hellman cartoon Description An account of the resource PROFESSIONALS TOGETHER / Harrogate Congress NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT 21:23Wev Costs from £10-58 inclusive Info from New Architecture Mevement 10 PERCY STR. LONDON WI 01 636 0798 Lon Moy ay FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER TIMETABLE to 19.00 5. i) Initial address ii) Discussion and Initial Motion. Working session groups (1 to 6) to formulate approach and assess validity of the task. 19.00 20.00 22.30 SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER to 20.00 to 22.00 10.90 to 11.00 11.0 to 11.30 11.30 to 13.00 13.00 to 15.00 15.00 to 16.00 16.00 to 16.30 26.30 to 18.00 1. Plenary Session. 2. Morning coffee. 3. Working Session 4. Conference Session. 5. Afternoon tea. 6. Conference Session. 7. Bar open between 18.90 and 23.00 NEW ARCULSECTURE MOVEMENT CONGRESS - 2ist to 23rd NOVEMBER 1975 Royal Baths Conference Centre Harrogate 13.00 to 15.00 l. Registration of Delegates and Guests at Royal Baths Conference Centre. Registration of Delegates at hotels and guest houses. 13.00 to 15.30 2. 15.00 to 15.30 3. Afternoon tea. 15..0 17.15 to 17.00 A. Opening Plenary Session. 6. Bar open between 19.00 and 22.30. 7. Cold Buffet. 8. Optional Plenary Session. 9, Conference Centre closes. 29.00 to 21.00 g, Buffet Supper. 21.30 to 23.00 9. Optional Conference Session. 23.00 10. Conference Centre Closes. a-——~s 2 gap ra Ussin. ! Awan. Huw. 2. Fodigfo.Wake |HeeAmm¢ 2. SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER 10.00 to 11.00 11.00 to 11.30 11.306 to 13.00 13.20 to 14.00 14.00 to 15.00 15.30 Conference Session. Morning coffee. Closing Session. Meeting of Elected Officials. Buffet lunch. Conference closes, Chanics Prot bar, Occ COLL aradesrtrette polvctlhrn, oe Free time, no lunch given. An onportunity to view Harrogate. A wu & W NY FEF 7s. ee @ @®@© @ «@ Over the past few weeks the Architects Revolutionary Council has been publ icising its aims in the press and media and pamphletting schools, papers and magazines. Certain MP's have also been given copies of our literature. This pamphlet expands our views and puts forward our strategy to bring about the architectural revolution. We see architecture today as criminal, in as much as it is practiced against the general welfare of ordinary people in Britain. These are the people ARC members see as their peers, not the present controllers and manipulators of our environment. Because of the injustice and chaos caused by architecture and its practitioners, we feel that though our approach is similar to other revolutionary groups, our enemy is slightly different. True, architecture is oppressive, exploitive, manipulative and ignorant of peoples desires, but in its present form it is also archaic, totally archaic. .: The practitioners and bosses of architecture are virtually unaware that they are so inadequate and i1]1 educated in terms of the directions that our society is trying to progress. Unlike unwanted governments, monarchies| or military Oppressors, they are unable to conmand physical force to directly implement their dictates. These two factors, unawareness and ill-equippedness make our enemy, the architectural establishment? vulnerable, yet unpredictable. We do not know how aware our eneny is of iteelf, or of the strength and versatility of ite opponents. The RIBA has resisted any real efforts to change this situstion, openly unwilling to ednit its social insdequacy and allow the emerging social forcee to influence its dictates. A more sensitive and socially responsive Overleaf is e primary action course, that we see as the foundeticn to the newarchitecturemovementcomingtofruition.heOeeaeeOecones tecChnicians, drsusguhgthetmeemnen aand studenetsn wiSatnheingetheourparosfessrions to Gscrarec,! SOCIAL HOMICIDE REV reason behind a structure manifesting itself, in the physical form was because it was croritenie. In terms of the scale of this manifestetion the equation is simple, the bigger the practice, the bigger the building, the greater. the profit and inevitebly the greater the social disruption and destruction. OLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE The Architects Revolutionary Council is not a populist movement. Unlike a total social revolutionary group, we are primarily concerned witn radical change within our *ield of work, that being architecture and How have we managed to achieve a total reversal in the eccepted reason for the existance of architects? 4 planning. Having said that, 1t would be naive to think that our writings and activities will not effect social change, we will have failed if they ao not. We are initially concerned with the heightening of the awareness, of our colleagues, the creation of a real empathy with the users of our designs, then producing a solidarity based on whst we see as a just cause. Our cause is a just one and we are committed to instigating our policies and strategies to bring about architectural revolution. A complete evaluation of almost any building erected in the vast two or three decsdes will show,in social terms, firstly how vowerful architecture has become and secondly, how the abuse cf that power has brought sbout a destruction of our culture. Architecture has ceased to function fcr the good of people, it now functions to satisfy profits, ego's end abstract aes thetics. That is the shameful cafession architecture has to make to society, now. ARCHITECTURAL SUICIDE Public sector architecture has pernetrated a syate of ugly, dominating and vast developments in the neme oF society,in the vretence thet it is 1 *the power structure, based on the economic infrastructure, yropned un end reinforced by the media and supported by the educations] couses. The architectural profession has been instrumental in the destruction of the physical rabviec of society, when its major purpore should have been the exact opposite. Collectively the architects, technicians, draushtemen and students in the profession have either eagerly participated or silently carried cut a systematic annihilation of our great citics and many of their cultures and sub cultures‘,In many ways architecture has created more havec and destruction than the Lurtwaffe in World War Two. The only difference being that architecture has hidden behind the viel of redevelorment or rehabilitation. The war was destructive in many obvious and clearly definatle ways. Architecture has been a ict more subtle.... but make no mistake the result has been precisely the same. Germanys motives in that war were also easily identifiable ond we found them very easy to hate; their succinct eggressive nature was plain to see. Yhe reasons for the architectural force taking over the aggressors rele is not as clear, yet in the vrivate sector the answer is simply profit. Though actual. building fascades varied, irrespective of purpose or locetion, the At peony ARC is uncertsin what grounds the establishment will submit on; what its greatest weaknesses ara Also we are uncertain of its potential | towards the areas of society that need our aseistance. The RIBA is too severity in repressing the indictments we are going to make, and ite i committedto the wealthy to change its direction,without loosing Sauce and capactty to resist a real attack on its very foundation, As well e2 cur j Jeapordizing ite professional status with that section of society. This manifesto, which basically states our beliefs, it is imperative that we dependance unon architecture being profitable is ruining cur environment, riot limproving it. Architecture in ites existing form is far too svorerveent lay down certain ground rules. On achievement of the mass movement which i we are striving for, theee ground rules can be used as a future basis oF : etarting point for the new architecture movement. It is our belief, in i® pefering te the RIBA and its members as the enemy or the establishment, to the economic structure to assert its real social responsibility. Therefore we are committed to its destruction and the replecement of it with » syetem of enviromental design that takes people as its peers, not money. that there exists a distinct 'us and them’ situation in architecture and Lanning. There are those who wield the power and those who are subject o it. The wielders are the RIBA, the principles in private ‘practice and the heads of lccal government denartment:. Avle recruits for these posit- ions are always in the pipeline thanks to the educationalists who constantly feed this archaic, yet, powerful group. Obviously we are aware - thede consciences and commence wor thet this nower structure is cubscrviant te finenciers, cornoraticns and rich clients, anc cf course develomers and syecalators. This heirerchy has always been eble to rely on the technicians, partially qualified designere end drevcatemen,who make un the bulk of people in tie offices, to carry out their dictates unquestioningly. They are guilty of silent ecquiesenct, working without a »rincipled mind, ebusing their conrciences, end foregoing eny rocial morale they may heave had. The resui+ of this power abuse ond cocial disregurd, is a lousy environment, Uroun chacs, rural decay, cocinl disruption, psychological disorders...architectural suicide. : solying housing and educational problems. Most of these prcviems are partially inFated by architects and planners thinking they can disgnose a society without even coming into contact with that society. In all honesty all that architects really need to know about people is that they are mostly between four and six feet high and take up varicus amounts of space, dependant on the activity they are involved in, That has been elmost the sum totel of expertise architects have applied to their buildings in distinct human terms. Architecture has successfully reduced people to the status of a design element, to be taken into account with all the cther elements such as lighting, plumbing, car parking etc. architectural order must remove them and begin to redirect our exnertise . -_ .ae Sienaeae WeAloan (7 a Yea oon DAL? i hodsved_ LavonW| Ol:696-019. ida /75. Nowe SIT, Refer Wolves fyyout7clepbavawy ‘ be Tiaelipa, iells 0s npaae mae Wonwoda, “Log vei noe Tenyalt it aint wieBRS,baceceah - ow) Liege be fet xed a fj PROFESSIONALS TOGETHER | oY\ =* a (? a599SOxwyTy[iaRMIaY70 095LIESSLAYPNRLIRA|S, ) C= = oO <i. | »i i C) ef aj ay —s- st.>= NEW ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT Harrogate Congress 21:23Wev Costs from £10:58 inclusive Info from Wew Architecture Movement TO PERCY STR. LONDON WI 01 636 0798 NEW ARCUISECTURE MOVEMENT _ CONGRESS - 2ist to 23rd NOVEMBER 1975 Royal Baths Conference Centre Harrogate FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER TIMETABLE 13.00 to 15.00 1. Registration of Delegates and Guests at Royal Baths Conference Centre. 13.00 to 15.30 2. Registration of Delegates at hotels and guest houses. 15.00 to 15.30 3. Afternoon tea. 15. 0 17.15 to. 17.00 4, Opening Plenary Session. i) Initial address ii) Diseussion and Initial Motion. to 19.00 5. Working session groups (1 to 6) to formulate approach and assess validity of the task. Bar open between 19.00 and 22.30. Cold Buffet. Optional Plenary Session. Conference Centre closes. 6. to 20.00 7. to 22.00 8. 9, 19.00 20.00 22.30 SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 10.90 to 11.00 1. Plenary Session. id. -0-to..11:,30 2. Morning coffee. 11.30 to 13.00 . 3. Working Session 15:00 to 16.00 4. Conference Session. 16.00 to 16.30 5. Afternoon tea. 26.30 to 18.00 6. Conference Session. 7. Bar open between 18.90 and 23.00 29.00 to 21.00 8. Buffet Supper. 21.30-to 23.00 9. Optional Conference Session. 23.00 10. Conference Centre Closes. SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER 10.00 to 11.00 11.00 to 11.30 11.30 to 13.00 13.50 6 14.00 14.00 to 15.00 15.30 Conference Session. Morning coffee. Closing Session. Meeting of Elected Officials. Buffet lunch. Conference closes. 13.00 to 15.0 Free time, no lunch given. An onportunity to view Harrogate. DH uu & W N FF = ee @ @© @ @ The Congress on "A New Movement in Architecture” will open at 3.00p.m. on Friday 21st November in the Royal Baths Conference Centre, Harrogate, Yorkshire. (See attached programme for full details.) The Congress will be officially opened by John Toomey, a local councillor and community worker from London. He will outline one of the principle aims of the new movement - that is, for the architectural profession to relate directly to local communities. Any new movement will obviously need the support and sympathy of Parliament and we have been much encouraged by the support shown by leading parliamentaries. It is hoped that Jo Grimmond, MP will address the Congress after John Toomey. Discussion on the issues raised will then bs thrown open to the Congress participants. The meeting itself will have two Chairmen: Peter Whelan - playwright Nikki Hay - formerly editor with the Architectural Association and now a freelance writer. be wt Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource ARC Poster Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived John Murray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 21-23 Nov 1975