Archiblog's Ordering
• Double page spread introducing 'Edukit: World Educational System' in AD by Norman Fellows Archiblog [1]
‘Designing Buildings’ features an article entitled ‘Anticipatory Design‘ by Norman Fellows under the pseudonym of “Archiblog”. The author’s website dovetails his office jobs with those Cedric Price (CP) was engaged with and includes a reference to what CP called ‘anticipatory design’:—
“To establish a valid equation between contemporary aspirations and architecture it is essential to add to the latter doubt, delight and change as design criteria. Architecture is slow and therefore anticipatory design is required.”
- Cedric Price (1996) ‘Anticipating the unexpected’, Architects’ Journal, 5 September
Thus this article by Norman Fellows takes the 1996 quote as a starting point in order to enable others to match their orderings against an anticipatory design, namely, ‘Archiblog’s Ordering’.
[edit] Introduction |
Norman Fellows at the St John's College exhibition, called 'Cedric Price: Outside the Box', on December 23, 2014. Photograph: Patricia Fellows |
[edit] 2017 - Dukeries ThinkbeltA plan for an advanced educational industry in West Nottinghamshire
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[edit] 2017 - DomestikitThe short-life house as a national service
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[edit] 2017 - Atom UK |
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[edit] 2018 - EdukitWorld Educational System |
[edit] 2018 - Oxbridge Community CollegeThink Links, CAMCOX, UK |
[edit] ConclusionsThis article affirms its premises and concludes that continuous anticipatory design is required. |
|
[edit] References
- Fellows, N. (2018) 'Edukit: World Educational System' [1]
--Archiblog 13:52, 8 Jan 2023 (BST)
[edit] Archiblog's articles on Designing Buildings
- AD: A great little mag!
- Anticipatory Design
- Archiblog's Ordering
- ATOM: A generating system designed by Cedric Price
- Beeching cuts: The railway network in Nottinghamshire
- Bucky's Ordering
- Cedric Price
- City Cluster, City of London
- City Cluster, Kit of Parts
- Co-operative Housing
- Disaster Planning
- Disaster Planning: North Staffs
- Disaster Planning: Notts
- Disaster Planning: School Buildings
- DOMESTIKIT: World-Wide Dwelling Service
- Dukeries Thinkbelt
- EDUKIT: World Educational System
- Generator
- Geographic Information Systems: QGIS
- Housing Research by Cedric Price
- Hudson Yards: Manhattan
- Miners' Strike
- Miners' Strike: The coal industry in Nottinghamshire
- Norman Fellows
- Potteries Thinkbelt
- QGIS "What about Learning More?"
- The Commons
- The Commons: City of London
- The Commons: Manhattan
- The Shed
- Varsity Line
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
[edit] •
[edit] Potteries Thinkbelt study - a first draft
|
[edit] FOREWORDIn February 1966, Cedric Price published a report, namely:—
Copies of the report containing the plan are held in the Cedric Price fonds, at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), in Montréal, Canada, where they can only be viewed by appointment. They are also unavailable on the CCA website. Thus the purpose of this article is:—
|
[edit] INTRODUCTION
Firstly, in June 1966, Cedric Price (CP) published an article in New Society entitled 'Potteries Thinkbelt', in which he wrote:—
- "This Thinkbelt study helps to indicate a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions."
Thus CP assumed a need, namely:—
- to indicate a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions;
and proposed a hypothetical solution, namely:—
a Thinkbelt study.
Secondly, in October 1966, CP published an article in Architectural Design entitled "PTb", in which the assumed need and the hypothetical solution in the previous article were combined into one whole:—
- "This study proposes a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions."
- (p.484)
Thirdly, in August 2024, Norman Fellows published this article on the Designing Buildings website, in which he assumes:—
- ... that in order to propose a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions in 1964 Cedric Price constructed a 'working hypothesis'. [1] [2]
Thus this article provisionally accepts the working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price as a basis for further ongoing research.
[edit] FACSIMILES
In August 2024, sixty years after the design start date, this article contains complete facsimiles of the original articles.
[edit] (1) The Thinkbelt study published in New Society
- "The priorities in education are staff, equipment and buildings—in that order."
- (Herbert Haslegrave, Letter to The Times, 1965) [*]
According to Herbert Haslegrave, who became Principal of Loughborough College and developed it into a College of Advanced Technology in 1957:—
- "...the choice is between the solid and permanent or the demountable and temporary. If well designed, sited and landscaped, temporary buildings can look attractive and almost everything can be taught and studied in them."
- "...education is in such a state of flux—it always is—and it is so subject to the effects of changing educational, philosophical, sociological and political ideas, as well as to economic crises (that it was only sensible for the) buildings to be adaptable."
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• Table 1: Facsimile of the article in New Society.
[edit] (2) The Thinkbelt study published in Architectural Design
- "Cedric Price's revolutionary proposal is that advanced education—and in particular advanced technical education—should become the new prime industry."
- (Robin Middleton, Introduction to the PTb, AD/10/66, p.483) [*]
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• Table 2: Facsimile of the article in Architectural Design.
According to Royston Landau, who was a studio professor of architectural design at the Architectural Association from 1960-67:—
- "The short-term solution is not seen by the Thinkbelt scheme as providing a temporary second best until a permanent "university style" building can replace it. Instead, the short-term program is in itself a major design enterprise, needing to exploit the the peculiarities of limited time-span needs so that there is no question of strait-jacketing a progressive educational policy which expects to be able to respond to constant change. The needs of the educational program, the possibilities offered by the location, and the importance of a low capital investment have each influenced the planning and the architecture of the proposals."
- (New Directions in British Architecture, 1968, p.77)
Thus these facsimiles enable further ongoing research of the working hypothesis constructed by CP in 1964.
[edit] FINDING AIDS
According to Royston Landau:—
- "The only purchaser of the full Potteries Thinkbelt documentation was the Ministry of Housing and Local Government who bought the report and copies of every single drawing including the photo-montages."
- (1984)
Subsequently, however, the documentation was also purchased by the CCA where it is currently held. It includes:—
- 192 reprographic copies
- 190 drawings
- 3 panels
- 0.15 l.m. of textual records
- 0.04 l.m. of photographic materials
- (Potteries Thinkbelt, CCA, 1995-2006)
The CCA has a set of finding aids, one of which links to Cedric Price fonds. However, the link below provides access via hyperlinks to 52 digitized items archived in the Pottteries Thinkbelt file at the CCA.
Thus this finding aid also enables further ongoing research of the working hypothesis constructed by CP in 1964.
[edit] THE ROBBINS REPORT
In February 1961, the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lord Robbins, was appointed. Its brief was:—
- " 'to review the pattern of full-time higher education in Great Britain and in the light of national needs and resources to advise Her Majesty's Government on what principles its long-term development should be based. In particular, to advise, in the light of these principles, whether there should be any changes in that pattern, whether any new types of institution are desirable and whether any modifications should be made in the present arrangements for planning and co-ordinating the development of the various types of institution'.
- (The Robbins Report, 1963, p.1)
After the report's publication, its conclusions were accepted by the government on 24 October 1963.
Chapter IV of the report, entitled 'Institutions of higher education in Great Britain, states:—
- "there are thirty-one universities".
- (p.22)
National and regional distribution of educational institutions
• Map indicating the national and regional distribution of educational institutions in 1964.
... that CP envisaged that the Thinkbelt would be operating from 1984 to 2009
see Rattenbury p.125
It pre-anticipated a post-industrial countryside [...] It anticipated a boom in education - already in progress, but it anticipated
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
- "It assumed the need for integrating housing, employment, education, transport, leisure, amenity - in a way which still has not been realised, and beyond that, it insisted that all this should be flexible so as to respond to further change - the change of the next 40 years after that."
If the Thinkbelt study proposes what CP calls "a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions" then this appears to suggest:—
- ... that CP thought that the national and regional distribution of educational institutions in 1964 was not valid.
[edit] Notes
[1] 1964 or 1963
[2] The term 'working hypothesis' may be defined as follows:—
- "A working hypothesis is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further ongoing research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails. Like all hypotheses, a working hypothesis is constructed as a statement of expectations, which can be linked to deductive, exploratory research in empirical investigation and is often used as a conceptual framework in qualitative research. The term "working" indicates that the hypothesis is subject to change."
- (Wikipedia)
[*] "In 1953 (Herbert Haslegrave) became Principal of Loughborough College and developed it into a College of Advanced Technology in 1957 and to the UK's first Technical University, Loughborough University of Technology in 1966." Wikipedia.
[*] "(Robin) Middleton was technical editor of Architectural Design from 1964 to 1972...", Wikipedia.
[*] See, for example, 'Chart of life span and use cycle', drawing number 64/100.
[edit] References
Canadian Centre for Architecture (1995) 'Potteries Thinkbelt', Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture.
Hardingham, S. and Rattenbury, K (2007) 'Cedric Price: Potteries Thinkbelt - Supercrit #1', Routledge.
Landau, R. (1968) 'New Directions in British Architecture', pp.76-86, Studio Vista, London - free to access on the Internet Archive.
Landau, R. (1985) ‘Philosophy of enabling: The work of Cedric Price‘, AA Files, No. 8, January, pp. 3-7 – also in Price, C. (1984) ‘Cedric Price Works II’, Architectural Association, pp. 9-15.
Levin, A. J. (23 June 2011) ‘Potteries Thinkbelt – Education, Architecture and a Way Forward‘, Sputnik Shuffle.
Price, C. (1966) 'Potteries Thinkbelt: A plan for the establishment of a major advanced educational industry in North Staffordshire', February.
Price, C. (1966) ‘Potteries Thinkbelt‘, New Society, 2 June, on WordPress.
Price, C. (1966) ‘PTb‘, Architectural Design, October - also available on thinkbelt.wordpress.com
[edit] Outtakes
[edit] Its purpose is to answer the following questions:—
- What is the Potteries Thinkbelt study?
- What are its aims?
- Why is it an un-built project?
- What has happened instead?
- asked by
- to ... the value of the Potteries Thinkbelt; and
- to ... what is useful about the Potteries Thinkbelt now, for the author.
In 2003, forty years after the initial response of other architects to the Potteries Thinkbelt, Cedric Price was asked if he would consider presenting the Potteries Thinkbelt at a 'Supercrit', he asked one question, namely:—
This article assumes:—
- ... that this question is still worth asking.
In 2003, when Cedric Price was asked if he would consider presenting the Potteries Thinkbelt at a 'Supercrit', he reportedly asked one question, namely:—
- "what is the value of it now - what is useful about it now, for you?"
- (quoted in 'Supercrit #1: Cedric Price: POTTERIES THINKBELT')
This article assumes:—
- ... that this question is still relevant now, in 2024.
"The Potteries Thinkbelt was a self-sponsored project designed during 1964 and 1965."
(Royston Landau, 1968)
Thus this article asks a question, namely:—
- "What was the national and regional distribution of educational institutions in the UK in 1966?
- (Norman Fellows)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TO BE CONTINUED<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
It also went into more detail - i.e.
- "In addition, by postulating various means of exchange, using electronic static communication systems together with mobile and variable physical enclosures, the study adumbrates the requisite flexible physical organization and the variable value of a finite location."
- (ib.)
In other words, the original study assumed the necessity of exchange as a basis of an argument and gave a faint indication of a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions which challenged the validity of the existing model in the early sixties.
[edit]
In 2003, CP planned a 'Supercrit', together with Samantha Hardingham and Paul Finch. [*]
- "...the POTTERIES THINKBELT study (Price's preferred word) serves as a useful primer for looking at much of his other work."
- (p.11)
Thirdly, in October 1970, CP published the first of a series of supplements in Architectural Design entitled 'Cedric Price Supplement'. It was introduced by Peter Murray who wrote:—
- "For some years AD has been publishing schemes, articles and comments by Cedric Price as one of the prime movers on the radical architecture scene. However, much of his work still remains unpublished and much of the published work requires rethinks and updated commentaries."
- (p.507)
Thus this article
As a start
August 2024, Norman Fellows published this article on the Designing Buildings website, in which he assumes:—
- ... that in order to propose a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions in 1964 Cedric Price constructed a 'working hypothesis'. [1] [2]
Thus this article provisionally accepts the working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price as a basis for further ongoing research.
on the premise:—
- ... that the Potteries Thinkbelt study is a working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price in 1964 as a basis for further ongoing research.
Thirdly, in August 2024, Norman Fellows published this article on the Designing Buildings website, in which he assumes:—
- ... that in order to propose a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions in 1964 Cedric Price constructed a 'working hypothesis'. [1] [2]
Thus this article provisionally accepts the working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price as a basis for further ongoing research.
According to Samantha Hardingham:—
- "The thrust of the first article pitched at a more general, albeit well-informed readership, is as a local authority housing project of which students are an integral part."
- (2007)
Further, according to Samantha Hardingham:—
- "By the time (Potteries Thinkbelt) hits the pages of AD 4 months later it is 'a revolutionary proposal... a major industrial undertaking!' These pages include much more detail about the different types of housing and how they operate in conjunction with the adjunct facilities in what were called 'transfer areas' and the transport network."
- (ib.)
[edit] THE WORKING HYPOTHESIS ACCEPTED
- "For some years, AD has been publishing schemes, articles and comments by Cedric Price as one of the prime movers on the radical architecture scene. However, much of this work still remains unpublished and much of the published work requires rethinks and updated commentaries."
- (Peter Murray, Introduction to the Cedric Price Supplement, AD/10/70, p.507) [*]
In 1984, CP published a book entitled 'Cedric Price Works II' in which he wrote:—
- "...the challenge from the Junior Government Minister, Lord Kennet, to explain an alternative to the then popular 'new' universities (early sixties) produced the Potteries to take advantage of local unemployment, a stagnant local housing programme, a redundant rail network, vast areas of unused, unstable land, consisting mainly of old coal-working and clay pits, and a national need for scientists and engineers. At the time, though not built, its ideas were heeded by both the UK and US Administrations because, I think, of its immediacy in response to a know situation. It is ironic that the response of other architects at the time, 1963, was totally hostile while now twenty years later - the period proposed for its socio-economic life - architects find it 'interestin' and 'important'!"
- (From the introduction to the chapter entitled 'ACTION and inaction', p.18)
The book contains the 'Life-conditioning' essay from AD/10/66 together with the montages on aerial views of the three main transfer areas, and a selection of trimmed illustrations of the transfer areas and the four housing types. In addition it contains a trimmed copy of Drawing Number 64/34, namely:—
- "initial plan of entire PTb scheme"
- (ib., p.20)
[edit]
• Reprographic copy of initial plan of entire PTb scheme, archived at MOMA, courtesy of The Howard Gilman Foundation.
Thus this article fully accepts the working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price as a basis for further ongoing research.
[edit] FURTHER ONGOING RESEARCH
In November 2003
THE ROBBINS REPORT
In February 1961, the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lord Robbins, was appointed. Its brief was:—
- " 'to review the pattern of full-time higher education in Great Britain and in the light of national needs and resources to advise Her Majesty's Government on what principles its long-term development should be based. In particular, to advise, in the light of these principles, whether there should be any changes in that pattern, whether any new types of institution are desirable and whether any modifications should be made in the present arrangements for planning and co-ordinating the development of the various types of institution'.
- (The Robbins Report, 1963, p.1)
After the report's publication, its conclusions were accepted by the government on 24 October 1963.
Chapter IV of the report, entitled 'Institutions of higher education in Great Britain, states:—
- "there are thirty-one universities".
- (p.22)
National and regional distribution of educational institutions
• Map indicating the national and regional distribution of educational institutions in 1964.
... that CP envisaged that the Thinkbelt would be operating from 1984 to 2009
see Rattenbury p.125
It pre-anticipated a post-industrial countryside [...] It anticipated a boom in education - already in progress, but it anticipated
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
- "It assumed the need for integrating housing, employment, education, transport, leisure, amenity - in a way which still has not been realised, and beyond that, it insisted that all this should be flexible so as to respond to further change - the change of the next 40 years after that."
If the Thinkbelt study proposes what CP calls "a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions" then this appears to suggest:—
- ... that CP thought that the national and regional distribution of educational institutions in 1964 was not valid.
[edit] Notes
[1] 1964 or 1963
[2] The term 'working hypothesis' may be defined as follows:—
- "A working hypothesis is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further ongoing research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails. Like all hypotheses, a working hypothesis is constructed as a statement of expectations, which can be linked to deductive, exploratory research in empirical investigation and is often used as a conceptual framework in qualitative research. The term "working" indicates that the hypothesis is subject to change."
- (Wikipedia)
[*] "In 1953 (Herbert Haslegrave) became Principal of Loughborough College and developed it into a College of Advanced Technology in 1957 and to the UK's first Technical University, Loughborough University of Technology in 1966." Wikipedia.
[*] "(Robin) Middleton was technical editor of Architectural Design from 1964 to 1972...", Wikipedia.
[*] See, for example, 'Chart of life span and use cycle', drawing number 64/100.
[edit] References
Canadian Centre for Architecture (1995) 'Potteries Thinkbelt', Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture.
Hardingham, S. and Rattenbury, K (2007) 'Cedric Price: Potteries Thinkbelt - Supercrit #1', Routledge.
Landau, R. (1968) 'New Directions in British Architecture', pp.76-86, Studio Vista, London - free to access on the Internet Archive.
Landau, R. (1985) ‘Philosophy of enabling: The work of Cedric Price‘, AA Files, No. 8, January, pp. 3-7 – also in Price, C. (1984) ‘Cedric Price Works II’, Architectural Association, pp. 9-15.
Levin, A. J. (23 June 2011) ‘Potteries Thinkbelt – Education, Architecture and a Way Forward‘, Sputnik Shuffle.
Price, C. (1966) 'Potteries Thinkbelt: A plan for the establishment of a major advanced educational industry in North Staffordshire', February.
Price, C. (1966) ‘Potteries Thinkbelt‘, New Society, 2 June, on WordPress.
Price, C. (1966) ‘PTb‘, Architectural Design, October - also available on thinkbelt.wordpress.com
According to Royston Landau, who was a studio professor of architectural design at the Architectural Association from 1960-67:—
- "The short-term solution is not seen by the Thinkbelt scheme as providing a temporary second best until a permanent "university style" building can replace it. Instead, the short-term program is in itself a major design enterprise, needing to exploit the the peculiarities of limited time-span needs so that there is no question of strait-jacketing a progressive educational policy which expects to be able to respond to constant change. The needs of the educational program, the possibilities offered by the location, and the importance of a low capital investment have each influenced the planning and the architecture of the proposals."
- (New Directions in British Architecture, 1968, p.77)
Outtakes
Thus this article contains the total amount of material available online for further ongoing research of the working hypothesis constructed by CP in 1964.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
THIS CONCLUSION IS STILL IN PROGRESS
This article concludes:—
- ... that the facsimiles, finding aids and iterations contained above enable further ongoing research of the working hypothesis constructed by CP in 1964.
Thus it accepts the working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price as a basis for further ongoing research beyond August 2024. For example:—
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TO BE CONTINUED <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
In addition, however, it concludes:—
- ... that
- ...
... that the real value of the Potteries Thinkbelt study is as a working hypothesis.
and paragraphs quoted above suggests a possible working premise, namely:—
- ... that in order to establish a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions it is essential to add to the latter the following design criteria:—
- scale—i.e. national/regional;
- location;
- higher educational institutions as social goods—i.e. 'goods which are inclusive (non-excludable); free; universally accessible; not for sale; not for privatisation; belonging to the commons' (after Roth, 2014);
- a limited socio-economic life;
- an experimental approach.
The Potteries Thinkbelt is an un-built project. Therefore the most obvious conclusion is:—
- ... that the national and regional distribution of educational institutions proposed by the Potteries Thinkbelt have not been accepted as valid.
However, this does not mean that it is not valid. Nor does it mean that the working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price in 1965 should be rejected.
A close reading of the intentions underlying the Potteries Thinkbelt's proposals in 'Life-conditioning' (AD/10/66) indicate the essential design criteria.
In 2007, Samantha Hardingham wrote:—
- "The fact that the POTTERIES THINKBELT is an un-built project, existing solely as a work on paper, is a most compelling feature,"
- (2007, p.11).
Further ongoing research has been self-published by Norman Fellows in two 'RESEARCH DOCUMENTS', namely:—
- Dukeries Thinkbelt in New Society;
- DTb in Anticipatory Design.
The two 'Research Documents'—i.e. the NewSociety Dukeries Thinkbelt
This article concludes:—
- ... that the Potteries Thinkbelt study's proposals have not been accepted.
as a valid national and regional distribution of educational institutions.
In other words, the intentions set out in the 'Life-conditioning' article have not been achieved nor have the design criteria identifed in this article been added.
However, this article does accept:—
- ... that the working hypothesis constructed by Cedric Price is a basis for further ongoing research.
Thus it also concludes:—
- ... that another Thinkbelt study can be a basis for further ongoing research.
For example:—
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