There are mixed feelings in the design and architectural fraternity about television programmes which chart the journey of a construction project. Thankfully, the early superficial make-over versions which relied rather too much on masking tape and dodgy wallpaper such as Changing Rooms are long gone, but we are still left with a variety of quick-fix garden and interior shows. If the title hadn’t been taken by the cookery equivalent, they could be called Ready Steady Build, with a race against time often an extra challenge. The danger with all these variants is that the impression is given that proper planning and rigorous thinking is unnecessary, which of course is untrue. Visit these projects after the cameras have left and you will understand why; they are skin deep stage sets which do not resist the test of time.
Architecture on the small screen Reflecting on the evolution of Grand Designs
The Architect
