Gurnon Frown - The glorious dawn of our five year plan

Let me say what a pleasure it is to be here. Both in my capacity as an outgoing Chancellor of the Exchequer. And in my capacity for being British.

British, not Stalinist. I have always kept one eye on the visual arts. For me, they represent everything that is great about Britain. Buildings hold us together, as we hold our buildings together. They are an environmental contract between empowered and responsible citizens and empowering and responsive governments.

Buildings come in all shapes and sizes. They may be built quickly and cheaply in England, through the imaginative use of "civil budgeteering" PFI partnerships. Or they may come in three years late and cost £431 million in Scotland, through the application of exquisite architecture.

Why? Because buildings, like the people of Britain themselves, are diverse and surprising. Now, more than ever, we have a stamp duty to protect them. I commend the buildings of Britain to experts such as yourselves. Ohh.

Vision. Commitment. Strength. Norman Foster. Pride. Multilayered. Communities. Regeneration. Sale. Leaseback. Britain. Unity. Vision again. A new start. Imagining the future. Ignoring the Tories. There is little point in raking over the smouldering mistakes of the past 28 years. Ohh.

What Beveridge called the driving power of social conscience has always been at the heart of the architectural profession. I honestly believe that.

Now - in an act of union as strong as that which binds England and Scotland - architecture and environmental concerns have come together to form what I call Ethical Design Britain. People are supporting architecture in their millions by watching it on television. And, by cutting down on rubbish collections and volunteering not to smoke inside anywhere, people are changing their own behaviour. They have taken individual and community responsibility for protecting the environment. Not only is this more cost-effective in the long run, it is a realistic alternative to social justice.

My fellow Britains, we are at a crossroads. We know the way ahead, even though we may not enter the box until our exit is clear. But in the words of the old socialist refrain, Things Can Only Go Forward. Our Britain is very much a twenty-first century Britain. We must leave behind the mincing tyranny of the past. And embrace the portly wisdom of the present. From bleak concrete factories to carbon-negative call centres. From council flats and allotments to innovative property development and organic vegetables. From the old ivory towers of elitist professionals to the new towers of recycled plastic. And bamboo. Ohh. Ethical Design Britain.

I have set up something called the Public Private Forum on Identity Management. Among other things, it will make it easier to find out who I really am.

I see from our press release that this forum '... will be a key part of the identity management architecture across government, and will build on work under way across Whitehall.' Certainly, my officials tell me that workmen always seem to be taking the pavement up. And there's scaffolding everywhere.

So I say to the identity management architects of Britain - ohh. Let us design out crime and poverty and intolerance. Together.

How can we put this new environmental citizenship to work? By producing efficient, sustainable workplaces. And homes, of course.

But also by redefining "work". And "home". By creating more "live-work" spaces. By encouraging more people to leave the unemployment register and "work" from "home" we could be saving billions of tonnes of carbon. Ohh, really. And with broadband internet it's never been easier to start a business from home, or become a full-time carer.

That's why I'm urging Britain to "come home to labour". Ohh.

Construction. Industry. Ohh. Let us bring these great ideas together.

I address a conference on affordable housing. There were advanced threats of heckling from the Priced Out campaign, but - ohh - they couldn't afford a ticket. See you soon.

Ian Martin 30.06.2007

First published in his regular column in Building Design of Friday 11 May 2007, and reproduced here with the kind permission of Ian Martin.

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