Support on hand for traumatised architects

The Rubble Club was set up to draw attention to the number of buildings it claims are being torn down unnecessarily.

According to the support group’s website, an increasing number of architects see their work destroyed in the name of progress.

“Whereas before a building might last 100 years or more,” says the site, “ today some buildings struggle to limp through a mere 25.”

There are ground rules for submitting buildings of course. The building’s architect must still be alive. The building must have been designed and built with the intention of permanence and the building must have been demolished, or radically altered, rather than burnt down.

But what will the engineering community make of the scheme? Engineers spend just as much time, energy and resources on any building design, so could this idea be rolled out across the construction sector?

Chani Leahong, associate at Fulcrum Consulting, is unconvinced. “Engineers probably have better things to do with their time,” says Leahong, “and they’re a bit more pragmatic about these things.

“I think architects and engineers have a different attachment to their work. While, I don’t think having a support group to collectively lick your wounds is necessarily useful but a mechanism to highlight the waste of resources is a positive.”

Have you seen any of your designs go up in smoke? Have your say below.