Aspiring to novelty is a common theme in every generation of architects. It is deeply embedded within architectural thought and practice. Although the search for the new is a linking thread in the history of architecture, its precise manifestations have varied over time. Modernist architects equated novelty with being “radical”; their contemporary counterparts are more likely to seek the accolade “innovative” – a term whose appeal frequent usage does not seem to dim. Each new manifestation of the urge for novelty arises for different reasons and imposes its own modality on architectural expression. And these oscillating expressions of novelty shed revealing light on the way architects see their work in relation to society and the rest of the construction industry.

Being radical, for example, implied a desire to discard an existing order. In suggesting an affinity between architecture and grand political visions, it licensed a divorce between architecture and the rest of the construction industry. Builders, after all, were stuck somewhere in a transition from a craft-based economy to capitalism, which architects believed they had already surpassed in their connections with social democracy. Contractors would have a place in this Brave New World only for as long as they did what they were told, and if they did not, architects would use their connections to devise experimental techniques, which would make traditional construction obsolete. If your real purpose is to transform society, by-passing something as reactionary as the construction industry might seem to pose few problems.

The transition to “innovation” as the locus for novelty in architecture is a welcome antidote. Innovation is a familiar word. M4I, for instance, has adopted the term to describe the process of improvement, which might regain public and corporate respect for the industry. In re-packaging their urge for novelty as “innovation”, architects signify a willingness to engage with the agendas of the construction industry, and to focus on the possible and pragmatic rather than the abstract and unattainable. This in turn brings other benefits. It opens the door to identifying specific instances where architecture might make a contribution to their clients’ businesses.

It is in this sense that the projects in the exhibition were innovative. They are extremely diverse in scale, function and architectural idiom, even in mode of production. Yet what they have in common is a strong sense of design as a path to improvement. As Chris Williamson of Weston Williamson said of his firm’s Underground panels, “we are paid to be imaginative”. Bryan Avery drew attention to the visual improvements of his project for Neathouse Place, as well as its significantly better performance. Nick Zervoglos wanted his drinking fountain to be more than just a water supply, and the others express similar sentiments. To them, innovation is at least in part a function of good design, which makes it a component of visual culture.

But innovation can occur in many other fields. The M4I lists numerous types of innovation, including supply chain management and means of procurement, which do not necessarily impinge strongly on design. A project might be backed by innovative financial methods, while being regressive in every other sense. Innovation alone is not a key to better architecture, any more than “radical architecture” led automatically to a better environment.

These projects, however, show that architects have adopted innovation not just as a term to disguise their “novelising” instincts or in order to acquire a fashionable label. None propose new activities or inventions, but each performs its function better than conventional solutions. They also show how a design sensibility might affect different stages of the production process. Foster and Partners’ motorway signage system, for example, took as read the need for legibility and clarity, and focused specifically on the ease of erection so that the process causes minimum disruption to motorway traffic. Allies and Morrison’s Abbey Mills Pumping Station might be a “Cathedral of sewage”, but it’s also very low maintenance, unlike most cathedrals of the spirit. In each of these, the design conception addresses more than just the immediate effect of form and function to bring extra benefits in use and production.

Each of these projects takes a different starting point for a relationship between design and innovation. This variety is a much more persuasive message than simple magic formulae; it suggests that together design and innovation can be dynamic, flexible and effective.

Jeremy Melvin

Abbey Mills Pumping Station, Allies and Morrison

Virtually maintenance free, the pumping station with its aluminium and steel superstructure was conceived as a thing of beauty and not merely as an expression of its state-of-the-art technology.

The Fougere Pylon, Ian Ritchie Architects

Rather than let function completely dictate form, Ian Ritchie Architects allowed a degree of flexibility into the design of this pylon by introducing the idea of a curved line. Shaped like an ‘F’, 4000 of these new pylons are due to be installed over the next decade in France.

Motorway Signage System, Foster and Partners

The remarkable aspect of this system was not just the design of the signs but the way in which they were erected.

River Irthing Footbridge

The bridge is a curved structure, constructed from Corten steel (which weathers to a natural looking brown) and renewable hardwoods. Environmentally conscious and sensitive to its location, the design has already won a number of awards.

1 Neathouse Place, Avery Associates

A bland inefficient sixties office block in London has been transformed, almost beyond recognition, into a cutting-edge structure that uses state of the art materials and energy efficient technologies.

Sainsbury’s, Greenwich Peninsula

This is a remarkable low energy supermarket that could herald a new generation of green buildings. The supermarket is the first building ever to score maximum points in the Building Research Establishment’s rigid Environmental Assessment Method.

Spring Drinking Fountain, Nick Zervoglos

A drinking fountain that is both abstract and playful and not just functional. Chosen for its unexpected and original form, this fountain appeals to certain clients who want a drinking fountain that is more of a sensory experience than a confrontation with plumbing.

Cast Iron Cladding Panels, Weston Williamson

Chosen for the new Jubilee extension platforms at London Bridge station, these panels became an integral part of the station’s design. Economic, low-maintenance and vandal-resistant, they also expose the civil engineering so that it would be apparent how the station was put together.

E66 Wind Turbine, Foster and Partners

With a power rating of 1.5 megawatts, the Enercon E66 Wind Turbine can generate clean, renewable energy for up to 1,200 homes.

top