BUNGALOW BLITZ
Bungalow Blitz - Glasgow
Posted Wed Feb 01 13:26:54 UTC 2006.
Last edited by Aoife Mac Namara
A question – This exhibition explores some of the controversy which has arisen – erupted – in Ireland over the building of one-off houses in rural areas. Many argue that the decision about what to build and where should be taken by those for whom the homes are intended to directly serve. Others contend that the impact of one-off and often sprawling housing is felt nationwide and, as such, these decisions should be made in the interest of all.
Who should decide what does, or does not, get built in areas of outstanding natural beauty?
Wed Jul 05 10:09:52 UTC 2006 Dan Bindman said...
I suppose the politically correct answer is that the people who live in a rural area should decide what and where to build, not the stuffy middle class planning/architectural establishment, whose members live in smart suburban houses with high ceilings. Perhaps Ireland has a land to population ratio that could support this kind of self-governing planning policy?
But looking at the beautiful photos for this exhibition I’m struck by how – to my eyes – the loveliness of the landscape contrasts with the plain, boxy designs of the houses. I do understand that the inhabitants’ points of view are quite different from mine, not least because they spend a lot of their time inside, looking out.
I’ll never quite buy into the idea that Robbie Williams is on a musical par with Mozart, despite being far more successful in his lifetime, or that collectively these bungalows enhance their environment as do, for instance, Hampton Court Palace, or Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.
I dare say it makes me a Nimby but I can’t help wondering whether southeast England, where demand for low cost housing is driving the diggers and concrete mixers further and further into rural landscapes hitherto unchanged for centuries, holds long-term lessons for the ribbon development-hungry Irish.
Still, one of the good things about using cheap, lightweight materials to built instant houses is that a couple of hundred years from now they’ll be dust in the wind. And when you think of the millions of hectares of land of outstanding natural beauty that will be lost to flooding due to global warming, the rural bungalow phenomenon that so offends the purists is but a drop in a rising ocean. Perhaps urban-based planners should remember that next time they step into their high emission 4×4s for a country site visit…..
Fri Jan 19 16:01:50 UTC 2007 Aoife Mac Namara said...
No, maybe the bungalows are not quite Mozart… its the old argument isn’t it? Who gets to say whos palace is someone elses eyesore?
Another point you raise is worth thinging about too though: the ribbon development the bungalow craze began in Ireland probably set in pace our biggest contribution to global warming meaning that instead of towns, cities and the like we now have a country serviced ribbons of roads lined by individual one off houses each reached by individual cars (often 4×4’s) and miles away from train or other public transport links… great oo for an aging population who;ll find themselves isolated from the services and support we’ll increasingly rely on…