Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation

The Negroni Talks – hosted by architects Fourthspace and sponsored by Campari – were set up to capture the lively and provocative debates that took place in the European café culture of the early twentieth century -

You’re an architect until you die, it’s a vocation and not a job. At least, that’s what some people would have you believe, with starchitects continuing to design well into their 90s and succession plans drawn up to keep their practices going after they have left this mortal coil. Meanwhile, newly qualified architects emerging from years of study are met with a culture of “welcome to the real world” at an age where others in music, fashion, film, literature and the arts, are already shaping the culture of their time through work that is often promoted as being ‘progressive’ and therefore ‘good business’.

It’s easy to see why the knowledgeable and experienced safe-pair-of-hands would be attractive to a Building Industry that is extremely risk averse. Speculation is more often financial than about generating new ideas, so what does this mean for experimentation and pushing boundaries?

Optics and opportunity seem to play a huge role in the perception of age in architecture. What becomes of the acquired knowledge when a practitioner is let go at ‘a certain age’? Are practices disposing of valuable experience, mentoring, and guidance to the younger generation? You can still be considered a young architect well into your 40’s, and out the door once you hit 50. Some ‘emerging and new’ practices are hired to sprinkle some exciting fairy dust on a project, to be consistently considered for significant schemes of a serious scale, you still need to be thought of as a larger and more established player.

As with many areas of our culture, should we be worried that there is an incumbent generation that seems to dominate most of the impactful opportunities and commissions, which leaves younger people on the fringes feeling disenfranchised with a clear message that “you are good enough when you are old enough.”

Additionally, there also seems to be a real generation gap forming within the architectural community itself, particularly when it comes to concerns surrounding the climate, inequality, social justice and housing, which primarily affect younger generations. Are those practitioners formed by the C20th, fully committed to addressing these issues with the requisite urgency, vigour and alternative thinking required in the C21st?

In a profession where most seem to passionate about the ability to improve people’s lives through progressive thinking, how do we better integrate the experience/knowledge that comes with age while harnessing the idealism of youth to maximise our collective potential to create change?

Speakers include:

Sarah Wigglesworth, Architect

Dennis Austin, daab design

Bushra Mohamed, Msoma Architects

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

FORNO, 322 Andrews Road, London, United Kingdom