BACKWARDS INTO THE FUTURE ..... THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADITION IN SOCIAL SPACE

The conference title is TRACES OF TRADITION IN ARCHITECTURE TODAY. I will propose that Architecture on its own is merely inanimate matter and that what is important is the social implications of the space formed by collections of architecture. I will propose that the phenomenal growth of information technology is making it increasingly difficult to produce an architecture - or rather, a collection of designed spaces - that respects the best traditions of the past and uses them to create a physical environment which respects the diversity of the social, and economic, environment. I will propose that this threatens to create an environment of, at best, EXCLUSION for many people and, at worst, a VIOLENT environment in a world where more than 60% of humanity will soon be urbanised. I will make tentative proposals as to how this might be avoided. In broad terms I will use central London as a basis for my argument and, in particular, I will concentrate on the past 30 years of its central core in Covent Garden.