Patriotism

OK, Thought I would go at the big one first. Recently it has almost become a nasty word, oft associated with marauding youths, beer and confrontation, where those who proudly boast of patriotism are deemed crass. So, where do I stand with this? Time to explore..

Well to be patriotic, you need something to be patriotic about. Ford Escort? No, it has to be a country, nothing less!! And what a country I have,  as Cecil Rhodes so wonderfully said “Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life.” Many men have waxed lyrical about this ‘Sceptred Isle’ and I could easily pad a few more words out with metaphorical flag waving, but I wont. You see the England I love is not that of the 16C or the 19C or even the ‘Bulldog Spirit’ of the 1940’s, no, it is now, 2010. It is a land of magical enterprise, of peace, of Harmony, it has a heart, a hope and a community. But it also has problems, inequalities, strife and anger, there are areas where intolerance is rife, where the colour of skin or the style of worship dictate acceptance.

So to examine various parts is separation..

For far too long our towns have lacked life, vigour, beauty, instead giving themselves over to the soulless, grey Metropolis where automatons pace with a mutter of dissatisfaction and the gate of seasoned serfs. Towns where function over form became the norm, where the intelligentsia would claim some new insight in to the meaning of design and we gladly swallowed it, devouring every word in the hope that maybe, just maybe we could also be witness to the revelation. They have left us with shopping centres built to a budget, where the aesthetic is a surplus items. But it is changing, there’s a new fight back, aesthetic is returning and to the residential areas rather than the commercial.

Gurdwaras, Temples and Mosques are being built where form is an integral part of function. We are seeing a traditionally quiet part of the community standing up and taking their right to participate, to place a marker on this land, to claim their stake in England, no longer oddities to remind us of the exotic east, filled with strange people who talk with funny accent’s, but rather English men. These buildings are not a sign as some would believe that England is loosing its heritage but rather that England is celebrating it. We can look forward to a rich future where our small Island has a constantly changing vista, where it is no longer possible to second guess where you are by the colour of the house brick, but where every journey can bring something of beauty.

These are not the threat, it is not the time to dig our heels in, to ‘meet them on the beaches’ or to claim some sort of a silent invasion. We are not loosing anything because these buildings are being constructed. Our heritage is not being eroded by these buildings, it is being eroded by those who despoil this wonderful land with their monstrosities of concrete and steel, where vast tracts of land can be covered with little boxes that owe more than a nod to the designs of a six-year-old. We are giving away our traditional heritage to the architects, take a walk around your town, look at the empty shells awaiting demolition to make way for the latest car park. It is not the ‘silent invaders’ that are the reason for our decline, it is the elected leaders and our apathetic attitude allowing them to destroy in the name progress. It is time to stop the complaints and to get out and halt the destruction.

Architects today are being challenged to raise their game, to confront the exotic beauty of these buildings and match them. We must rebuild our grand houses, return to the world stopping architecture of yesteryear and celebrate that a new culture is now enriching this wonderful tapestry…

Well, this is a draft, more coherent to come, but I had to get this off my chest..

So England has it’s has problems?

Be England what she will,
With all her faults she is my country still.
Charles Churchill