April_1965 — Page 23

Human Problems are Planner's First Concern

Inaugural Address by the President of Hong Kong Society of Architects

T

HE need for the question of human environment to be kept upper- most in the minds of architects and town planners was the theme of the inaugural address presented last month by the new president of Hong Kong Society of Architects, Mr. Cedric Astbury.

"One can easily lose sight of the needs of the individual in an age when so much emphasis is placed on scientific and industrial development,' he said.

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"Each scientific advance seems to procreate further advance. The rate of acceleration and expansion is so great that the mind fears the magni- tude of the future.

"The fantastic surge in knowledge sometimes dwarfs human problems. It is with human problems however, that the architect is concerned. It is true that the basic human need of shelter is as it has always been, and this is a temptation to those outside the profession to believe that they are in a position to advise us. We are to blame ourselves as

we do sometimes minimize the problems we have to face."

Mr. Astbury spoke of the com- plexities of the architectural profes- sion and expressed regret that one of its "subsidiaries", town planning, was becoming divorced from it.

Overwhelmed by

Detail

He said that in the last 50 years architects had tended to delegate some of their duties in a desparate attempt to avoid being overwhelmed by detail. Building had rapidly be- come exceedingly complicated in all but the smallest projects, and con- sequently the professions of structural engineer, quantity surveyor and town planner had developed to permit the architect to concentrate on what he considered to be his true function.

was

reverse

He thought that in most cases it would be foolish to try to this trend, but he pointed out that it an established fact that most architects regretted that town plan- ning should ever have become separated from architecture.

Returning to his theme, the pre- sident said that the increase in com-

Far East Architect & Builder April, 1965

plexity which had caused architecture to nurture the subsidiary professions might now be harassing town plan- ning. In the town planning field, legal and engineering problems might be screening the ultimate aim. What- ever else planning achieved judge- ment would be made on the basis of its effect on the human occupants. Producing humanizing surroundings was the function of the architect/ planner.

Mr. Astbury went on: "The time we live in is marked by an unprece- dented movement towards the cities. Each year 20 million people are moving into the cities of Asia, Africa and South America. A United Na- tions report has said that about half the populations of these continents is homeless or living in conditions which are an affront to human dig- nity and a menace to health.

Failure to Anticipate

"It is regrettable that in many parts of the world, the basic need of shelter is not yet satisfied. The architects have not coped with the problems caused by this unprecedent- ed move to the cities.

"Our failure to anticipate the needs of the moving populations has caused chaos in the urban areas of the

developing countries. We are not making effective contact with these trends and therefore, surely, our role as architects needs re-formulating.

"The power of these movements together with the enormous increase in populations in the developing countries will override all attempts to withstand, stop, or guide them. Our duty as architects, is therefore to plan and build cities capable of pro- viding functional and human environ- ments."

Turning to the changes in social habits which the architect now had to consider, Mr. Astbury said that cheap transport for the masses had created a social revolution, causing one of the largest planning problems in old cities and new towns.

"Until recently," he continued, "the motorist, whether stationary or in motion, was viewed almost entirely as a rich source of revenue. Attempts

Mr. H. Cedric Astbury, this year's pre- sident of the HKSA, has been on the staff of the Hong Kong Public Works Department since 1959. Previously he spent four years with the Singapore PWD and several years in private practices in England. He studied at the Architectural Association School in London.

to price motoring off the road or to make driving so difficult that people would give it up, are of course doom- ed to failure. Every person with 100 sq. ft. of office working space, requires, or will shortly require, a similar area of parking space.

"The pendulum has now swung. both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, to such an extent that the car is the planning norm. But architects, plan- ners and indeed clients must beware of the tendancy to forget the human element in their anxiety to satisfy the demands of the machine.

"I fear that the ideas published in the Buchanan Report on Traffic in Towns, may not be seriously adopted, despite the wide acclaim they have received."

Interference by Laymen

Mr. Astbury concluded by quoting from a speech made last year by Mr. Buckminster Fuller, in which Mr. Fuller had said that the time had come for architects to put themselves in a position to say what was to be built and how it was to be done. Mr. Fuller had emphasised that in no other field was the layman in a posi- tion to question the decision of the expert.

"I would go so far as to say that lack of a concentrated line of thought and action by architects has encour- aged interference by laymen, which has been a cause of much of the the present urban chaos," stated new president.

"This learned society carries the burden and responsibility in Hong Kong of educating the public to accept our expert advice."

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