A CONFERENCE ON BUILDING.
[To THE Dines OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—/ am directed by my Council to let you know that, in view of the present unsatisfactory condition of the building trade, the Royal Institute of British Architects has decided to hold a Conference at which the many difficulties can be discussed by delegates from the separate groups of workmen and employers. The meetings will be held on Tuesday, May 20th, in the large gallery of the Royal Institute, 9 Conduit Street, Regent Street; they will be opened at 10.30 a.m. by the President of the Local Government Board; and a series of short papers, to be read in not more than fifteen minutes each, will occupy the morning. In the afternoon, from 2.15, the papers will be discuesed, after Mr. Henry T. Hare, President of the Royal Institute, has reviewed the main questions that the Conference will consider.
These questions are six in number, (1) Gauzes of the present abnormal cost of building. (2) Government housing schemes; their effects on prices, on employment, and on architecture. (3) The competitive contract system; should it be retained, or modified, or abolished? (4) How to reduce time and cost in construction. (5) The mutual relations of architects, builders, and workmen. (6) The views of people who wish to build. My Council desire me to point out that, while architects are greatly concerned for the speedy restoration of their profession to prosperous activity, they are not identified with the personal interests of those who are engaged in the building trades. Their object in convening the Conference, to which you are invited, is to giro to those immediately interested an oppor- tunity of stating publicly their views, and to aid by every means in their power the establishment of vigorous and healthy conditions in this great industry.—I am, Sir, ibc., E. GOY DAWRER, Hon. Sec. Royal Institute of Britieb Architects. The Royal Institute of British Architects,
9 Conduit Street, Regent Street, TV. 1.
[We are delighted to hear that the Institute is calling a Conference on these vital matters. We attach special import- ance to Clauses (1) and (4). The housing problem cannot be solved except by a reduction in the cost of construction. Further, at the present time every effort must be made to discover new and revive obsolete forms of construction. Only by some such means can the brick famine be met.— Es. Spectator.]
Previous page
