The Milner Street Area Residents Association (MISARA) is inaugurating an annual award for the ugliest new building in Chelsea....The 'Chelsea Carbuncle' Award.
Everybody can submit nominations and the winner will be chosen by a panel of three distinguished judges: Dr John Martin Robinson, one of our best known architectural historians; Will Palin, Director of Conservation at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich; and Anthony Delarue, the award-winning church architect.
Everybody can submit nominations and the winner will be chosen by a panel of three distinguished judges: Dr John Martin Robinson, one of our best known architectural historians; Will Palin, Director of Conservation at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich; and Anthony Delarue, the award-winning church architect.
At great expense, MISARA will donate three ebony inlaid wooden spoons using wood salvaged from the much loved Art Deco Odeon cinema(which the council allowed to be vandalised).
Representatives of the architects, the developer and the relevant planning officers and councillors will be invited to the MISARA Annual General Meeting in November to collect their prizes (if they attend!)
The winner of the first award will be announced in October 2019, so that the first distribution of prizes will occur at their AGM in November 2019.
Gentlemen and ladies of the press will be on hand to record the occasion.
Representatives of the architects, the developer and the relevant planning officers and councillors will be invited to the MISARA Annual General Meeting in November to collect their prizes (if they attend!)
The winner of the first award will be announced in October 2019, so that the first distribution of prizes will occur at their AGM in November 2019.
Gentlemen and ladies of the press will be on hand to record the occasion.
The idea behind the prize mirrors the widespread concern about the poor quality of some new buildings-residential and commercial-and their 'carbuncle like' unsuitability for Chelsea.
It's also about the process allowing council officers to recommend quite unsuitable applications for approval and their disdain for residents’ objections.
In recognition of the problem, the Chelsea Society is considering an annual award for the best new building design. This would be complementary to the initiative by MISARA and we all hope that this will lead to a visible improvement in new buildings in Chelsea over time.
In recognition of the problem, the Chelsea Society is considering an annual award for the best new building design. This would be complementary to the initiative by MISARA and we all hope that this will lead to a visible improvement in new buildings in Chelsea over time.
MISARA aim to publicise the competition through the King’s Road Association of Chelsea Residents (KRACR), and the Chelsea Society, and in local and specialist publications. Residents and others will be encouraged to submit candidates for the award by sending photographs of the buildings by email to MISARA, with a cut off date in September of each year. In the first year, the award will not necessarily be restricted to buildings which have been completed during the previous twelve months. The judges will also be at liberty to decide, in any year, that there is no new building sufficiently ugly to merit the award – if this happens it will be good news for Chelsea.
For the purposes of the award Chelsea will be defined as the Stanley, Chelsea Riverside and Royal Hospital wards, plus that part of the new Brompton and Hans Town ward which used to fall within the old Hans Town ward, i.e. south of Walton Street (including the houses on the north side of the street) and Pont Street (excluding the houses on the north side of the street). In Fulham Road the houses on the south side of the road are included but those on the north side are not.
Cracking idea. Both Awards, for best and worst. Simon Jenkins might be interested to write about the initiative
ReplyDeleteAnon: agree. However, think that this should be q Boroughwide competition, allowing submission from all and sundry. It should be more interesting. Perhaps other associations, Ken Soc, Chelsea Soc and others should perhaps join forces, to make this a truly memorable event. Any suggestions, dear folks?
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea that it should be Borough wide
DeleteI understand that you want to make this borough-wide but I would sympathise with Milner Street if they want to keep it local and focussed on their own immediate area. Perhaps a Kensington association could start something similar then there could be a borough shoot out for the worst of the worst.
ReplyDeletehear, hear.
DeleteHow about keep it local and if any other area e.g. North of the borough wants to do this, they can. Then the borough-wide would be easier to decide out of all those that has been nominated/awarded. This way, the locals have more knowledge of who is nomination worthy etc. But really, we have bigger problems on our hands which is never ending and requires our time than choosing the award imo.
DeleteWhy not local landowners be judges...Cadogan...Sloane Stanley....et al?
ReplyDeleteThat would concentrate their minds
If we cannot have this as a borough wide thing can we have another one that does ? And can we nominate Capco for destroying the Exhibition Centre and the area and leaving us with a dust bowl that they want to put 10,000 flats on when they can finally afford it ?
ReplyDelete