Tony Watkins

In the UK the 2014 National Planning Policy Framework for the first time has placed a duty on councils in paragraph 159 to, first, “measure the demand of” and, secondly “provide for” those who wish to build their own homes.

The current state of architectural education is rooted in assumptions: notions which everyone accepts, often without thinking about them or questioning them. Many of these assumptions are false or worse, dangerous. They are deeply held, but are based on outmoded forms of practice, and calcify the profession and prevent it from doing a good job.

In the UK, according to the website of the HSE, electrical workers suffer approximately 1,000 accidents and 25 deaths every year. (Workplace Law Network Members' Bulletin 404, July 2008) None of these deaths ever seem to feature in the media. In contrast when even one owner-builder suffers an accident it is headline news.