Prince Charles ruffles few feathers at RIBA

To a packed house of designers and industry figures, Prince Charles delivered a quiet, low-key speech that sought to repair ties with the RIBA and emphasise the importance of sustainable, humanist architecture.

But it did include a pointed jibe at Lord Rogers, the designer of the planned Chelsea Barracks redevelopment. Charles highlighted the fact that “Pritzker prize-winning” modern architects often live in classical buildings, as Lord Rogers does. It was Charles’ decision to write to the backers of the Chelsea Barracks scheme that did much to fuel the controversy behind the speech.

However, he started with an apology – of a sort. Referring to his famous “carbuncle” speech to the RIBA in 1984, he said: “I am sorry if I somehow left the faintest impression that I wished to kickstart some kind of ‘style war’ between classicists and modernists.”

However, he soon returned to his favourite theme – the creative poverty of the “modernist experiment” when compared with traditional architecture. It was left to RIBA president Sunand Prasad to deliver a respectful riposte (see below).

The reception to the speech was muted, but generally positive. Robert Adam, the neo-classicist architect, said he was “very pleased”. He said: “He reached a hand out to the industry. It was a very positive speech, and really showed up those saddoes who didn’t turn up.”

He reached a hand out. It really showed up those saddoes who didn’t turn up

Robert Adam

However, Bill Dunster, designer of eco-home BedZed, found the prince’s criticism of “eco-bling” old-fashioned. He said: “The ‘bling’ he dismissed can play a major part in helping this country reach its obligations in achieving Code for Sustainable Homes level six. His comments were extremely unhelpful and poorly researched.”

Richard Steer, chairman of event sponsor Gleeds, said he felt it was a “conciliatory” speech. He said: “It went down well, even though it wasn’t as exciting as it might have been.

He is 25 years older than when he made the last speech, and I think architects too have moved on since then. They’re not as precious as they once were.”

It was also announced that the RIBA Trust and the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment would collaborate on a series of seminars next year. Whether they will reap as much press attention as this speech remains to be seen.