The new Government Policy on Architecture 2009 – 2015 Towards a Sustainable Future: Delivering Quality within the Built Environment was published on 8 October. Download it here.
The implementation of this Policy on Architecture and its 45 actions is of crucial importance to promote quality in the built environment and to promote awareness, education and sustainability on the role of architecture.
“The quality of our built environment profoundly affects the quality of our everyday lives.”
“…conceiving, designing and delivering sustainable architecture in our environment presents a significant challenge to this generation. This is a challenge that requires a fundamental re-appraisal of the role of architecture and urban design, integrating their cultural and environmental responsibilities to combat the effects of climate change. In rising to the environmental challenges facing our country there is a need, through research on the built environment, to make informed choices on how we use our existing places, buildings, landscapes and natural resources.”
“…the Government through this Policy on architecture and the built environment seeks to promote awareness and understanding of the contribution of good design to the daily life and well being of society as a whole. High quality design, whether in the details of the buildings we work in, or in the spaces and places that we share socially, should not be viewed as a luxury, achievable on a one-off basis. The realisation of good architecture is fundamentally about much more than individual buildings.”
“The Policy recognises the place of architecture in society as an expression of cultural, aesthetic and social values, both past and present, and the challenges and expectations of the future in shaping a sustainable high quality environment. We can all learn to embrace and indeed love architecture and still preserve the diversity of our own personal tastes and empathies. This will only serve to deepen and enrich the great debate on the places and spaces that lend to shaping our lives.”
John Gormley TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government October, 2009
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Read the first Report of the Government Policy on Architecture 2009-2015 published in February 2011.
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