Ich Dien
Poundbury is an urban extension to the Dorset county town of Dorchester, built on Duchy of Cornwall land according to architectural principles advocated by The Prince of Wales.
The Prince has long been concerned by the quality of both the natural and built environments in which we live. In 1989 His Royal Highness published the book ‘A Vision of Britain’ which set out his beliefs in certain principles of architecture and urban planning.
These principles reflected some of the timeless ideas that have enabled many places around Britain to endure and thrive over the centuries. princeofwales.gov.uk
“I didn’t particularly want to see this country … disappear under a welter of ugliness.” …. 20 years ago from today, the Prince of Wales famously opened his attack on modern British architecture. The occasion was the 150th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the setting Hampton Court Palace…. If architectural taste changed after Hampton Court and Mansion House, the prince did have something to do with it. He levelled the attack against mediocrity and carbuncles, real or supposed; he prompted a great national debate and he made many architects, and those who commissioned them, think again. What the vast majority chose not to do was to retreat into the world of doll’s-house design ….
Jonathan Glancey The Guardian
