His own work dispelled that view. Inspired by Ove Arup, his colleagues in the office, and the unique way of working which Arup had established there, Peter Rice's passion for design was fired by an enthusiasm to develop ideas through collaborative effort. This approach was rooted in a view that such collaborations would lead to wide-ranging explorations of design, materials and ways of making which would transform engineering and architecture. For Peter this was repressive and limiting. As an engineer, he prompted change through his collaborations and the tenacious exploration of materials.
Components become industrial elements which are used and re-used to create giant facades.
Similar buildings multiply over the landscape and the building components dominate the architecture and the growth and power of technology is given the blame. To counteract this architects and designers have returned to the forms and images of old. But to do this misses the point and the problem. What is needed is something which returns the human scale and human involvement to buildings. It is the feeling that people are unimportant when compared to the industrial process which is so damaging.