This gives architects the opportunity to show that they can make a difference to the look of the city. But if architects are to make that difference, they will need to connect to the community. And that, in turn, means using simpler language and changing the image of a profession seen as elitist and expensive. Architects must have regard not just for the apartment buildings they design but their context. They must focus on public spaces.
Streets feel good if they are defined by quality buildings.
And those buildings must be interactive, with shops and cafes, and not the blank walls of car parks. Towns and cities must feel unified rather than fragmented by competing artistic statements. Maybe we need to combine the forces of the National Trust and the Heritage Council, protecting the past, with agencies such as the Australian Institute of Architects, which are looking ahead. Many people see architects as being about only the new, but most architects are concerned with the old as well. We also need the community to make clear what it wants.