Guardian is there as Duany releases UK master plan and ignites debate over avant gardism

The Guardian found a nice meaty hook in a set of frank (and frankly provocative) remarks that Andres Duany made in announcing his master plan for open lands in Hertfordshire. But beneath the dust-up, there are some gratifying signs of agreement.

In reacting to Duany's critique that an obsession with avant garde expression and a lack of regard for traditional design knowledge had produced "disappointing to dismal" results, Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, "conceded that architects' craft skills and traditional knowledge had been swept aside too easily between the 1950s and 1970s, but said architects were now building the 'highest performance' buildings ever,'" according to the Guardian.

The piece concludes: "Prasad said many of Duany's complaints seemed to stem from the decision to build a car-based society, and the way highways engineers took control of urban design.

"'It was wrong to aim for a society dominated by cars,' he said.

"'But most architects and planners have moved on, so he is really railing against a problem that doesn't exist anymore.'"

Read the whole thing.