Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Design Council have expressed support for a new housing strategy announced by the UK government that aims to deliver high quality homes rather than a higher volume of poor standard properties.

RIBA chief executive Harry Rich said: “I am delighted that the government has listened and has given such prominence to design quality and the role of architects in driving good design within their communities and in delivering housing fit for the 21st century” – see the full statement from the RIBA here.

Design Council Cabe chair Paul Finch stated: “The Government’s commitment to good design, as expressed in the National Planning Policy Framework, should mean that quantity and quality are seen as natural partners rather than opposites” – see the full statement from the Design Council here.

RIBA president Angela Brady recently criticised the state of housing in the UK and the RIBA also published a report criticising Britain’s “shameful shoebox homes”.

Dezeen Wire: supporters of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei have been posting photos of themselves naked on a website as a protest against the Beijing police’s decision to question his assistant, who had taken nude pictures of the artist and four women – The Telegraph

Ai was detained for 81 days earlier this year by the Chinese government on charges of tax evasion, during which time he was also asked about the photographs that he says have no deeper political meaning.

Dezeen Wire: The latest RIBA Future Trends Survey shows that the private housing sector is benefiting from all-time low interest rates but overall confidence about future workloads remains low.

A third of architects responding to the survey said they felt under-employed in October, with those in London most optimistic about growth and Scotland and Northern Ireland the least confident.

See past RIBA Future Trends Survey results here.

RIBA Future Trends Survey results for October 2011

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Future Trends Survey for October 2011 shows little change in confidence about future workloads. Statistical analysis of the survey enables the RIBA to track regularly the two key indices of confidence within the profession: future workloads and staffing levels.

There was a slight rise in the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index which for October stood at -7, compared with -10 in September 2011. Practices in London remain the most optimistic about growth in workloads over the next three months, while Northern Ireland and Scotlandremain the least confident about future work. As in previous months, it is the smaller (one to 10 staff) and medium (11 to 50 staff) sized practices that are less confident.

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index also barely changed: down from -7 in September to -8 in October. No practice – of any size – predicts an increase in staffing in the next quarter. Overall staffing levels had on average declined by 7 per cent from October 2010, which tracks a   reduction of 12 per cent in actual work in progress compared with October 2010.

A third of those responding to the survey felt that they had personally been under-employed during October, a slightly higher percentage than in September 2011.

The public, commercial and community sectors forecasts also saw little or no change. On the other hand, the private housing sector forecast recovered quite strongly, moving from – 5 in September 2011 to +5 in October 2011.

Adrian Dobson, RIBA Director of Practice, said:

“Not unexpectedly, practices continue to describe a challenging and unpredictable state of play, with increased competition for falling levels of public sector work and continuing resistance by banks to lend for development projects. Faced with this uncertain outlook, they are reluctant to recruit new staff.

“But on a more positive note, the bespoke housing sector remains strong, buoyed by all-time low interest rates, and more specialised areas within healthcare and conservation also continue to perform well.”

Dezeen Wire: a new exhibition documenting the career of Terence Conran has provoked a flurry of media interest in the man who founded retail brand Habitat and London’s Design Museum.

In a video filmed at the exhibition Terence Conran: The Way We Live Now, Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic tells The Guardian‘s design critic Jonathan Glancey that Conran is “a serial entrepreneur [whose] energy is extraordinary.” Glancey explains that the exhibition demonstrates how, as Conran developed his empire of stores and restaurants, “his love for hedonism and easy living stayed.”

BBC Radio 4 broadcast an interview in which Conran reveals that he has given so much of his personal wealth to the Design Museum that he is “not sitting on a large amount of capital” – BBC

In the Evening Standard Conran states that the Design Museum’s future home in South Kensington “will be a must-visit place just as Tate Modern has become a must-visit place,” and in The Express he adds that he hopes the current exhibition will be “an inspiration for schoolchildren and young designers to see what you can achieve in the design world.”

See a blog post by Elle Decoration editor Michelle Ogundehin lamenting the decline of Habitat and a previous story in which The Observer’s Rowan Moore suggests that Conran is a more successful businessman than designer.

Terence Conran: The Way We Live Now is on show at the Design Museum until 4 March

Dezeen Wire: Elle Decoration editor Michelle Ogundehin has declared British furniture brand Habitat “as good as dead” in an article on the magazine’s blog, stating “I give it two years max” – read the blog post

Ogundehin says that the retailer, which closed all but three of its UK stores earlier this year, failed to react to competition within the market and “increasingly misunderstood ‘Lifestyle’,” its key selling point. She claims that Habitat has lost its original focus on innovation and simplicity, and rubbishes plans by current owners the Home Retail Group to sell Habitat products at Argos and Homebase outlets, adding that their one remaining interest is to “flog stuff.”

See our previous story on Habitat going into administration.