In this episode of Talking Architecture & Design, we talk to WT Partnership managing director Nick Deeks about the relationship between politics and infrastructure, the stagnation of our construction methods and how we can future-proof our cities for population growth and sustainability.
“Aside from being a particularly inefficient way of doing things, it’s not innovative infrastructure that we are building,” says Deeks.
“I think most of it is short-term thinking, When doing the financial analysis, it’s not about how many cars you can get on the road and how much you can charge as a toll; or in the case of a rail project, it’s not about how many passengers you can get and how much you can charge for tickets. If the infrastructure is needed, we should find another way to fund it.
“[We’re continuing] to build the way we built 500 years ago. Why should bricklaying still be a manual process when we can have a robotic bricklayer? That’s the kind of innovation we need to bring into the industry. Just adding a little bit of electronic technology does not make it a modern building. I think the whole concept of building needs to change.”
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