Negroni Talks: What is Beauty?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder… Or is it? Unpacking the consequences of beauty in planning.

Confucius stated that everything has beauty, if only we look hard enough to see it.  

Today, many are pointing to our national building stock as evidence to suggest otherwise. Homes sprout from Penzance to Penryth, all sporting the same appearance, with basic function overriding form and aesthetics.

Calls for a renaissance in beauty have swelled long before the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission in 2018, bolstered by a doubling down of references to beauty in the NPPF and government demands for the refusal of ‘ugly’ buildings. If the consensus is that much of what is built is not beautiful, can we, find agreement on what is? Moreover, at a time of climate emergency and a national housing shortage, is a renewed focus on appearance misguided? Or is it fundamental to the experience of living in a place? 

The problem is compounded when we get specific. Is brutalism beautiful? Whose idea of beauty are we championing? Is beauty only skin deep? Or can the strength of an idea, the rigour of a plan and tectonic quality also qualify for beauty? 

Can contemporaries, traditionalists, and the avant-garde agree on a universal definition of beauty, a shared point of view, for the sake of our towns and cities? Or are we fated to endless debate from across our Committee Halls that the other side is just not looking hard enough? 

The Negroni Talks are lively participatory events that take place in the relaxed, intimate surrounds of The Architect café bar. The events are inspired by our London contemporaries & organised by Design West Futurists.

Tickets include a Negroni cocktail (or non-alcoholic alternative)