THE GRAND DESIGN DOWN UNDER

Mike Austin considers the long-running TV series franchise and its missing component – the architect – while Amanda Harkness goes to see Kevin McCloud on tour.

‘Grand’ reveals a certain distance from its content, confirming design as an elite activity and, while it is thought to be generally about ‘architecture’, the word doesn’t appear in the title, although used regularly during the show. It apparently began 24 years ago in England, fronted by Kevin McCloud, who is a performer, not an architect, and the show is now seen in “60 or 70 countries”, making it an international franchise. It includes some regular routines, such as the presenter praising the building and then indicating his superiority with a big ‘but’, followed by a ‘wondering’ about potential shortcomings, such as feasibility, timing or budget. So, what is it about? It’s about the construction of upper-end houses and it makes one wonder whether it is watched enviously, or critically, by…

You're reading a preview of

Architecture NZ (Digital) - 1 Issue, March-April 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.