The first of a three part blog series by Chris Williamson

In January I went to a disused office building in Wembley for my first day as an NHS Vaccine Volunteer. I wrote about it here. Last week I did my 15^th session and thought I would write down some equally random observations.

I was asked to help at a new local vaccination centre next to Wembley Stadium. You will be pleased to know that I wasn’t let anywhere near a syringe. Or even the plasters. I was put outside in the car park to help direct the steady stream of visitors.

As I’m writing this (working from home obviously) it occurs to me that it is five years to the day that Bill Gates gave his TED talk predicting the pandemic we are now in the middle of. If you haven’t seen it, you might find it interesting. But even in 2015 it was nothing we didn’t know.

WW+P have closed our UK studios for the next few weeks and set up the technology to ensure business as usual and enable all our work to be carried out at home to help slow down the spread of Covid-19. We have ensured that all our teams have the technology to communicate and to be able to securely access the files which they need to work efficiently. It will be challenging but will teach us to work better. Having studios in different parts of the world we have studied how various countries have reacted. The crisis here has been handled in a very British way with politicians leaving it to business and individuals to decide how to act. Like many we have acted, not in the best interests of our business, but to protect those more vulnerable and help prevent a national health crisis.

One of the few good things about growing old is that you get to see how another generation tries to address similar issues 20/30/40 years later.

The Weston Williamson mission statement talks about Creating Civilised Cities so quite often I am asked what constitutes a civilised city. The big picture answer is that our work encourages people to use safe, efficient, convenient, well designed public transport rather than their cars and free the streets for pedestrians and cyclists.

Valerie Le Vaillant, who recently became Master of the Company of Architects, has announced that apprenticeships are to be her major focus for the year. This is a subject close to my heart. I am as passionate about social mobility as others rightly are about race and gender equality. To me social mobility embraces all types of inequality and disadvantage. As a member of Valerie's Education Committee under John Assael as Chair, I will do everything I can to help.

The story goes that Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a novel in six words. His brilliant response was “For Sale. Baby shoes, never worn”. It conjures up a tale of grief, heartbreak and tragedy. All in six words.

I’ve just read Jeroen De Flander’s book “The Art of Performance”. He cites numerous examples where people of all ages and abilities have achieved greatness through demonstrating three stages of behaviour: 1. Passion and Purpose, 2. Deep Practice and 3. Persistence.

It is 20 years since the opening of the Jubilee Line extension - just in time for the Millenium - and city infrastructure schemes are still learning from it.

At Dubai Cityscape I gave a presentation promoting the advantages of Polycentric Cities citing London as an example. London was formed from small distinct communities such as Chelsea, Dalston, Hampstead and Brixton, which have grown together into a fantastic world city. The extensive underground rail system has helped enormously bind the city together but even now there are distinct communities.

I remember a TV interview with Paul McCartney and (I think) Michael Parkinson where they were discussing the writing of 'I saw her standing there'. McCartney proudly sang his first lines 'She was just seventeen. She could have been a beauty queen’ when John Lennon suggested the second line should be 'You know what I mean'.

I’ve just been listening to Carly Simon talking about the writing of 'You're so Vain'. It's a brilliant pop song - in August 2014, the UK's Official Charts Company crowned it the ultimate song of the 1970s. Like most creations it feels as though it came together easily and perfectly.

This month, Kuwait is hosting a symposium on the subject of “Happiness in the City”. The event will provide a unique platform for cultural, creative and technical minds from the UK and the Gulf to explore the issue of how our built environments can be designed to promote happiness and wellbeing. The symposium has been organised by the RIBA in conjunction with the DiT.

The emphasis on reducing carbon emissions is forcing all of us to examine the way we travel. Greta Thunberg sailed to New York over 15 days rather than flying in six hours. This is commercially unsustainable for most businesses. But there could be other solutions.

Mark Twain said “The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why”. I can’t remember the first but I remember the second as though it was yesterday.

I was 17 and I picked up a book by Derek Senior in the school library called ‘Your Architect’. I was attracted to it initially by the cover and the fantastic illustrations throughout by David Rock.

Last month I took part in a seminar organised by Blueprint Magazine on the Future of the Architect. I started my presentation with the classic image of Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 on the surface of the moon. I was 12 at the time of the Apollo 11 mission and that single event made a lasting impression on me, along with a belief that we as a race can conquer any obstacle to achieve our ambitions.

Many architects view the completion of their projects as the day the building is handed over and they move on to other things. The shop has opened for trading, the occupants have moved in to the office, the builders have moved out of the house, the snagging done, the final completion certificate issued. Like an artist who finishes a painting, sells it and never sees it again, we get sucked in to the project and when it has “ended”, seldom give it another thought or learn other than immediate superficial lessons from it.

I started the run at 10.20am at Greenwich knowing that I would be running for the next 4-5 hours, which is a daunting prospect. It had been 14 years since my last marathon and although I had trained for this I suddenly felt very nervous.  But looking around me, I realised that everyone else would be experiencing the same emotions and gradually started to relax. 

Recently, when visiting New York for the first time in five years, it struck me how little things had improved for pedestrians.

I have been asked to write about how my training is going for the London Marathon. The short answer is okay. The real answer is nuanced and complicated.

In order to prepare for the London Marathon I managed an alcohol free ‘dry’ January and actually enjoyed it so much I continued into February and March and have decided to avoid alcohol for the rest of the year. It’s actually surprising and reassuring how easy it’s been for these first few months.

Training for this year’s London Marathon, which Chris is running in aid of the Architects Benevolent Society, has given him plenty of time to think…

On March 8, young architects from Allies and Morrison and Hawkins\Brown joined those from WW+P for a live streamed design workshop, organised by RIBA International Vice President Chris Williamson.

Chris Williamson will be exploring innovative typologies for tall buildings and possible sites for London's first mile high tower at our co-hosted panel discussion at Transport for London, 55 Broadway, Westminster SW1, on Thursday November 8, 6.00-8.30pm.

British architects are held in high esteem throughout the world, due not only to a track record of excellent design, but the combination of business skills, commitment to ethical values and a pedigree of experience and knowledge.  The UK is the biggest exporter of architectural talent ahead of any other nation.

Chris Williamson has been a regular contributor to Archinect’s Brexit Diaries series. You can read his blogs here and if you share his views or would like to air your own, please contact him or via twitter @cw_architect.