Boris Johnson names his design advisory panel

London Mayor Boris Johnson has confirmed that architect Lord Rogers and Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, will sit on his design advisory panel, as revealed by Design Week last week.

They will be joined by Joyce Bridges, chair of the English Heritage Advisory Committee, and Roger Madelin, joint chief executive of developer Argent.

The naming of the design advisory panel is one of Johnson’s first policy decisions to affect design.

The panel will act as a sounding board for the mayor for London-wide design strategies and high-profile projects, and advise both Design for London and the Greater London Authority on major developments in the capital.

It will be chaired by Sir Simon Milton, deputy mayor for policy and planning, and will meet several times a year.

Johnson is also be recruiting a wider group of experts to establish a design advisory forum, which will provide broader advice to the panel and Design for London.

Johnson says, ‘Great design has been the hallmark of our great city, from our historic palaces and squares to our modern offices.

‘However, in striving for design excellence we must ensure we have a constant supply of new ideas and fresh thinking and that is why these two new resources of experienced advisors and younger talent prepared to challenge traditional thinking will be invaluable to me and my teams as we evaluate new proposals and improve our capital’s buildings and infrastructure.’