Boris Johnson set to unveil design advisory panel

London Mayor Boris Johnson is set to name architect Lord Rogers and Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, on his design advisory panel, Design Week can reveal.

But contrary to recent press reports, there will be no place for architect and urban designer Sir Terry Farrell.

The Mayor’s office is expected to unveil the panel at the end of this week, and confirmed Farrell would not be on it.

The naming of the panel will be among Johnson’s first key policy decisions to affect design. Although it carries the title of design advisory panel, its key remit is to advise the Mayor on architecture and urban design issues.

The Mayor announced plans to set up the panel at the launch of the London Architecture Festival on 19 June.

In a speech he described Rogers, who was chief architecture advisor to his predecessor Ken Livingstone, as his ‘Agrippa’, an apparent reference to the advisor to Roman emperor Caesar Augustus.

Rogers is also chairman of the Design for London Advisory Group, which Design Week understands hasn’t met since Johnson became mayor in May, and is likely to be superseded by Johnson’s new panel.

It is understood that the DfL Advisory Group has not been formally disbanded, although one member told Design Week that there had been no activity on the group since September.

Design Week understands that Johnson’s new design advisory panel will be smaller than the DfL advisory group, which has 13 members and features development consultants, an engineer and a developer.

Prasad, co-founder of Penoyre & Prasad, will finish his term as President of the RIBA in September 2009, when he will be replaced by Ruth Reed.


Another of Johnson’s design policies currently in the pipeline is the unveiling of a competition to design public water fountains across the capital, an initiative which was also announced by Johnson at his LFA speech in June. This competition is in the very early stages at present.




Ken Livingstone’s Design advisors

• Lord Rogers, chairman, architect

• June Barnes, East Thames Group (appointee from London Sustainable Development Commission)

• Kees Christiaanse, KCAP, architect

• Spencer de Grey, Foster and Partners, architect

• Alex de Rijke, de Rijke Marsh Morgan Architects, architect

• Rients Dijkstra, Maxwan, architect

• Michael Hussey, Land Securities, developer

• Hanif Kara, Adams Kara Taylor, engineer

• David Levitt, Levitt Bernstein Associates, architect

• Farshid Moussavi, Foreign Office Architects, architect

• Martha Schwartz, Martha Schwartz Partners, landscape architect

• Jonathan Smales, Beyond Green, sustainability consultant

• Peter St John, Caruso St John Architects, architect

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