Abstract

Linking the financialization of architecture to commercial property development in the context of deregulation, this article examines the case of Chelsea Harbour, a seventeen-building mixed-use development completed in 1988 on the banks of the River Thames in West London. Ray Moxley, the architect who brought the project to fruition, was a proponent of what became known as fast building, a practice that used speed in the design and construction process as a means of holistic project control. In the 1970s, Moxley had developed what he called the Alternative Method of Management (AMM), an approach to project management that positioned the architect as the lynchpin of the construction process, directing all work on site and producing detailed construction drawings “just in time” as projects progressed. The article examines the fast-building practices Moxley instituted at Chelsea Harbour and situates them relative to larger shifts in planning and regulatory frameworks in the United Kingdom. The article argues that speed worked as a means by which the architect could negotiate these large-scale changes. In particular, the spatial innovation of Chelsea Harbour’s two centrepiece atrium buildings repositioned the architect as the manager of risk.

摘要

在放松管制的背景下，将建筑金融化与商业地产开发联系起来，本文研究了切尔西港的案例，这是一个 1988 年在伦敦西部泰晤士河畔完成的 17 栋混合用途开发项目。使该项目取得成果的建筑师雷·莫克斯利 (Ray Moxley) 是所谓的快速建筑的支持者，这种做法在设计和施工过程中使用速度作为整体项目控制的手段。在 1970 年代，莫克斯利开发了他所谓的替代管理方法 (AMM)，这是一种项目管理方法，将建筑师定位为施工过程的关键，指导现场的所有工作并“及时”制作详细的施工图纸”随着项目的进展。这篇文章研究了莫克斯利在切尔西港建立的快速建设实践，并将它们与英国规划和监管框架的更大变化进行了对比。文章认为，速度是建筑师协商这些大规模变化的一种手段。特别是切尔西港的两座中心中庭建筑的空间创新将建筑师重新定位为风险管理者。