Look at this miserable picture of an ex-pub in Shepherds Bush. It’s complete vandalism, a grotesque nod to planning laws. Of course if we built buildings with beautiful facades we would not need to retain the old one. But façadism is an acknowledgement of the ugliness of modern buildings. Is it because we don’t educate children properly? Is it because most people have no aesthetic sense? Why are most architects so lacking in any visual sense? The question is rhetorical because the answer is so obvious. They are lacking and our environment is suffering hugely. Yes, there are exceptions (the row of terrace housing in Norwich that won an award, there was quite a nice office block at Swiss Cottage, not too tall and nicely detailed, but of course that has just been demolished) but mostly we shudder when we see a modern building.