Foreword by Terry Farrell
I first met Francis Tibbalds during the 1980s in connection with the Urban Design Group. One of his singular achievements was bringing urban design to the general attention of architects, planners, landscape architects and even politicians. The founding of the Urban Design Group in 1979 was quite a milestone and led to the subsequent awareness of urban design in Britain. The group was led by far-sighted and passionate people as well as Francis - John Worthington of DEGW, Jane Priestman and Alan Baxter, among others. These people not only saw urban design as the way forward and the answer to much of the country's urban problems but were also able to offer an insight into the nature of these problems.
Francis' outlook towards urban design was one with which I have great sympathy. His deep interest in urbanism extended to an understanding of how the city works as a historical layering of successive generations - the city as the work of many hands. The best solutions to the city's problems arise from a collaboration of different professionals and under Francis' leadership various multi-disciplinary people were brought together. The Urban Design Group exemplified this 'many hands' approach as planners, architects and other environmentalists worked together to create environments that responded to people's needs. In 1988 he brought out his award-winning 'Ten Commandments of Good Urban Design', where his statements - 'Thou shalt consider places before buildings'; 'Thou shalt have the humility to learn from the past and respect thy context' - now seem so obvious but were then quite controversial. Looking beyond the confines of design, as President of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Francis lobbied for political action toward homelessness as well as the improvement of public transport infrastructure.
He would be extremely pleased to see how the debate has been widened today, particularly through the Urban Design Alliance (UDAL), which has extended the thinking and concepts behind the Urban Design Group and transformed it into a broad-based, professional group of architects, civil engineers, town planners, surveyors and landscape architects. UDAL works alongside the Urban Design Group, and is now recognised as one of the strong forces speaking for urban design. I am sure Francis would marvel at the results of the government-backed Urban Task Force and its report Towards an Urban Renaissance, and especially the way politicians and ministers of state so frequently use the very words 'urban design' as part of their accepted language. Equally pronounced is the revolution towards urbanism in the field of design. Every architect and designer recognises that the future of our cities is a central theme. This outlook is in marked contrast to the time in which Francis and his colleagues launched the Urban Design Group.
As well as collaborating together on the Urban Design Group, Francis and I overlapped professionally. His practice, Tibbalds Monro, worked with TFP very successfully on many projects. Francis had a wonderful skill with drawings, as well as great clarity of thinking in terms of understanding problems and expressing solutions. He set up an extremely good practice with very sound, gifted people around him. We enjoyed working together on the development at King's Cross, for example, where our alternative scheme - low-rise, public transport-based and not grandiose - was one of the serious contenders to unravel the problems and missed opportunities of that area in the l980s. We also collaborated on a scheme for a shopping complex in Wimbledon Town Centre. This project was a good example of thinking in urban-design terms in that it produced alternatives to the common anti-urban solutions. He and I were consequently often pitched together against the forces of ignorance and grandiose modernity that then characterised urban planning. Finally, we collaborated on the redevelopment of Charing Cross station and masterplan This was one I remember best because we worked together not only as urban designers on the area around the station, but also on detailed design and cladding.
I remember Francis as extraordinarily professional, very earnest and hardworking, with a passion and commitment to his work and the field he worked in. This is exemplified by the reputation of his practice and also of course his professional roles - he was President of the Royal Town Planning Institute and Vice President of the European Council of Town Planners. But for me his lasting memory is his contribution as a draftsman and artist. Not only are his sketches wonderfully good, but he also had the ability to do simple diagrams that encapsulated his whole wider thought in an extraordinarily simple way. In particular, Francis was a great asset to London, tirelessly championing its heritage and improvement. In general, he elevated urban design from a minority interest into a cause at the forefront of urban thinking.
Making People-Friendly Towns is a fitting epitaph to what Francis thought, what he stood for, what he achieved and how he presented his work. The book is as relevant today as it was when he completed it, just days before he died.
Terry Farrell
March 2000
