Editorial: September 2001

Last month saw the eventual unveiling - courtesy of Forth Ports, and following many attempts via the architects and the developers, CALA - of the Ocean Heights scheme, a project that was hard to comprehend from the planning submission. That so little discussion seems to have ensued from so tall a building is curious: is this because it sits in no-mans-land? In fact, this building will be highly visible across Edinburgh and I would be interested in receiving some feedback on it: how about some letters.

The fate of the central, listed, gasometer's future is still uncertain [it appears on the Foster & Partners' Site Context, but not the Site Plan; it appears on the Waterfront colour brochure's plans and perspectives, but not the computerised aerial views]. Edinburgh Contemporary Architecture aim to continue behind-the-scenes discussions with various agencies on this issue, and hope to have news on it within the month.

Last month's article for Prospect magazine will be followed up with one for The List next week. The Interview section will sadly not be continued as Antony Macnaghten is leaving to set up a cybercafe. I would welcome letters that we can publish to partially-replace this section (the interviews completed will obviously remain): I receive a handful every day from across the globe, but would like to publish some. We would like to respect confidentiality, and recent week's news has contained numerous items that have had to be removed. In the interests of site integrity we will always flag up when an item has been removed

Forth Ports - Website: www.forthports.co.uk

Addendum 21.09.01
So far we have had little response from The List's 'Cranespotting' article which featured prominently (ahead of interviews with Ewan Mcgregor and even Trevor from Eastenders!), apart from a brief response from Terry Farrell& Partners via The List editor. Verbal feedback both now and at the time of my lecture to The Cockburn Association (on new Edinburgh architecture, focusing on the barrenness of The Exchange, Lothian Road) suggest that views expounded in the article are commonly-shared: will anyone else stick their head over the parapet? This weekend's Sunday Herald will carry an article on this year's Carbuncle Awards, with four of my nominations amongst others.