The mating season is here again, so let鈥檚 enjoy the gorgeous sight of architects displaying to clients while headhunters feather their nests and Ken Livingstone bangs heads with the French
Olympic flames
In this most romantic of weeks, the RIBA has found a way to London鈥檚 architects鈥 hearts, by offering the chance of a hot date with the people responsible for the 2012 Olympic infrastructure. The idea, a kind of speed dating for designers, allows each architect five minutes to make their pitch before being moved on. The targets for their advances were expected to include Jerome Frost, head of design at the Olympic Delivery Authority, Derek Wilson, architectural adviser on the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, and representatives from HOK Sport and Allies and Morrison, two of the architectural practices involved in the games. The event was due to be held yesterday, 15 February, presumably so that any architects who failed to find love the previous day could console themselves with money.
Presentation skills
You can be sure that the house of Matt Goulcher, the managing director of Levitt Bernstein, is both well designed and tidy. The reason being that he is married to none other than Aggie MacKenzie of Channel 4鈥檚 How Clean is Your House? 鈥淪he's petrified someone will come round, decide it鈥檚 dirty and tell everyone,鈥 he confesses.
London: the fourth biggest city in France
The cream of London鈥檚 architects assembled last week at Will Alsop鈥檚 Palestra in Southwark, south London, for the launch of Ken Livingstone鈥檚 Design for London architecture unit. Livingstone, who took to the stage before Lord Rogers and DfL head Peter Bishop, decided to use the occasion to score points off our Gallic cousins. 鈥淓ven the French love London now,鈥 he said. 鈥淣icolas Sarkozy was here last week grubbing for votes. He has to 鈥 there are only three cities in France [Paris, Marseilles and Lyon apparently] with more French people than there are here.鈥
Mingles bar
I hear the legendary industry networking event known as Mingle Minded may have to lure in minders of its own to discourage unwelcome visitors. Apparently the event has been infiltrated by recruitment consultants keen to snap up clients and candidates for industry vacancies. Rest assured though, Mingle Minded chairman Neil Stanley intends to enforce a clampdown pronto.
In the fast lane
Property consultancy AYH invited 好色先生TV to watch Arsenal weave their peculiar brand of footballing magic at the Emirates stadium last weekend. In a thrilling match, the Gooners beat Wigan 2-1, but there was not much cheering from our section of the crowd. AYH may have been project manager for the ground but director Antony Field is a Liverpool fan and Sean Andrews, who took charge of the stadium project, is not even a football supporter. He prefers bikes at Donnington. So, as AYH is a frontrunner to project manage the 2012 Olympic stadium, don鈥檛 be surprised if it comes complete with a speedway track.
Postscript
If you have any industry stories to tell us, or photographs you鈥檇 like to share, please write to: The editor, 好色先生TV, 8th floor, Ludgate House, 245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 9UY. Fax 020-7560 4004 Email hansom@cmpi.biz
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