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London is 鈥渟ick鈥�, but building low cost housing in its city centre could go some way to curing it, RIBA Gold Medallist 2014 Joseph Rykwert has told the Ecobuild conference.

Rykwert - an 87-year-old architectural historian who became only the fourth writer to be awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in the architecture prize鈥檚 65-year history last week - called for a 鈥渞evival鈥� of affordable housing in central London.

Rykwert likened cities to a 鈥渨orking human body鈥� and admited 鈥渁ll bodies have their pathologies鈥� and 鈥渁ll cities are sick, Chinese ones especially鈥�, but said Britain鈥檚 were 鈥減retty sick鈥�.

One common city ailment was the 鈥渙ver-supply of offices and luxury housing鈥� at the expense of other uses including low cost housing, he said.

Turning to Britain鈥檚 housing crisis, he said: 鈥淚t takes a particular kind of social blindness to think it can be rectified by suburban housing on green belt land for mortgage buyers.鈥�

He lambasted London and other cities for becoming more 鈥渋ndividualistic鈥� and for selling off public buildings and public spaces, in his talk on the balance between private wealth and public realm in cities.

He said Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 government had 鈥渄eliberately weakened social bonds鈥� in Britain and her legacy 鈥渓ived on鈥� in the country鈥檚 architecture, particularly in the towers of central London.

鈥淭hese towers are completely individually exotic and are given derogatory nicknames such as the Gherkin.

鈥淭hey are insulated from the context of the city and so give a visual expression to Thatcher鈥檚 ideology.鈥�

He added: 鈥淎 notable example was the dismantling of Greater London Council and the sale of London County Hall on the South Bank.

鈥淭he building is now given over to tourism and commercial uses and a Ferris wheel [the London Eye] looms over it.

鈥淲e are snubbed when a tourist attraction belittles our democratic institutions.鈥�