Quality: a perspective from construction history

Extract

An explanation (maybe even an apology) is called for when entering the crowded and noisy arena where quality is debated. Good sport is often had there, but decisions are few: instead most outcomes follow tiresomely circular rather than linear trajectories. My justification for adding to the overcrowded and unruly scene is simple. It is to give a view of quality in architecture which is not widely represented and which seems to be often overlooked. The view comes from the modern history of the UK construction industry, a wide perspective which extends beyond buildings as artifacts. The paper will borrow a definition of quality and, crucially, try to show how it is connected with the operation of the construction industry, and is growing.