"To give tangible, architectural, expression to an ideal is a fascinating and daunting challenge. And when that ideal embraces powerful, yet essentially abstract, actions such as the gathering and dissemination of news, and has at its core the mission to inform, inspire, educate and entertain the public, then the challenge to the architect is truly awe-inspiring."
From Dan Cruickshank’s foreword to Nicola Jackson’s new book "Building the BBC", accompanying the aforementioned exhibition at RIBA.
The book and the exhibition made me (even more) proud to work for the BBC, actually. It’s not perfect, nor is it an easy place to work, but if you engage with the ideals behind it, it can be truly inspiring – as in the challenge described by Cruickshank. More on this later, including how we’re interpreting the notions of ‘transparency to the public’ exemplified by the exhibition.