Hotel Designs Brit List HDBritList_eventGuide | Page 34

IN CONVERSATION WITH: CHARLES LEON, LEON BLACK INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE Charles Leon brings a wealth of knowledge from both sectors - interior design and architecture - to this year’s judging panel. Editor of Hotel Designs, Hamish Kilburn, picked his brains ahead of the event to discuss the future of hotel design… As an architect and the Past President of the BIID, Charles Leon has interesting ideas of where British architecture and interior design is heading. I caught up with Leon to find out more about what inspired him from judging this year’s architecture category of The Brit List 2018. Hamish Kilburn: Out of the shortlisted finalists in the architecture category from this year, what impressed you? Charles Leon: There is a breadth and depth of design which focusses on very human-centred experiences. Each company demonstrated strong storytelling and narrative, which gave the projects viewed distinct and unique identities. HK: Why is Britain a major architecture hub within hotel design? CL: I don’t think it is just architectural design that thrives in Britain, I think it is all design. Innovation and design-thinking with humour is imbedded in English Culture and our education. The uniqueness of “British” design- thinking is recognised throughout the world. This is why we must protect all the humanities and arts subjects, alongside maths, science and writing in the school curriculum. They teach students how to think rather than what to think. We must ferociously defend these subjects so that we can encourage the next 34 generation of free-thinking architects and designers. HK:What can architects learn from interior designers, and vice versa? CL: I think rather than learning, there should be a better understanding of the value that each discipline brings to a project. HK: What do you think are the major challenges for British architects at the moment? CL: In the short term, I think the uncertainty of Brexit is a major challenge. I also believe that commercial office rental prices in London will challenge the bottom line of architectural and design practices and they may be forced to look elsewhere, perhaps abroad. In the medium-to-long term it is the education of the next generation of architects. However, architects and designers are highly resilient and resourceful and will always find ways to solve objective problems.