{"id":44561,"date":"2014-07-03T13:27:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T13:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=3a8bd8c1bc918b3ce4200a1d648ae9b6"},"modified":"2014-07-03T13:27:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T13:27:00","slug":"speech-high-speed-2-design-vision-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=44561","title":{"rendered":"Speech: High Speed 2 Design Vision panel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Good morning. <\/p>\n

Welcome to the Gridiron building, designed by David Chipperfield, who is here today (3 July 2014). <\/p>\n

Once, it was a rail yard. Today it is part of Europe\u2019s biggest transport interchange.<\/p>\n

When you imagine Britain and the railway at its best you think of St Pancras brilliantly described by Sir John Betjeman as \u2018the great arc of Barlow\u2019s train shed and the sudden burst of exuberant Gothic of the hotel\u2019.<\/p>\n

Bold design like, the Flying Scotsman, Brunel\u2019s Royal Albert bridge or the Mallard steam engine .<\/p>\n

It took confidence and ambition to create them. And then, somewhere along the way, that sense of expectation for what was possible fell by the wayside.<\/p>\n

We started to accept second best. We began to think that other countries did great design. The bullet train. The TGV<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Nothing summed that up better than the unpleasant and unloved – \u201ctemporary\u201d – portacabin that obscured the front of King\u2019s Cross station for 40 years. And British Rail\u2019s attempt to knock down the St Pancras Hotel. <\/p>\n

Now is not the time to be modest. We are turning that around.<\/p>\n

A \u00a36 billion pound investment that has transformed King\u2019s Cross and St. Pancras – High Speed 1.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re approaching a pivotal moment for High Speed 2<\/a>. You don\u2019t need me to tell you that it is a massive project. <\/p>\n

We mean it when we say we want HS2<\/abbr> to make the country proud. <\/p>\n

It is about more than engineering and construction. <\/p>\n

We are very conscious of the impact on the public purse \u2013 but we are here to deliver value not pinch pennies. <\/p>\n

Good design is essential. <\/p>\n

We also understand this is about more than what HS2<\/abbr> looks like. <\/p>\n

Good design is about utility, usability and delight. <\/p>\n

Good design creates things that are both useful and loved by those that use them. <\/p>\n

It creates landmarks. <\/p>\n

And it can help make the difference between success and failure. <\/p>\n

We need HS2<\/abbr> to be as good as it possibly can be. <\/p>\n

Britain has some of the most talented, creative and intelligent designers working today. <\/p>\n

With HS2<\/abbr> there\u2019s an opportunity to show the world what great British design can do that will last for generations to come.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re here today.<\/p>\n

So thank you for coming, thank you for your help and thank you for listening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HS2 is a great opportunity to showcase what great British design can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44578,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44561\/revisions\/44578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}