Well designed buildings can stop vandals in their tracks, according to the Victorian government architect Geoffrey London.
"If something is well designed it will deliver better amenity to the public and users and it will be more sustainable and it will be honoured by the community that it serves," Professor London said while speaking at the Warrnambool Design Forum.
“It’s a desired part of the community rather than something to be tested by vandalism,” he said.
London praised the role of design review panels in major developments, saying how they could help introduce an element of impartiality.
“It’s extremely useful as a kind of objectifiable peer-review exercise of what’s being proposed,” he said.
One benefit of the panels is how they can bring together local and national perspectives. It was “folly”, he said, to think that good architecture could exist without a local perspective.
London studied both fine art and architecture at both tertiary and postgraduate level, before deciding to pursue architecture as a career.
Before being appointed as the Victorian state government architect in July 2008, London spent four years as the Western Australia government architect, overseeing projects including the Perth performing arts venue, the Perth Arena (an indoor entertainment and sports centre), the Fiona Stanley Hospital and new law courts in Perth and Kalgoorlie.
