Princely Scorn for D.C.’s New Skyline

Prince Charles made it plain as the nose on his royal face that he isn’t very fond of modern British architecture. What then, an American asked, did he think of Washington’s gleaming new skyline of glass and steel?

The 41-year-old heir to the British throne rocked on his heels at the British Embassy reception Thursday, paused a long moment and smiled mischievously. “I prefer Paris,” he said.

His reply foreshadowed the indictment of modern urban design that he delivered a few hours later at a black-tie awards gala of the American Institute of Architects at the National Building Museum, where roast beef was served by candlelight at $250 a plate.

If the 1,200 architects and their guests wanted their dessert laced with princely scorn, Charles didn’t disappoint them.

“Much of the commercial building of today bears as much relation to architecture as advertising slogans bear to literature,” he said, charging that their designers “ransack history as if it were a wardrobe full of old clothes.”

Charles challenged American architects to reverse the trend toward cities that are “the epitome of the throwaway society”--torn down and rebuilt by successive generations--and design buildings of lasting beauty that are fit for human beings.

“It sometimes seems to me that the richer we get, the uglier we tend to make our surroundings,” he said. “What is worse, not only do we seem to have mislaid the ability to create beauty, but we also set out to destroy what beauty there is left in the world.”

The prince said his invitation to speak was mystifying, considering his criticism of the “Frankenstein monsters” created by some British architects. “Is there an epidemic of masochism sweeping the ranks of the AIA?” he asked. The audience roared.

Charles’ speech was the highlight of a one-day Washington visit that also included lunch with President Bush and some of his top advisers at the White House, a brief visit to the headquarters of the AIA and a reception at the British Embassy.