Medicis and the Millennium?: Government Patronage and Architecture

The combined power of the public sector to create a better or worse environment is enormous. In particular, central government is directly responsible for the construction of offices, courts, prisons, hospitals, laboratories, bridges and roads. Public buildings are perhaps the longest lasting legacy of any government and, according to this report, deserve the highest political attention. The author traces the history of a number of lost opportunities when government or statutory organizations have neglected to support the architecturally good against the indifferent or plain bad.