Ugliness is superior to beauty (because it lasts longer)

Beauty is transient. Tastes change. And ugliness tends to be more enduring.The ultimate paradox is: if everything were beautiful, nothing would be.We need a measure of ugliness to appreciate what’s beautiful.But what should that measure be? And how might it be legislated?

Stephen Bayley was the founding Director of London’s influential Design Museum. He is the author of hundreds of articles and many books which have shaped our understanding of ’design’, including Ugly: The Aesthetics of Everything. He is Chair of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust whose Ballymore-sponsored Building Beauty Awards are now the country’s most valuable architectural prize. The Building Beauty Awards aim to identify examples to inspire the debates begun by The NPPF and The Office of Place.

This event includes a complimentary networking reception with the speaker and audience members following the talk.