Letter: The vision of the Crystal Palace

From Mr Owen Luder

Sir: The proposal to build a replica Crystal Palace would be a great mistake and a major misuse of lottery funds. However, this magnificent site has been neglected for far too long. What is required is a new, breathtaking, imaginative building that will echo in modern terms the vision and progressive technology of the original Crystal Palace.

Here is an opportunity for an international competition for a new building designed for modern needs that will be as outstanding an architectural landmark as Paxton's creation was in 1851.

We do not need a tired, unconvincing pastiche replica of a past era that cannot be resurrected. Let's celebrate the future at the millennium, not the past.

Yours sincerely,

Owen Luder

President

Royal Institute of British

Architects

London, W1

23 October