Alan Stanton
Woodside House - Not iconic enough?
Back in 2008 Haringey Council had a half-baked plan to sell the existing Civic Centre and make Woodside House the new "sustainable civic building".
The idea was dropped. Though the real Civic Centre was allowed to moulder slowly and gently. Of course, whatever is eventually done will be dressed-up with some PR and spun as Progress. That's how things are done in Newspeak Haringey.
Bullshit Bingo
When I was a councillor I enjoyed spotting vacuous buzzwords at meetings or in reports. Though of course, it's not just the Council. Bullshit Bingo is a game everyone can play everywhere.
Other buildings, for example, aren't they 'signature', or 'state-of-the-art'? While older buildings are always 'historic' or 'heritage'.
Even the valuable concept 'sustainable' is now used as empty decoration. (So the rich can buy pointless products which are cool, fashionable and very expensive. But hey, they're also organic and sourced only from sustainable farms, factories or forests.)
The 2008 Woodside House plan was stuffed with bullshit words and phrases. So, naturally, it would have contributed to: "the council's carbon reduction targets". Also having:"a new state-of-the-art council chamber and meetings suite, open and fully accessible to local people for meetings of all kinds".
Not bad. But surely this building must be iconic, too? Though I was really hoping for 'out-of-the-box', matrix, and 'achieving excellence', 'world class', and other amusing bureauburble.
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Links
§ Bullshit Bingo is also called *buzzword bingo
§ A report in The Independent newspaper quoted Sir Ivor Roberts criticising the management-speak imposed on Foreign Office diplomats. The "change-management agenda is written in Wall Street management speak already ... discredited by the time it is introduced. Synergies, best practice, benchmarking... roll out, stakeholder.... fit for purpose, are all prime candidates for a game of bullshit bingo, a substitute for clarity and succinctness."
§ Buzzword Bingo card distributed at M.I.T. for a visit from Vice-President Al Gore.
§ Wikipedia page about George Orwell's Newspeak.
§ Aerial view of the location of Woodside House.
§ State-of-the-art or Art-of-the-State?
[Broken links repaired or deleted on 6 December 2018.]
Woodside House - Not iconic enough?
Back in 2008 Haringey Council had a half-baked plan to sell the existing Civic Centre and make Woodside House the new "sustainable civic building".
The idea was dropped. Though the real Civic Centre was allowed to moulder slowly and gently. Of course, whatever is eventually done will be dressed-up with some PR and spun as Progress. That's how things are done in Newspeak Haringey.
Bullshit Bingo
When I was a councillor I enjoyed spotting vacuous buzzwords at meetings or in reports. Though of course, it's not just the Council. Bullshit Bingo is a game everyone can play everywhere.
Other buildings, for example, aren't they 'signature', or 'state-of-the-art'? While older buildings are always 'historic' or 'heritage'.
Even the valuable concept 'sustainable' is now used as empty decoration. (So the rich can buy pointless products which are cool, fashionable and very expensive. But hey, they're also organic and sourced only from sustainable farms, factories or forests.)
The 2008 Woodside House plan was stuffed with bullshit words and phrases. So, naturally, it would have contributed to: "the council's carbon reduction targets". Also having:"a new state-of-the-art council chamber and meetings suite, open and fully accessible to local people for meetings of all kinds".
Not bad. But surely this building must be iconic, too? Though I was really hoping for 'out-of-the-box', matrix, and 'achieving excellence', 'world class', and other amusing bureauburble.
══════════════════════════════════
Links
§ Bullshit Bingo is also called *buzzword bingo
§ A report in The Independent newspaper quoted Sir Ivor Roberts criticising the management-speak imposed on Foreign Office diplomats. The "change-management agenda is written in Wall Street management speak already ... discredited by the time it is introduced. Synergies, best practice, benchmarking... roll out, stakeholder.... fit for purpose, are all prime candidates for a game of bullshit bingo, a substitute for clarity and succinctness."
§ Buzzword Bingo card distributed at M.I.T. for a visit from Vice-President Al Gore.
§ Wikipedia page about George Orwell's Newspeak.
§ Aerial view of the location of Woodside House.
§ State-of-the-art or Art-of-the-State?
[Broken links repaired or deleted on 6 December 2018.]