The decision of Prince William to pursue Art History roused Evening
Standard (London) art critic Brian Sewell to severely criticise
the appropriateness of his choice of study. But as a foundation
year curriculum it is broadly based: architectural history is included
and is his expressed interest, which he might pursue through to
broader environmental studies.
There is not much ‘dilettantism’ here, despite Sewell’s
concern, to the well heeled student market that traditionally seeks
out St Andrews University, other than in the institution’s
own tailoring of such interesting course material as ‘The Country
House’. The problem at St Andrews (ironically one of the first
universities in the l960s to commission Sir James Stirling) is the
lack of anyone capable, as yet, of lecturing authoritatively on
modernism, or for that matter on contemporary architecture. Old
Fogeyism took root early in St Andrews, and remains alive and well,
bolstered by sound scholarship. But the university may already be
seeking to remedy this gap. Time, however, is of the essence.
