Thank you. I often think about competitions but have not organised one recently because I do not want to waste the competitors time (or the organisers’ time!). That said, many of the people who entered the Tiananmen competition were not interested in prizes and not even too interested in the results. I think they just enjoyed developing and exploring design ideas.

What a wonderful photograph. I need to find more time for photomontage. I fell in love with it aged about 12 and its time to get going. Getting good results was difficult when you had to cut prints and stick them together. Digital cameras make the job much simpler. Dancing the results might put me off but I am delighted to see others doing it. On the whole, photographers do not like being photographed.

London is an incredibly unique city and it would be great if it realised that like New York, nearly everyone wants to be like it. (I am not sure how they think they are going to be like New York and London at the very same time, but people are very contradictory creatures!)

There are a few contemporary buildings and structures which hit the ground running so to speak as iconic buildings – the Gherkin is one and the London Eye is another.

The problem may be that all the new building in London are trying to create their own Biblao effect and when they are clustered, they compete within the cluster for attention.

Something of this happened in New York with the pediments [ http://ralphwalkerexhibit.com/images/beaux_arts_ball_bg.jpg ] creating one of my all time favourite architectural photographs, but there was an underlying discipline of the grid and stepped setback which created a uniformity underpinning this diversity.

There is something to be said for having to wear and dance in your creation, so I am happy to see the trend continue, if not with quite the same panache as the original.
[ http://www.coa.gatech.edu/sites/files/coa/buildings_2.jpg ]

That is a really good idea about sending UK architects and developers overseas (though a lot of them come from overseas and many of those born in the UK go to work overseas). I would very happy for them to ‘do time’ in South America (Sao Paolo would be ideal) or in China (Shanghai would do). London does not have to be like other cities. It would do much better being like itself. With a few exceptions (eg Tour Montparnasse and the Pompidou Centre) Central Paris has been more self-confident than London about protecting its identity.

What this would do – is make highrise a little more prosaic – and concentrate their mind on design and urban quality. Money is money is money, so any commission should bring in money. This might help the RIBA audience better appreciate your commitment to the design of the London skyline and streetscape.

I am not sure that the answer is all (RIBA) or nothing (London CPO). However, Peter Rees point that densities can be achieved by other means should be reassuring that good choices can be made to best meet the demand for greater floor plates that may exist. The solution could be horizontal (ie field theory buildings ie. the Pompidou Centre is a transitional building between feild theory and high tech.) or vertical. [ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Centre_Pompidou,_seen_from_Tour_Montparnasse.jpg ]