News follows Venice wins for Scottish practices Do Architecture, GRAS, Stone Opera and Pidgin Perfect

Scotland has launched a public consultation on the future of architecture and placemaking in the country.

Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop described it as an “opportunity to build a better world”.

She announced the consultation at an international design summit held this week at The Lighthouse in Glasgow and attended by 140 leading architects, local authority planning directors and other built environment professionals, students and organisations.

The public will have until September 7 to make their comments which will then shape Scottish policy.

Hyslop said good architecture and design generate £1.3 billion a year for the Scottish economy and strengthen communities by enriching lives and helping people and businesses flourish.

“We want to encourage the creation of buildings and places with which people can identify,” she added.

“This consultation on our new architecture and placemaking policy will, quite literally, shape Scotland’s future. It is an opportunity to build a better world and I urge everyone to have their say.”

Karen Anderson, chair of Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS), welcomed the process saying: “By engaging with as wide an audience as possible to create a strategic vision for the future of our built environment, the Scottish Government is showing its commitment to ensuring that architecture and place continue to play an important part in the sustainable development of Scotland.” 

The consultation takes place alongside an exhibition curated by A+DS at The Lighthouse called Input and Ideas: Rethinking Scotland’s Policy on Architecture and Place.

The news comes as four young Glasgow practices won the chance to represent Scotland at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Do Architecture, GRAS design studio, Stone Opera and Pidgin Perfect are designing events to engage communities in Venice and to showcase cutting-edge ideas that have emerged in Scotland in recent years.