Grand Designs viewers have expressed their “frustration” over a comment made during an upcoming episode of Kevin McCloud’s design series, which returns with a new episode on Wednesday, 30 September.
The episode follows architect Seb as he designs a North-West London home, and in a preview clip, Seb reveals to Kevin that he has never built before. Viewers are shown a series of near-disasters during the build, with Seb confessing: “It’s very stressful.” He adds: “I don’t know why I designed such a complicated building… Things are going to go wrong, I know it.”
Kevin's 'bloody-minded' comment
During the episode, Kevin tells Seb: “This seems to me a bit bloody-minded.” The preview also includes other builders and those involved sharing their thoughts, with one person saying: “The thing with architects is that they focus on design and they’re not too bothered how you’re going to build it.”
Viewers react to the statement
Some viewers have taken aim at the comment, with one person writing: “Really looking forward to seeing the end product but that statement about Architects not being bothered about how to build is a damning indictment showcasing how poorly we’re received as a profession!”
Another replied: “I came straight to the comments to see if anyone else pointed that out! What a wild thing to say when that’s literally 90% of the job.” The original poster responded: “It’s sad and frustrating in equal parts! Best run off and get my crayons out to do some colouring in.”
Kevin on the show's success
Ahead of the episode airing, Kevin spoke about the success of Grand Designs and was asked if the series has changed the way people build houses. He replied: “It is very chicken and egg, what came first? I think the great thing about television is that it can reflect society, and I think television is at its best when it is able to do that and hold a mirror up and say, this is us now. Channel 4 are very good at doing this, I think it is one of the most compelling things about the channel.”
He added: “Grand Designs has been going forever, and so the question is whether it holds a mirror up and i believe the answer is yes, it does so because we have no real formula. We find projects in the real world and we observe, that is it.”
“Grand Designs strengths and its longevity are down to the fact it doesn’t really have a format other than that. It has a beginning and a conclusion, but what happens in the middle is not up to us, it is up to the people who are building. We, of course, go out of our way to find interesting and challenging projects that are more at the margins, that show us where we might be as a society in 5,10, 20 years time, not just where we are now.”
“So, my short answer is possibly, but it is much more important for us to show examples of stuff which show the rest of society how we might be building and living in the future.”
Grand Designs airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Channel 4.
