Here's one way to spin the story

Housing codes follow royal blueprint

John Prescott today launched design rules for new homes inspired by Prince Charles' mock village Poundbury, despite a warning by government advisers that it will lead to "architectural fundamentalism".

The deputy prime minister chose a seminar hosted by the prince to announce that thousands of new homes should be built to strict style rules or design codes.

Such a system was used on Poundbury, the prince's retro Dorset village, and the Florida town of Seaside - the setting for satirical film The Truman Show - which Mr Prescott visited earlier this year.

The move comes on the day that the government's architecture watchdog published a report cautioning against the use of prescriptive codes.

Of course as you notice the story offers no specifics so we are not quite sure what the Code will prescribe.

Comments

[Michael Blowhard]

FWIW, I talked to a few people who were involved in the making of "The Truman Show" and asked them about their experiences with Seaside -- which the movie of course mocked. They told me that they felt sheepish about it. Why? Because when they'd arrived they were feeling very superior, but by the time they left they'd become very fond of the town. Yet of course what they'd made was a movie making fun of a place that they'd finally come to appreciate themselves.