Piers Gough condemns anti-terrorism award

Piers Gough (pictured), one of the Britain's leading architects, has called on design students to boycott a Home Office competition which asks them to redesign an imaginary public square after it has suffered a devastating bomb attack which kills 500 people, claiming that it fosters a "culture of fear" about terrorism.

The contest, 'Public Spaces, Safer Places', was launched last week in conjunction with the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). It offers a £2,000 prize to the student who comes up with best design against the threat of "multiple co-ordinated suicide attacks" in crowded places.

Gough, known for his advocacy of flamboyant architectural styles, describes the competition as "the propagation of paranoia". He told Building Design magazine: "The Government gets blamed if there is an attack. They like to pass on the agony to us by curtailing our freedom. On no account should architects or students give succour to this."

But John-Paul Nunes, head of education at RIBA, denied the contest could be seen as scaremongering: "This competition is about promoting good design, not creating a bunker mentality."