I don't know what will happen in the 21st century, but regardless of unsightly architecture, I can't imagine that there has actually been a better time to live in Orkney than the latter part of the 20th century. Though I've only spent weeks there, rather than years, and all of it in the '70s, I would not have traded the comforts of indoor plumbing, clean sheets, convenient meals, and the ability to travel further than a few miles from one's home (as most Victorians did not - unless they were permanent exiles) for a picturesque life that was still likely to be short, closed-in, and with few options beyond the scrabble for existence. The sky, the sea, and the shapes of the land are there to be enjoyed, as they have always been, and whatever one may think of the "intensity" of living a short but colorful life, most people would probably prefer to dream about the links with their ancestors without having to endure early death in childbirth or from rotten teeth, or a long winte! r penned in with one's animals. I would have thought the series "Victorian House" would have dispelled once and for all the idea that the Victorian life was anything but a long struggle, at least for women, and generally for all but the most privileged of either sex. That said, the Victorians were probably the "greatest generation(s)" for the immense strides they made in literacy and sobriety (the statistics are similar - from almost universal drunkenness among the lower classes and 10% literacy at the beginning of the era, to 90% literacy and an average of 10% alcoholism at the end), the schools and hospitals that they founded, and generally their almost inconceivable determination to improve themselves and society. If we could apply half their energy, self-sacrifice and idealism to our modern problems, it would be wonderful. As to Orcadian architecture, I would love to see it retain the colors of the land - the pale greens, greys and blues - and perhaps evolve into something a bit more free-form and with a low profile on the land. Skara Brae, as I recall, had many curves. If I were an architect, imagining homes for Orkney, I would put in winding walks, sheltered from the wind, linking low, comfortable dwellings, with all those cozy old features of recessed shelves and beds re-imagined for comfort and convenience - a kind of new Craftsman movement. By the way, IS there a link to the new library design? I've spent many hours in the old Kirkwall library, not to mention the tiny one in Stromness, and have happy memories of both. Peggy Stone San Diego, California

> By the way, IS there a link to the new library design? I've spent many hours in the old Kirkwall library, not to mention the tiny one in Stromness, and have happy memories of both. > http://www.orkneylibrary.org.uk/