Grimshaw prefers to lose a job rather than compromise his Modern Movement values

Grimshaw prefers to lose a job rather than compromise his Modern Movement values. If one can fin d any trace of nostalgia, it is a longing for the notion of inexorable progress, a concept that seems outmoded in an age where the eclectic values of vapid Post-Modernism hold sway. Structural scions of Mies van der Rohe, the Prussian father of the modern steel and glass building, each of Grimshaw's buildings is determinedly futuristic. What these buildings have in common is the fact that each is unrepentantly modern.

Over the past five years he has designed some of the most distincti ve buildings in and for Britain - the International Terminal at Waterloo (1994) and the British Pavilion at the Seville Expo (1992) chief among them. He has built two memorable buildings for the newspaper industry - the Financial Times printing press in London's Docklands (1988) and the Western Morning News headquarters in Plymouth (1992). Current projects include the Berlin Stock Exchange and Communications Centre. Surely the International Terminal, gateway to the land of Art and Culture, is proof that we don't measure all new buildings according to standards set down by the past? "Waterloo station? I don't know," blinks Grimshaw behind Le Corbusier-style glasses, "I just don't know how we did it." At 55, Grimshaw is one of Britain's most successful architects. Even so, he has managed to build some of these island's most forward-looking building s without, it seems, being asked to look over his shoulders or even having to compromise Waterloo, for example.

We tend to measure everything according to standards set down by the past." Nicholas Grimshaw, the architect of the much- praised Waterloo International Terminal, is a fierce opponent of Britain's cultural obsession with heritage and nostalgia. But when the cycle network is completed and millions of people are riding along the paths, admiring the sculptures and enjoying the countryside, it will be as lasting a testimony to him as Waterloo International station and all those other hi-tech buildings are to his cousin Nicholas. CW "President Mitterand said art and culture are the foundation of our society No politician in England would say that Our concept of architectural value is retrospective. He used to have a clip which enabled him to read books while he pedalled but was prosecuted by the police.John Grimshaw has the traditional deference of the engineer to his architect cousin whom he says is "the famous one". The kids "are not particularly keen on bikes", presumably a healthy rebellious reaction, but they don't get ferried around because he refuses to own a car He bicycles everywhere but finds it boring sometimes. He personally supervises many of the small projects that have led to the creation of 300 miles of dedicated cycle path so far. As a result, he doesn't see much of his family - he has three children.