alistairfair.bsky.social
Reader in Architectural History, University of Edinburgh. C20th architecture in Britain. New towns. Book 'Building Modern Scotland' now available! Own views.
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Definitely Microgramma in some shape or form. As used by Irvine Development Corporation in particular. @jossdurnan.bsky.social will know the exact weights and spacing...
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Also glad to learn this. It forms an interesting counterpart to his portrait (in later life) on the wall opposite (architectuul.com/architect/gi...)
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Townscape (urban design philosophy):
- in the architectural press
- influence and application in practice
But as noted I overdo this! I've included things in indexes which I knew I would want to find in a hurry e.g. during a supervision.
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Laings .... see John Laing
But I've always just made up my own set of rules when indexing, and I probably overdo this sort of thing.
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I'm sure a real indexer will contradict me but I'd have 'Laura Ashley' if you are talking about the business rather than the person, and Roberts, Sir Gilbert before John (because 'Sir' is a title not a name.)
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get well soon! Great Gothic backdrop and embroidery, BTW :-)
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Indeed a very sad end to one particular 'municipal dream'. We have to cling on to the idea that he enjoyed his years in the Lansbury flat!
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Tortoise was apparently Tommy (according to the Architects' Journal, 6.9.2001). He unfortunately met a very sad end...
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There's a neat development in Duns (early 1990s, Housing Association I think) which has double-heigh conservatories on the south-facing side. I can put you in touch with one of the owners if you like...
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thanks! Unanimous author team choice. It was important to have people in the picture, and the ways in which new town life intersected with personal and family ambitions form a key theme in the book.
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Thanks @demetrius-art.bsky.social. Your important work on new town art gets a mention (and we look forward to your own book in due course!)
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Compulsory attire of course. I will be wearing similar complete with cord flares. (Standard lecturing clothing for me!)
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thank you - every little helps! Do come along to the RIAS event in Edinburgh on 26th if you'd like a half price print copy...
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The research was generously funded by @leverhulme.bsky.social and carried out by a team from @edincollegeofart.bsky.social and the University of Glasgow. Many thanks to all who helped along the way.
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It looks delicious! I must try this sometime
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Sad news - I was very struck by the complex on my visit a few years ago.
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paging @archhistdarling.bsky.social (who's done lots of research on this important building)
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I'm wondering (a) if the LCC internal staff phone directories are available (I think there are some volumes in the Percy J-M archive) and (b) if they would either show her departing or marrying.
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Here's a silent film (from 1968?) featuring the construction and opening.
youtu.be/41SwGKrznd4?...
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I'll share (free!) ebook link & print info on publication day next week. It's been a great project to work on with colleagues. I'd also like to acknowledge others in this area, including (on here) @jossdurnan.bsky.social & @demetrius-art.bsky.social plus archives inc @nlheritage.bsky.social (16/16)
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Architectural and landscape modernity was mirrored by publications, especially 1960s/70s. Irvine is the best example of this, with its lavish illustrated masterplan and consistent use of the Microgramme typeface across the town, but others got in the act: this is East Kilbride, c. 1970 (15/)
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Scotland's new towns gained extensive coverage in the general or specialist media, and received international visitors. (14/)
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We contest the idea of 'new town blues' but nonetheless explore how the 'new town dream' was not always positive in practice, sometimes causing financial and personal stresses. This advert was in the official East Kilbride handbook in the early 1970s (13/)
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We consider ideas of aspiration: how those moving to the new towns wanted a better life for themselves and especially their children. We explore how the new towns became involved in the expansion of owner-occupation, before the 'right to buy' of the 1980s, and the impacts of this (12/)
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We're also interested in the new industries in the new towns, as well as changing educational practices, both key elements of the drive to build a modern Scotland. We consider how new town industries, often international, relate to wider discussions of deindustrialisation and the economy (11/)
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One theme of the book is the way that residents made communities, through workplaces and local institutions such as churches, but at the same time we explore the idea that the post-war period saw a 'turn' to the home and family, and we consider how family experiences and gender roles changed (10/)
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Although the OED does prefer -ize, most of the time...
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The Scottish Office believed that modern housing and workplaces in an attractive setting were essential to stop the population drain, and to attract international investment put off by stereotypes of grimness. For residents, new town houses offered welcome space, light, privacy, gardens (9/)
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As for 'architecture', we're interested in radicalism (such as the megastructural Cumbernauld and Irvine town centres, or prefabricated housing), but we also emphasise 'mainstream modernism' - overlooked by critics but no less 'new' for residents, and offering a new image of Scotland (8/)
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We think about how landscaping created a new kind of urban environment around the home (whether green/park or hard/urban), while local and town centres represented new kinds of urban space with e.g. pedestrianisation and community facilities (7/)
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The book explores plans: East Kilbride's dispersed neighbourhoods, Cumbernauld's concentration, Livingston's flexible grid, Irvine's emphasis on mobility, & Stonehouse's pragmatism. They show changing ideas about the form of a modern town/city, how to deal with cars and planning for leisure (6/)
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thanks - yes, it is Cumbernauld. We really wanted a picture on the cover with people in it, rather than just an 'architectural' shot. Children's experiences of the new towns form an important theme - we discuss schools, leisure, home life and the transition into the workplace.
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Our book, available to buy in print but freely available from next week as an e-book, looks at plans & buildings, & considers what life was like in the new towns. We explore themes including the home, the family, work and community, and so the book addresses themes in current social history (5/..)
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Each new town was overseen by a public-sector development corporation, which took responsibility for planning and, in the early years, also built/managed much of the housing. Residents typically chose to move: aspirational people building better lives for themselves and their families (4/..)
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The first Scottish new town was East Kilbride, begun 1947. Glenrothes, Cumbernauld, Livingston, Irvine followed. Stonehouse was the last to be begun, but was abandoned quickly as policymakers' attention turned to Glasgow's regeneration rather than further decentralisation to the new towns (3/..)
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The new towns programme was begun in the 1940s as a way to relieve congestion in places like London and Glasgow. The new towns were planned to offer more than just houses, but also new schools, jobs (often in 'modern' industries) and leisure. A holistic vision was at work. (2/..)
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Infinite possibilities meet reality!
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Well, the cathedral is by the same architect who went on to extend Bradford cathedral (though I prefer the more intimate scale of Bradford), and there's a nice mid-60s theatre on the waterside.
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looking forward to this!