Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
Reader in Architectural History, University of Edinburgh. C20 architecture in Britain. New towns. Theatres. Book 'Building Modern Scotland' available open access. Own views. No age ID so no DMs but I can do e-mail!
Art
31%
History
18%
Wang Fuk Court must surely be the end of bamboo scaffolding on housing. Flexi 2 HOS blocks intrinsically safe – only 8 flats/floor – but the scaffolding is like wrapping them in a ‘temporary Grenfell’! Big questions for HKSAR Buildings Dept. to answer (esp. with other live cases - eg Sui Wo Court)
My colleague @milesglendinning.bsky.social is the latest recruit to Bluesky. Follow him for insights on the architectural history and heritage of global mass housing
Reposted by Alistair Fair
Wang Fuk Court must surely be the end of bamboo scaffolding on housing. Flexi 2 HOS blocks intrinsically safe – only 8 flats/floor – but the scaffolding is like wrapping them in a ‘temporary Grenfell’! Big questions for HKSAR Buildings Dept. to answer (esp. with other live cases - eg Sui Wo Court)
brilliant title! Looking forward to this
Stir-up Sunday. 7 hours down, 1 hour to go. (This is the pudding; the Christmas cake and mincemeat were made in September and are maturing in the cupboard.)
Aged 9/10 (!) I wrote to the local councillor to say that the street name signs on our road were damaged. Prompt reply to say they'd be dealt with. Within weeks new ones appeared.
Excellent news for the end of the week as @thesahgb.bsky.social recognises the monumental efforts of the Buildings of England/Scotland/Wales/Ireland team over several decades.
I'd certainly give them a try if you're over that way.
I'd try one of the BHF furniture shops
Theatre at demolition risk over Raac loses listed building bid
East Lothian Council has said it has little option but to demolish the Brunton Theatre building.
www.bbc.co.uk
Disappointing news about the non-listing of the Brunton Theatre, despite it being deemed list-able by HES. A replacement building will cost £50m+, replacing the roof was estimated at £22m... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Alistair: let's de-centre the architect in architectural-historical writing. Meanwhile Duolingo:
My copy of this issue of the AR came via a colleague who had various things that had once belonged to Percy Johnson-Marshall, one of the Coventry planners in the 1940s. Given that the cover says 'Johnson' in biro I do wonder if this issue once was his.
Archive-based teaching this afternoon, on the post-war reconstruction of central Coventry.
experience: the Barbican Arts Centre's men's with the very long trough urinals and foot-operated sinks.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Oct 27
I've long wanted to see the theatre: an important influence on the Festival Hall as well as post-war British theatres.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Oct 17
A Network SouthEast Clock.
HTML/CSS/Javascript implementation of the wonderful clocks once seen on Network SouthEast stations.
aj-computing.co.uk
to my great delight, I've just discovered a version of that clock online: aj-computing.co.uk/network-sout...
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Oct 17
I like this though the numbers don't seem to sit entirely happily in the circle - as you say, analogue would be good. (All that said, they could and maybe should just have reinstated the Network SouthEast clackety 24 hour clocks)
essay prompt: 'discuss the "wide variety of retail and cultural experiences" imagined by Ebenezer Howard'
Love that little curved balcony above the entrance. I'm imagining proclamations of interest rates and such things!
End of week reading. @samwetherell.bsky.social's excellent new urban history of post-war Liverpool.
Yesterday - teaching @edincollegeofart.bsky.social Architectural History students in the archive. Drawings of Coventry Cathedral from the Basil Spence archive, as well as many other items that showed the collaborative process by which the cathedral was designed and built.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Sep 23
I'd long wondered if Clarence was an acronym (because Strathclyde had a wee dog called RALF - Road & Light Faults). I thought it might be 'Central and Lothian something'; it was Customer Lighting And Roads ENquiry CEntre.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Sep 15
First day of the new academic year @edincollegeofart.bsky.social. This semester's teaching includes my course on architecture in Britain 1919-56.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Sep 13
The SE is doing a tribute to Bridget Riley
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Sep 12
There's a lot to be said for 1970s houses and flats - at their best, they can be really well planned. Many congratulations!
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Sep 10
New towns stuff! It was very good to talk to @charlielynch.bsky.social for this feature. The book is still available - in print but also as an open access (free!) e-book at www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?do...
I have to say that I quite like the Reader title even though it often needs explaining! But then I have always been a bit contrary.
🔉 Listen in! Dr @alistairfair.bsky.social & Dr @vawright10.bsky.social: Building Modern Scotland - The Social Histories of New Towns. Ep3, s2 of Artful Inquiry, the ECA research podcast.
Listen in on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1qDQ...
More about the series: www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-research...
Listen in on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1qDQ...
More about the series: www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-research...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
Recently @vawright10.bsky.social and I were interviewed for a podcast about the Scottish new towns book which we recently co-wrote (and which is available Open Access for free download via bloomsburycollections, though you can also buy a copy in print if you wish!)
Reposted by Alistair Fair
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
🔉 Listen in! Dr @alistairfair.bsky.social & Dr @vawright10.bsky.social: Building Modern Scotland - The Social Histories of New Towns. Ep3, s2 of Artful Inquiry, the ECA research podcast.
Listen in on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1qDQ...
More about the series: www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-research...
Listen in on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1qDQ...
More about the series: www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-research...
Northampton Guildhall extension - 1991 by Stimpson Walton Bond. Contextual Gothic to echo the adjacent Victorian Gothic.
Malcolm Inglis building, Northampton (1900). Built for a leather and hide factor. A piece of Glasgow especially in the carving above the entrance, where we have St Mungo and the two salmon from the city's coat of arms.