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%
The best archive visits always include a trolley!
Well I enjoyed it, which was the main thing, and it's out in Planning Perspectives later in the year :-D but the serious point is that I wanted to think about post-Radburn planning. The article talks about Essex's mews courts but I'm also interested in the borrowing of the Dutch woonerf in the 70s
On a related topic, I've recently been writing something about attempts in the 1970s to allow greater flexibility in estate road adoption standards - i.e. to let designers' professional judgement and innovative/compromise solutions prevail over literal interpretations of 'the rules'
Used it a couple of times as foot passengers (with connections at both ends), and it's a very civilised way to travel. The fancy restaurant is also worth it, at least in one direction.
Thanks! Yes, this bit of text is from a document produced c. 1975 by an architect, so Olivetti would make sense.
A warning sign I came across this afternoon in George Square in Glasgow. Given how often I've just about been hit by a bus while photographing the city's architecture, it's good advice!
#glasgow #humour #architecture #architecturephotography #georgesquare
#glasgow #humour #architecture #architecturephotography #georgesquare
Very true!
Reposted by Alison Phipps, Alistair Fair
A warning sign I came across this afternoon in George Square in Glasgow. Given how often I've just about been hit by a bus while photographing the city's architecture, it's good advice!
#glasgow #humour #architecture #architecturephotography #georgesquare
#glasgow #humour #architecture #architecturephotography #georgesquare
A very niche question, but does anyone know anything about this typeface? Was it created by a specific make of typewriter? It appears every so often in the archives and I've long thought it elegant.
Bring back WMPTE custard and dark blue (at least in Birmingham)!
My partner's doing Duolingo Italian (and I'm doing Duolingo Gaelic and Swedish). It's not bad as an approach, and as can be free it's worth a try, though I find the lack of grammar teaching/explanation a bit irritating. @rproctor.bsky.social is right, though, that classes would be even better
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Dec 19
LOL, I didn't mean to gazump you!
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Dec 19
Currently writing about Essex County Council's 1973 'Design Guide for Residential Areas', which advocated contextual materials (though not necessarily revivalist forms) plus shared-space 'mews courts' and went on to have a massive influence on late 70s/80s new housing
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Dec 14
I'll look forward to seeing publications etc about this, as I've been thinking a little about the urban plans for Humberside c. 1970 within the context of the new towns programme.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Dec 13
When I teach using the Irvine plan, I come up with some pretentious argument about the MGB representing an emerging consumer/leisure culture (and I think that argument is valid!!) but TBH it is just a cool car.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Dec 13
There are a lot of MGB GTs illustrated in the Irvine plan, because the chief planner, David Gosling, had one.
One of the best buildings of the 1950s/60s in Britain, and definitely one of my favourites too. Spence's drawings really show how much he was thinking in terms of light and atmosphere.
Best 'locally distinctive bus shelter' = the Isle of Lewis' concrete structures, not conventionally beautiful but practically designed to allow passengers always to find a spot out of the wind.
Perhaps they should have the original RMJM elevations intact! I was always astonished by the amount of waterstaining on the 'new' stone facades, which suggested poor materials or workmanship, or an issue with the water run-off detailing ('elevational plumbing' as the late John Partridge called it)
How much of this was a conversion - i.e., was the frame from the LRC building re-used and re-clad? Or was the hotel all new when it opened?
Just delivered by the postman, this substantial new collection edited by @osaumarezsmith.bsky.social @petermandler.bsky.social and Simon Gunn with a stellar lineup of contributors. I'm looking forward to diving into it over the next few days.
@c20society.bsky.social and here it is looking good in 1988, in that year's brochure for the Austin Maestro!
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 30
Lunchtime perambulation around the University of Glasgow. The (former) Modern Languages building (now Law?), by Walter Ramsay, 1958-59, showing the often gentle modernism of the 1950s. Perhaps now overshadowed by the brutalism of the adjacent Queen Margaret Union, but I'm quite partial to it.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 27
I will look forward to seeing that!
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 27
I can imagine an interesting volume of urban/social history organised around bus routes. Birmingham's 11A/11C route could be the basis of a good chapter. A colleague here a few years ago supervised an excellent dissertation which looked at Edinburgh through the prism of Lothian's service 35
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 26
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)
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 26
brilliant title! Looking forward to this
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 23
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.)
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 22
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.
Alistair Fair
@alistairfair.bsky.social
· Nov 21
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.