Housing the Twentieth-Century Nation
- Artist: Various
- Published: 2009
- Publisher: Paul Holberton Publishing, London
- Edition: First
- Format: Paperback
- Height: 27cm
- Pages: 176
- Illustrations: Illustrated in colour.
£19.50
Add to basketHousing the Twentieth-Century Nation
There was no bigger issue in the twentieth century than housing. In peace or war, people need homes, and a growing population and demands for better standards put architects, planners and sociologists to work. The century was known for its public housing, culminating in the tower blocks that once peppered major cities such as Birmingham and Glasgow, now fast disappearing. But that is far from the whole story.
This book considers housing from across the century, from rural Norfolk to inner London, via Scotland and Wales. It looks at the work of local authorities on meagre budgets, at the colourful world of housing charities in the 1920s and even at the problems of building highdensity flats for the rich. Other articles appraise Britain’s housing internationally. East Tilbury, built for a Czech industrialist on modernist lines, is studied in new depth. Cumbernauld and Peterlee – pillories of post-war planning – are reappraised, and forgotten housing figures from mid-century Liverpool and the Midlands uncovered. New light is also shed on such famous estates as Alton and Byker, with articles by architects who designed them.
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Authors Biography
Alan Powers (born 1955) is a British author who specialises in writing books on architecture.
During his career, Alan Powers has combined writing with painting and illustration including aquatints, drawings, lithographs, murals, and watercolours. As a book author, he has concentrated on 20th century British architecture, with an interest in architectural preservation and has also written books on the design of book jackets and the artist Eric Ravilious.
An expert on 20th century architecture, Alan Powers was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2008.
