John Barr studied architecture in the early 1970s and is a product of both the architectural and educational ideas that emerged from the 1960s. Following graduation, he worked on a wide variety of projects in the UK, the Netherlands, the Middle East and Japan and, since 2012, he has combined practice with teaching at Strathclyde University Department of Architecture. Now, with the benefit of distance and a long career as an architect and teacher, he assesses the significance of an era that saw radical change and the promise of a better and more equal society.
Description
Introduction: The Sixties; Prelude: Suez, Sputnik and Socialism; 1. Winning the Peace; 2. The Old Knights; 3. The New Universities; 4. The New Colleges; 5. Interlude: Education, a Nubile Cinderella; 6. The Planners; 7. The Urbanists; 8. The Contextualists; 9. The Missionaries; 10. The Structuralists; 11. The Prefabricators; 12. The Disruptors; 13. Interlude: Less R&B, More R&D; 14. The New Knights; 15. Back to the Future; Notes; Bibliography; Index
'The great expansion of higher education in Britain after WW2, and especially in the 1960s, provided the context and patronage for a new architecture that combined scale, structure, experience and community; and so as to give form to new ways of thinking. John Barr expertly guides us through the major buildings, projects and personalities of this very important story.' - Paul Rennie, Central Saint Martins, London 'This is a significant book which enhances our history of architecture in the UK - specifically our university stock. John Barr's superb black and white photography provides a detailed contemporary record of the buildings, and the book's clarity of argument is enhanced by discussion of the case studies within the wider social and theoretical contexts of post war Britain.' - Professor Gordon Murray, Consultant Architect