Tag Archives: history

A Ruralise ‘Reader’

It’s been a while since my last post, the final installment of my Forest Village epic. The piece was well-received: specifically one international journal has picked up on it and I have done a re-write for publication, hopefully in their … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Norfolk DNA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Ruralise ‘Reader’

Looking Forward…

Hope you all enjoyed the Tayler and Green ‘feature’ – but now a look into the future, rather than the past. The architectural community in Norwich is eagerly anticipating the start of a new degree-course in architecture at Norwich University … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Looking Forward…

Tayler and Green #12 – The Legacy

Tayler and Green worked for Loddon throughout the 1960s, but also completed residential projects in the New Towns of Hatfield and Basildon, a large development of three-storey houses and flats at Camp Road in Norwich, and an office building in … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler and Green #12 – The Legacy

Tayler and Green #11 – Critical Regionalism?

A pervading narrative in UK housing-design is that of ‘local distinctiveness’. The idea that new homes should ‘fit in’, or ‘reflect local character’, is enshrined in national and local planning guidance. For house-builders – and most of the local authority … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler and Green #11 – Critical Regionalism?

Tayler & Green #10 – Refusing to Indulge the Un-Homely

In a most arresting passage of Alan Power’s essay in ‘Tayler and Green 1938-1973: The Spirit of Place in Modern Housing’, he describes one of the main differences between Tayler and Green’s approach and the ethos of ‘mainstream’ Modernism. It … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler & Green #10 – Refusing to Indulge the Un-Homely

Tayler and Green #9 – Composition

Tayler and Green’s preference for terraces over more conventional semis was partly due to their impact in the landscape. Tayler had come to believe that semis looked wrong in a rural context – like ‘a row of pointed teeth, with … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler and Green #9 – Composition

Tayler and Green #8 – Pragmatism and Decoration

Much has been written about how Tayler and Green’s work for Loddon fits so snugly into the Norfolk landscape, but a desire to ‘fit in’ was not a major driving-force behind their choice of forms and materials.

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler and Green #8 – Pragmatism and Decoration

Tayler and Green #7 – A Kit of Parts

Loddon Council’s most pressing need, reflected in its initial briefings to Tayler and Green, was for family homes (one four-bed house for every seven three-beds), but very soon the Council introduced single-storey two-bed units into the mix, for older residents. … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler and Green #7 – A Kit of Parts

Tayler & Green #6 – From Semi to Terrace

Despite Tayler and Green’s stipulation about not working rigidly with standard Minstry house-types, the first two projects for Loddon Rural District Council (five pairs at Leman Grove in Loddon and seven at College Road, Thurlton) were closely based on their … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler & Green #6 – From Semi to Terrace

Tayler and Green #5 – A Thirty-Year Partnership

Towards the end of the war most district councils were planning major house-building programmes, but Loddon Rural District Council had begun to do so much earlier, under powers for slum-clearance granted by the by 1936 Housing Act, with the intention … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture/Design, Tayler & Green | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tayler and Green #5 – A Thirty-Year Partnership