Alistair Fair

@alistairfair

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!

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Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 9d

Buddleia would not be my plant of choice for the garden (though it has a fascinating history, as @moacarlsson.bsky.social has written about: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....). The butterflies do love it, however. A dozen were counted yesterday afternoon while I had a cup of tea.

Purple/pink buddleia flowers, and green leaves, with various butterflies on the flowers.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 12d

International Cat Day! New book cover + uninterested cat.

A cat sits to the left of a computer monitor, on which is the cover of the book New Towns Mark One, by Elain Harwood (edited by Alistair Fair). The cat is looking out of the window, and ignoring the computer.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 29d

I've just finished (and enjoyed) @archhistdarling.bsky.social's excellent new book on the architecture of Broadcasting House which explores how in the 1920s/30s the BBC and its designers collectively used architecture and design to forge their identity in a modern world #20s30s

Cover of the book 'Palace of the Ether' by Elizabeth Darling. The title is in large letters over a monochrome image of BBC Broadcasting House in London

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jul 21

Very exciting news that 'Building Modern Scotland' has been shortlisted for the @thesahgb.bsky.social's Alice Davis Hitchcock award alongside excellent titles by @holsmith.bsky.social @matthewwhitfield.bsky.social @rproctor.bsky.social and others! www.sahgb.org.uk/features/202...

A small tortoiseshell cat and a copy of the book 'Building Modern Scotland'

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jul 10

A brief stop at Worcester Shrub Hill yesterday offered a chance to see the (listed!) K8 phone box on the station platform. This reminded me that @c20society.bsky.social was trying to get some of the next generation KX kiosks listed - I wonder if anything came of that?

A red K8 phone box on a station platform. The K8 is the simplified, cube-like 1960s design with big glass windows and little ornamental detail, which distringuish it from its 1930s predecessor.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jul 6

I've co-organised a symposium with @c20society.bsky.social on 10 September to mark 80 years of the New Towns Act, and the launch of Elain Harwood's final major book, 'New Towns Mark One', which I edited (and the sequel to which I'm now writing). Details here: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...

Market clock at Harlow on a building with blue and white striped tiles. To the right is a tower block

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jun 30

Almere - a new town in the Netherlands, now 50 years old. Visited during my recent holiday. These photos show the De Werven area, one of the first, with clusters of houses backing onto communal gardens plus cycleways and a busway.

Brick houses with external stairs to an upper entrance, and lush trees around

A terrace of housing to the right, while the street to the left is marked for cycle priority and has a sign proclaiming it a Woonerf, i.e. shared zone for play, chat, cars and bikes

Cycle route crossing a busway. There is a set of traffic lights on the cycleway, with a green bicycle showing. The sign says 'Give way - Busbaan [busway]'.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jun 18

Quick trip to Newcastle for work. The Premier Inn was built in 1932 as a Co-Op dept store and it's nice to see some original features survive

A staircase with vertical windows to the left hand side, and stone cladding

A stone building with two towers (external photo from my previous visit April 2026)

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jun 9

Cat halts my attempt to read the 1968 Central Borders study.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jun 3

Spotted last weekend, a sculpted stone panel at the National Hospital for Neurology in London #20s30s

A sculpted stone panel titled 'RESEARCH' with images of scientific apparatus and an open book with a quotation from Horace Mann: 'Every Addition to True Knowledge is an Addition to Human Power'

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Apr 17

The Festival Hall is 75 years old this year. I was pleased to be asked to contribute to a new book which explores its history, architecture and life (shop.southbankcentre.co.uk/products/roy...)

Cover of the book 'Royal Festival Hall: a living icon', showing the angled boxes of the Festival Hall auditorium

Two book pages. That on the left shows a cafe bar at the Festival Hall, with 1950s furniture, that on the right has text and another photo of the Festival Hall interior

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Apr 9

Now out, an Open Access article on Essex's 1973 "Design Guide", which fundamentally shaped the design of housing in England: doi.org/10.1080/0266.... Thank you to @rproctor.bsky.social @osaumarezsmith.bsky.social & others for encouragement & comments, and @britishacademy.bsky.social for funding

An image of a contextual streetscape with houses faced in brick, render and boarding with tiled roofs

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Apr 1

As I slowly piece together a book about the 1960s new towns (currently working on Washington and Skelmersdale), my glamorous assistant has decided to take an interest in the details of development corporation finance discussed in the book I was attempting to read...

A cat sitting on a book, on a desk. The text in the book includes a chapter heading saying 'Finance'. In the background can be seen a laptop and screen.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Mar 13

A little jaunt this morning for a tour of the Bernat Klein studio with some of the Architectural History placement students.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Mar 5

Publication day for the paperback edition of 'Building Modern Scotland'. Pictured here in Blackwells Edinburgh! It's a social & architectural history of Scotland's post-war new towns, collaboratively written by a @leverhulme.ac.uk funded team from @edincollegeofart.bsky.social and @glasgow.ac.uk

The book 'Building Modern Scotland' on a shop bookshelf, between other books. The cover shows the title, the subtitle ('A social and architectural history of the new towns, 1947-1997') and the authors' names. The image shows some new town housing. A group of boys is gathered with their bikes. One is mending a flat tyre. A smaller boy watches on, perhaps wanting to be part of the group.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Feb 20

From a time when building control was resourced to pay close attention even to a modest cottage modernisation project, the report of a site visit by the local authority inspector in 1983.

A typewritten report which spells out in amazing detail the progress of work on a building site

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jan 31

Dropped in to Paisley Abbey earlier. Much of the east end was reconstructed in the early C20th by Lorimer et al, with some lovely results.

A stone communion table with engraved crown of thorns, wheatsheaf, Agnus Dei, grapes, and crown, and the word Sanctus three times. Behind there is a wooden screen

A stone vaulted ceiling and Decorated Gothic stained glass windows

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Jan 24

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.

Part of a document written on a typewriter

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 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

A drawing, in colour, showing the entrance to a mews court. Two buildings, of irregular form, frame the entrance, with various materials including brick, boarding and render. Trees are artfully and asymmetrically placed. A person is standing at the corner.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Dec 2

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.

The cover of a book, entitled The Modern British City 1945-2000. The cover picture shows a pair of redbrick Victorian houses with Sheffield's concrete Hyde Park flats (from the 1960s) behind

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Dec 1

@c20society.bsky.social and here it is looking good in 1988, in that year's brochure for the Austin Maestro!

A page spread from a brochure for the Austin Maestro. A white Maestro is parked next to the Point, with two people wearing red clothing which matches the building's steel structure

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 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.

A stone-clad modernist building in the sun

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 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.)

A steamer pan with a glass lid, on a hob, with a wall of orange tiles behind

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 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.

A complete set of the Buildings of Scotland series

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Nov 13

Alistair: let's de-centre the architect in architectural-historical writing. Meanwhile Duolingo:

A screenshot from Duolingo for (Scottish) Gaelic, which translates as 'I need a new house, I need an architect'

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Nov 13

Archive-based teaching this afternoon, on the post-war reconstruction of central Coventry.

Cover of the Architectural Review, 1950, showing a drawing of the proposals for central Coventry

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Oct 3

End of week reading. @samwetherell.bsky.social's excellent new urban history of post-war Liverpool.

A tortoiseshell cat, sitting on curled up human legs, on which a copy of a book is also visible. The human to whom the legs belong is sitting on a carpeted floor, and is in increasing discomfort due to not being very flexible.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Oct 3

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.

Three drawings on a table. That on the left is a 1951 perspective of Coventry Cathedral, in colour. The two on the right are quicker sketches in Spence's hand which explore massing and lighting.

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· 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.

An image of the character 'Mr Therm', dressed in a school cap and with a satchel, in front of a photo of a school. Caption: Mr Therm goes to the newest schools. This was an advert for gas-fired hot water and central heating

Alistair Fair@alistairfair· Sep 2

Northampton Guildhall extension - 1991 by Stimpson Walton Bond. Contextual Gothic to echo the adjacent Victorian Gothic.