Tag Archives: normal

RIBA Building Futures – Carwood 2035

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Matt Wood

A month or so ago I was flattered to be asked to write a ‘think-piece’ on the Future of Villages by the RIBA Building Futures team. The Building Futures website aims ‘to promote public and political debate on the future … Continue reading →

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A Ruralise ‘Reader’

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Matt Wood

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 →

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Kilmeena Village: Regionally Distinctive?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Matt Wood

I was at RIBA HQ last week, and wandered into a rather boisterous opening-party for an exhibition of the winners of this year’s RIAI Irish Architecture Awards. A project by Cox Power Architects caught my Ruralise eye – a small … Continue reading →

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Tayler and Green #12 – The Legacy

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Matt Wood

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 →

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Tayler and Green #11 – Critical Regionalism?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Matt Wood

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 →

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

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Matt Wood

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 →

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Tayler and Green #9 – Composition

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Matt Wood

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 →

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Tayler and Green #8 – Pragmatism and Decoration

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Matt Wood

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.

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Tayler and Green #7 – A Kit of Parts

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Matt Wood

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 →

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Tayler & Green #6 – From Semi to Terrace

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Matt Wood

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 →

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