Community Architecture Routledge Revivals

First published in 1987, this title was one of the first to explore the emerging popular movement of Community Architecture, championed by Prince Charles, which gained momentum throughout Britain in the 1970s and 1980s. The conceptual framework rests fundamentally on the principle that the built environment is most effective when those who live in a particular area are actively engaged with its creation and daily administration. A work that has influenced policy makers and planning legislation, Community Architecture remains one of the key reference works for student architects and planners.

Building Communities: The Co-Operative Way, first published in 1988, sets the flourishing of housing co-operatives throughout the 1980s in a theoretical and historical framework that suggests that tenant control is the best way out of the still-problematic issue of housing policy. Before the First World War, co-operative housing was poised to become a potent force in government policy, but instead municipal housing rose to prominence. However, alongside a growing crisis of confidence in state housing and a continued decline in the private rented sector, a new political consensus has emerged that has placed co-ops firmly at the top of the agenda. Setting out the argument for collective dweller-control of housing, Birchall demonstrates that the arguments for co-operatives are strong, based on a broad spectrum of political thought. He charts the early and recent history of co-operative housing, and shows how they provide a flexible and stable means of meeting housing needs.

First published in 1990, this title presents the personal reflections of renowned community architect Rod Hackney, who served for many years as President of both the Royal Institute of British Architects and the International Union of Architects. Educated in the Modernist tradition of architecture in Britain and Denmark, Hackney’s return to England in the 1970s changed his outlook completely. Cities like Birmingham and Sheffield had been ruined by ill-conceived planning; whole communities had been torn apart by massive destruction of Victorian terraces, and relocated to grim tower block estates. To those communities that he has rescued from the threat of redevelopment, Rod Hackney is a local hero. Determined to save Britain’s inner cities, he has been a major influence on Prince Charles and a powerful spokesman for the silent majority of the urban poor, who often have no say as to where and how they live.

Architectural programming – the analysis of any given environment to satisfy users’ needs – has become a given prerequisite to the design process. The programming process is often a complicated one: users’ present and future needs must be identified; space allowances, often predetermined, must be considered; equipment must be accommodated; all in the most cost-effective way possible. The variety of user groups is as wide as the variety of functions architecture can shelter; moreover, the different structures and needs of clients that fall within the same use classification differs so greatly that every program presents a new challenge. You cannot, for example, use the same program for every hospital you design. In Programming the Built Environment, first published in 1985, noted architect Wolfgang F. E. Preiser has compiled a wide range of architectural programs demonstrating applications of basic principles for different client groups. This book will be of interest to students of architecture and planning.

First published in 1977, this volume was intended as a sourcebook for designers and attempts to specify the ingredients necessary to develop a design program rather than postulate a model program for which no consensus exists. As such it filled a void in the existing literature which seldom covered programming with much depth and provides technical aids to guide designers. The author attempts to integrate the pioneering contributions from others in order to identify the substance of programming for designers and represents a culling of the strategies and techniques from the social, behavioural and management sciences — building on the developing efforts of other disciplines.

Educators often overlook the positive impact of changing the environment of the school itself when considering how to improve the quality of education. First published in 1994, School Design shows how to create more effective schools through a design process that involves teachers, students, parents, administrators, and architects. It reveals how to create school environments that develop the whole child, instil enthusiasm for learning, and encourage positive social relationships. Readers discover how to integrate design research, design participation, and design development to optimize school settings. Using a number of case studies, detailed practical methods show how to: Link behavioural objectives to spatial needs Achieve spatial efficacy without compromising education Match children’s developmental needs to facility requirements Promote greater variety in physical facilities to accommodate various teaching and learning styles Gain more valuable feedback from teachers, parents, students, and local citizens on building performance. In response to tight school budgets, Henry Sanoff discusses how relatively minor design modifications can have a major positive effect on school performance. This path-breaking volume will provide architects, teachers, and school administrators with a wide array of insights into creating spaces that promote better learning.

Design Intervention: Toward a More Humane Architecture, first published in 1991, intends to demonstrate that interest in social issues is alive and well in architecture, that there is a small but effective cadre of dedicated professionals who continue to commit themselves to solving social problems, and that architecture is being applied to the alleviation of the social ills of our time. The editors and contributors in this book have all grappled with their own definitions of design innovation, and express in practical and useful ways their ideas for contributing to a better and less needy world through the architecture they describe. This book will be of interest to students of architecture.