Leacroft, Richard.

Building a house / by Richard Leacroft. (Harmondsworth, Middlesex : Penguin Books, 1949)

The “modern” or “contemporary” style of architecture with the clean lines of the Bauhaus, was a pre-war development but after the war it became synonymous with “architect-designed,” when people discussed new houses.

Architect Lionel Esher is not ill-disposed to this trend though he treats it with a large grain of salt. In a reference to Le Corbusier’s quote, “A house is a machine for living in,” Esher comments on the impracticalities inherent in such designs,

People began to spell machine with a capital M, and in the face of a great deal of evidence to the contrary it was solemnly believed that if a thing does its job efficiently it will be beautiful. …

It is easy to guess the effect of these ideas on the looks of buildings. Ornament was banished (the word ceased to be used unless qualified by the epithet “superfluous”), and with it went the various projections, copings, cornices, string courses, etc., which had traditionally served to throw rainwater clear of the wall face and protect it from penetration. … The modern house arrived in a blaze of glory and after a brief summer of astonishing beauty faded like a flower in the frost. (p. 36-37)

He supports his opinion with a pair of photographs showing the deterioration such designs can suffer if left to weather.

The Richard Leacock book is remarkable for the wealth of graphic detail in the illustrations. We are shown in a series of cross-section drawings the processes involved in building “the ordinary brick house of today.”

At this time Penguin was publishing several titles meant to cultivate the public interest in architecture during the post-war building revival, repairing the destruction of the Blitz.

Created with Web Album Generator