The other architects who made London : planning and design of speculative housing c. 1870-1939
Successive house building booms from the late 19th century until the Second World War left their indelible mark on Londonâs built environment and shaped it decisively. In terms of the sheer size of area covered, the dispersed, suburban London of terraced, semi- and detached houses that we know today was to a large extent created then. Much of this housing was built by private firms for an assumed demand, speculatively. That is the kind discussed in this thesis. Despite this legacy, the questions of who those involved in house design were and how they went about it is an under-researched topic surrounded by assumptions that are often difficult to substantiate. This research takes the contribution of these âotherâ often anonymous architects seriously and aims to shed more light on a culture of housing design that has left us with such an extraordinary heritage. The thesis is structured in six chapters. The first one outlines the topic and the methodology, and reviews related existing literature. Chapter two examines who the architects and designers of speculative housing were by using a quantitative analysis of Richmond building applications 1886-1939. Chapters three to five focus on one case study each.
Kroll, David
History
The other architects who made London : planning and design of speculative housing c. 1870-1939. Successive house building booms from the late 19th century until the Second World War left their indelible mark on Londonâs built environment and shaped it decisively. In terms of the sheer size of area covered, the dispersed, suburban London of terraced, semi- and detached houses that we know today was to a large extent created then. Much of this housing was built by private firms for an assumed demand, speculatively. That is the kind discussed in this thesis. Despite this legacy, the questions of who those involved in house design were and how they went about it is an under-researched topic surrounded by assumptions that are often difficult to substantiate. This research takes the contribution of these âotherâ often anonymous architects seriously and aims to shed more light on a culture of housing design that has left us with such an extraordinary heritage. The thesis is structured in six chapters. The first one outlines the topic and the methodology, and reviews related existing literature. Chapter two examines who the architects and designers of speculative housing were by using a quantitative analysis of Richmond building applications 1886-1939. Chapters three to five focus on one case study each.
architect make london planning design speculative housing successive house building boom second_world_war leave mark london build_environment shape decisively term sheer size area_cover disperse suburban london terrace semi house know today large_extent create then much housing build private firm assume demand speculatively kind discuss thesis despite legacy question involve house design under_researched topic surround assumption often difficult substantiate take often anonymous architect seriously aim_shed light culture housing design leave extraordinary heritage structure six_chapter first one_outline topic review relate exist_literature two_examines architect designer speculative housing use_quantitative analysis richmond building application focus_one case_study