contract, dispute resolution, managing liability etc. It includes just seven lines on "planning", with a statement that PPGs 15 and 16 provide general guidance. This is a book about repairing "traditional" rather than specifically historic buildings. For me, the author may have tried to cover too much ground in dealing with the management of process as well as solving repair problems. This combination may suit students of surveying and structural engineering, but other readers (including those of "Context") may need to consider whether those parts of the book relevant to their needs justify a purchase. If you are thinking of buying and get the chance to browse, have a good look at pages 153 to 235 on "Options". John Preslon LIVINGHAPPILY WITHTHENEW Context: New Buildings in Historic Settings, Edited by: John Warren,John Worthington, Sue Taylor. Architectural Press. 1998 viii + 179 pages, 138 b&w photographs, 58 maps and cliagrams. ISBN O 7506 3738 2. £35 The issue of design in historic areas has been the subject of rigorous debate for centuries. Context: New Buildings in Historic Settings makes a worthy contribution to this debate. The publication is based on a conference held at the University of York in October 1996, and contains contributions from 15 speakers representing planning, architecture, conservation, and other backgrounds. These include some well-know names such as Edward Cullinan, Richard MacCormac and Les Sparks. The book is divided into three sections, covering philosophy, public policy, and designers' perspectives. Some genuinely stimulating and insightful arguments are presented, especially in the first section of the book. However, in places there is a tendency towards generalisation and over-simplification. In particular, a few contributors present a very polarised view of the post-war period, contrasting non-contextual modernism with more recent historically informed buildings. Some discussion of the contextual and historically informed branches Context65March2000 of modernism (Louis Kahn, Le Corbusier, Oxford and Cambridge colleges, etc) and recent tendencies of designing debased historical parodies could have created a more discerning debate. A notable exception to this is the contribution by Sherban Cantacuzino, former Secretary of the Royal Fine Art Commission, which includes, for example, discussion of the Smithsons' influential Economist Cluster. Despite such criticisms, most contributors put forward valid and interesting arguments. Overall, there is a surprising degree of consensus between the different contributors, though with obvious differences in emphasis. A pluralist and flexible approach is advocated by most, rather than a blanket set of rules or assumptions. Most writers accept contrast and contemporary design as having validity, concentrating on quality of design and abstract characteristics of the historic environment. One contributor points out "In assessing a design or a building one must look for quality and not for a particular style. Style is a matter of taste. It is possible to be objective about quality". The most discordant note is the chapter by Mansell Jagger, Director of Planning at Canterbury City Council, who advocates a stylistically imitative approach to design in historic settings. This position is defended by what is described as a "populist approach to design", with little reference to design theory or analysis of historical processes. This could be seen to provide a rather weak basis for public policy and decision making, especially considering the rate of change of 'fashionable' taste. It does seem to indicate a historicist rather than historically informed stance. But this is an exception in an otherwise largely balanced set of contributions. Overall, a firm recommendation is warranted. This collection makes many thoughtful and fresh contributions to a longstanding debate. Dave Chetwyn TRAINSANDBOATS AND PLANES Transport Demand Management-A Guide to Practice, English Historic Towns Forum, PO Box 22, Bristol BS16 lRZ 0117 975 0459. Current media debate about the "transport crisis", and the lack of effective ministerial action, has highlighted the need to manage transport demand. This means reducing the need to travel, influencing the rate of traffic growth, and reducing the environmental impacts of transport overall -a 11 objectives compatible with the Government's Sustainable Development Strategy. Historic towns in particular are vulnerable to degradation from traffic congestion and environmental pollution, and in this useful set of guidance notes, the EHTF has identified those demand management techniques which are currently available, and also the areas where local authorities need to increase their means of control. The document takes the form of 13 papers, each dealing with a different aspect of transport policy. They include Land Use Planning, Cycling and Walking, Parking Controls, Park and Ride, Public Transport, Traffic Calming, Green Commuter Plans and Education. All these must be brought together within an Integrated Transport Strategy, a concept introduced in the Government's Transport White Paper. The EHTF suggests three ways in which historic towns can achieve a more integrated approach: by integrating land use and transport planning; by integration between different transport modes; and by adopting an integrated approach to determining transport needs. Many good practical examples of the application of these principles are described in the various papers. Curbing use of the private car is crucial to the conservation of historic towns, and as ever, the EHTF performs a valuable role in spreading good practice between member authorities. Yet, as politicians are only too aware, demand management requires sticks as well as carrots, and herein lies the obstacle to achieving real progress. Until the environmental and social impact of transport is properly valued, and until it is recognised that car use is too cheap and demand is therefore artificially high, people will not be persuaded to change their habits of car usage. Although PPG 13 advocates the application of the "polluter pays" principle, there is little stomach for the introduction of congestion chargBCX)KS ing, the only way of actually reducing demand. Charging is not a method found in the current "tool box" of demand management techniques, but the EHTF argues that it should be. Peter de Figueiredo GODWIN REVEALED E W Godwin - Aesthetic Movement Architect & Designer. Ed. Susan Weber Soros. Yale University Press. London 1999. 431pp. 396 colour & b+w illus. 23 x 31cm. Hardback. ISBN 0 300 08008 5 £50 00 In discussing the English architectural Domestic Revival in Pioneers of J]l[odern Design, Pevsner could only fine\ one English architect of note after Norman Shaw and Philip Webb worthy of praise, yet upon his death in 1886, his critical reputation seemed immediately to recede to the extent that by the beginning of the 20th Century he had been totally eclipsed by a new generation of architects and designers. Until now, hardly any reappraisal has taken place save a limited retrospective centenary exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. That architect is Edward William Godwin. Godwin is a hard personality to like. He was quarrelsome, improvident and a poor businessman. Several of his commissions ended with threats of litigation. His career was considered largely a failure because of his personal shortcomings, and his unconventional, bohemian lifestyle is now in many respects difficult to capture. He was fond of theatrical dress but never appeared on the stage. He was know to have a dangerous appeal to women; particularly the actress Ellen Terry with whom conducted an often difficult ten year relationship. He also formed an enduring friendship the (then) controversial painterJames McNeill Whistler and could number the equally controversial Oscar Wilde among his clients. He enjoyed early success aged only 28 by winning, in 1861 and 1864 respectively, competitions for Northampton and Congleton Town Halls but it was the multi-faceted and inter-related aspects of his career which are important, not just as architect, but as an antiquarian, furniture designer (which by the early 1870s had become a major source of income); textile and wallpaper 49
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=