Search results for ""author iain boyd""
RIBA Publishing New Design for Old Buildings
Showcasing a range of homes, churches, barns, commercial, and industrial buildings from across the UK, this book demonstrates the SPAB philosophy that good new architecture can sit happily alongside old and is preferable to pastiche. Building on the experience of professionals in the historic environment, the authors explore the approach, the design process, the material palette and technical considerations in creating enduring, sustainable buildings. It has never been more important to understand how old buildings can be adapted to make them useful and sustainable in the future. “Good conservation demands a clear and rigorous contemporary approach for new work just as much as it requires delicacy and respect in dealing with the past. In this book, Roger and Iain skilfully guide us through the work of some of the best examples, their erudition underscored by a deep understanding of conservation theory and principles.” Kevin McCloud
£45.00
Edition Axel Menges John Fowler, Benjamin Baker, Forth Bridge: Opus 18
When the Forth Bridge opened on 4 March 1890, it was the longest railway bridge in the world and the first large structure made of steel. Crossing the wide Firth of Forth west of Edinburgh in Scotland, it represents one of the greatest engineering triumphs of Victorian Britain, man's victory over the intractable topography of land and water. Not surprisingly, such a vigorous rebuff of the natural order was condemned at the time by those late Victorians who resisted the march of technology, and William Morris described the Bridge as the "supremest specimen of all ugliness". In response, Benjamin Baker insisted that its beauty lay in its functional elegance. Contrasting the bridge with the only comparable structure of the period, the Eiffel Tower, he concluded: "The Eiffel Tower is a foolish piece of work, ugly, ill-proportioned and of no real use to anyone." But the beauty and fascination of the Forth Bridge lies not simply in its functional performance, but in its scale and power. Over a mile long and higher than the dome of St. Peter's in Rome, it rivals the natural phenomena that the philosophers of the 18th century identified as sources of sublime beauty. Immanuel Kant pointed to hurricanes, boundless oceans and high waterfalls as objects of sublime contemplation, "because they raise the forces of the soul above the heights of the vulgar commonplace, and discover within us a power of resistance of quite another kind, which gives us courage to be able to measure ourselves against the seeming omnipotence of nature". In the 19th century the awe-inspiring feats of nature were rivalled by the inventions of the engineers, and the thrill of the waterfall or the lightning flash was eclipsed by the sight of the roaring locomotive dashing across the majestic span of the Forth Bridge.
£26.10