Homes

[Bridie]

Lots of the talk about architecture is about landmark buildings but who are the architects who are doing a really good job on making sure that new houses are pleasing and functional - and won't fall into the traps that recent modern housing developments have?

[janshep]

You are so right. Most people live in homes which are buildings that have far more demands made on them than landmark office or corporate structures. And we often aren't even allowed to visit those! A couple of years ago at The Ideal Home Exhibition (not a hotbed of design, I know) there was a prototype building by Pierre d'Avoine Associates, based in London, who completely reinterpreted the terraced house with trees and courtyards inside and a garden on the roof. This architectural practice was also the subject of a documentary on Channel 4 in 1999 for another real life development which built two semi-detached houses underground incorporating great gardens and loads of light and space, and of course saving on valuable land space in overpopulated London.