Categories / Architecture, Design and Interiors

Retro displays for 100 years of the Ideal Home Show

Mailshow

The Ideal Home show is 100 years old – and to celebrate, the 2008 show will have much for the future, but also a touch of the past.

The show will feature the usual full-size builds of cutting-edge design (like the one pictured here dating back to 1971), including the Ultimate Eco House and an ostentatious luxury of the Dream House. But it will also feature Century Street – a recreation of houses from different eras, pulled from the shows archives, not to mention some art deco style, psychedelic sofas, retro cars, kitsch gardens and classic advertising. That alone sounds like it’s worth the admission fee.

The Centenary Ideal Home Show is held at Earls Court in London from 14th March – 6th April 2008. Tickets are available now.

Find out more at the Ideal Home Show website

Categories / Architecture, Books

A-Z Of Modern Architecture

Archi1

Another weighty work from Taschen – the A-Z Of Modern Architecture.

Described as ‘an unprecedented architecture encyclopedia’, this two-volume book covers 566 architects and movements from the 18th to the 21st century, with a biography of each, along with important works, historical context and their general approach. And of course, plenty of images of really striking architecture from around the world.

If you have any interest in buildings of the modern age, this should be worth checking out. Taschen are retailing it at £160, although Amazon are selling it for £105.60.

Find out more about the book at Amazon.co.uk

Archi2

Categories / Architecture, Books

Julius Shulman – Modernism Rediscovered

Modernism_rediscovered

£200 is a but much for most people when it comes to books, but if you are a fan of classic architecture and interiors, Taschen’s Modernism Rediscovered by Julius Shulman might just about be worth it.

Shulman is a legendary architectural photographer, making California’s Modernist homes world famous in the 1950s. This book set, the follow-up to Modernism Rediscovered from 2000, takes things a step further, offering three volumes featuring 400 Modernist architectural gems from the US and places as diverse as Mexico, Israel, and Hong Kong. Not just the exteriors either, there’s also some superb photography of period interiors, along with the fashions of the day, courtesy of the residents.

Add to that an extensive biography of Shulman, the words of the man himself and a rather smart slipcase to keep all three volumes safe and you just might be tempted to part with the cash. Especially as Amazon is heavily discounting it right now – down to just over £102.

Find out more about the book at Amazon.co.uk

Categories / Architecture, Books

Brazil’s Modern Architecture

Brazil_architecture
Looking for a weighty bedtime read? Brazil’s Modern Architecture could be your thing.

Edited by Elisabetta Andreoli and Adrian Forty, it’s claimed to be the most comprehensive survey and analysis of 20th-century Brazilian architecture – from the first modern houses of the 1920s and Le Corbusier’s seminal visits to the country, through the well-known ‘heroic’ period of the 1940s and 1950s to its post-1964 crisis, and up to contemporary developments.

Granted you’ll need a firm resolve to get through the numerous essays and explanations, but with 200 colour illustrations and 130 black and white images, it can easily double up as a coffee table book. After all, who wouldn’t want to spend their time looking at photos of Brazilia?

Available now from Phaidon, it retails for just over £16.

Find out more about the book at Amazon.co.uk

Categories / Architecture

For sale: Fred Dibnah’s house

Dibnah
Want to own a TV legend’s house? Well, now you can because Fred Dibnah’s house and workshops are up for sale at auction.

If you are from the UK, Fred needs no introduction. If you aren’t, let’s just say he was a small man in a flat cap from Bolton, obsessed with the country’s industrial heritage – and spend more or less every year from the mid-1970s on our screens telling us about it.

The property featured regularly on those shows. Built in 1851, it has everything you would expect from a three-bedroom family home, but with a cottage theme and mock beams. It also backs onto a river and is sold with Fred’s workshops, his equipment and the mining shaft he dug in his last series.

Offers are invited between £300,000 – £350,000.

Find out more at the Miller Metcalfe website

Categories / Architecture, Design and Interiors, Food and Drink

50s-inspired Skylon Resturant at London’s Royal Festival Hall

Skylon
When I hear the name Royal Festival Hall, I instantly think of the Festival of Britain. So it’s only fitting that its new Skylon Resturant is inspired by the building’s origins.

The Skylon has been designed by Conran and Partners, with a colour scheme and fittings that pay tribute to the 1950s, without actually taking it back to that era. So expect some mid-century-inspired furnishings, big chandeliers, an olive, bronze and gold colour scheme plus walnut and limestone floors.

As for the food? Well, we can’t comment as we haven’t eaten there, but looking at the online menu, it’s certainly not ration book cooking.

Find out more at the Skylon restaurant website