Charles Jencks obituary

Architectural historian, garden designer and writer who was regarded as the godfather of postmodernism

Charles Jencks, the architectural historian, patron of the Maggie’s Centres and designer of cosmic gardens, who has died aged 80, pinpointed the expiry of modernism to a precise moment in history. “Modern architecture died in St Louis, Missouri on July 15, 1972, at 3.32pm (or thereabouts),” he wrote, “when the infamous Pruitt-Igoe scheme, or rather, several of its slab blocks, were given the final coup de grace by dynamite.”

He was referring to the notorious failed housing estate , which he thought embodied everything that was wrong with the dogmatic principles of modern architecture and urban planning. In its place, he announced, would come the brave new epoch of “Post-Modern” architecture, a style of “radical eclecticism” that would return content, meaning and metaphor to the built environment. With his pithy, polemic writing, he saw to it over the coming decades that the style wars were never far from the headlines.

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Charles Jencks obituary

Architectural historian, garden designer and writer who was regarded as the godfather of postmodernism

Charles Jencks, the architectural historian, patron of the Maggie’s Centres and designer of cosmic gardens, who has died aged 80, pinpointed the expiry of modernism to a precise moment in history. “Modern architecture died in St Louis, Missouri on July 15, 1972, at 3.32pm (or thereabouts),” he wrote, “when the infamous Pruitt-Igoe scheme, or rather, several of its slab blocks, were given the final coup de grace by dynamite.”

He was referring to the notorious failed housing estate , which he thought embodied everything that was wrong with the dogmatic principles of modern architecture and urban planning. In its place, he announced, would come the brave new epoch of “Post-Modern” architecture, a style of “radical eclecticism” that would return content, meaning and metaphor to the built environment. With his pithy, polemic writing, he saw to it over the coming decades that the style wars were never far from the headlines.

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Ten legal terms first-time buyers should know Nottingham Estate Agents

The process of buying your first home can be daunting at times, especially when there are several legal terms to understand before signing on the dotted line. This guide should help to ease the process. To ensure important information is understood, it is really important that as a first-time buyer, you are familiar with some […]

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Nearby green space can add £2,500 to property price, ONS data shows

Homes within 100 metres of green space drew price premium of 1.1%, while views over water added 1.8%

Living near a park, public garden or playing fields can add an average of £2,500 to the price of your property, according to official data. And having a view of green space or water boosts prices even more.

While many will not be surprised to learn that a bit of nature on the doorstep is a desirable feature among homebuyers, this data is from the official Office for National Statistics, so it can arguably be relied upon more than findings from estate agents and other commercial bodies.

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Inside five fabulously healthy homes for autumn

Feeling motivated?

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We're selling a shared ownership home – what is a fair price?

The housing association’s surveyor seems to have priced about £50,000 too low

Q We are currently in the process of selling our 40% share in a shared ownership property.

The rules of the housing association are that we have to sell for the price a Rics surveyor sets.
We had our valuation done last week by a local, recommended chartered surveyor and it came in at about £50,000 less than what we were expecting. Now I know everyone thinks their house is worth more than it is, but we were actually being quite conservative in our estimates even though a comparable property in our development recently sold for £85,000 more than our valuation. I rang the surveyor and argued my case, he then re-sent his report and overnight the valuation had increased by £15,000. However, this is still significantly less than we had hoped. Is there anything that we can reasonably do regarding this or do we just accept it get moving? The housing association has one week left to find a buyer for our share then we can put it on the open market. The housing association rules state we cannot sell for more without the surveyor’s agreement, so shall we risk putting on the market for more, in the hope he might agree?

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The gold standard in social housing design | Letters

After Norwich’s Goldsmith Street was awarded the Stirling prize, readers discuss the ability of councils to build more homes, what constitutes high-quality housing, and the insecurity of being a private tenant

It was gratifying to learn that the RIBA Stirling prize has been awarded for Norwich council’s Goldsmith Street during the centenary year of Christopher Addison’s Homes Fit for Heroes initiative (Award for best new UK building goes to council housing project for first time, 9 October).

As Oliver Wainwright reports, the council could build more housing if right to buy was reformed – or, better still, abolished. When the scheme was first introduced in 1979, Norwich councillors – led by their housing chair, the late Lady Patricia Hollis – took a stand against the Thatcher government by refusing to treat sales as an urgent priority. The minister responsible, Michael Heseltine, sent in Whitehall officials to oversee sales for several years. Let’s hope that in future councils will be able to circumvent legislation on forced privatisation.
Dr Michael Passmore
Greenwich, London

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