Page from new book Counter Constructions | Claude Megson. Photo by Jackie Meiring.
I’m excited to reveal here for the first time that there’s a new book about architect Claude Megson that has been lovingly put together by folk as excited about Claude’s architecture as I am—and if I’ve now used the word “excited” three times in this sentence (there you go), that’s because that’s exactly how this news makes me.
It’s a new book, Claude Megson|Counter Constructions, authored by Giles Reid and—as you can see by the pics here—brilliantly photographed by Jackie Meiring. (Order your copy here. I already have!)
Barr House entrance hall, in pages from new book Counter Constructions | Claude Megson.
Photo by Jackie Meiring.
It’s not yet the full appraisal of Claude and his career that his ouevre demands. That will come. What it is does feature wonderfully however, as the blurb says, is “five of his most significant houses, designed in the 1970’s, when his architecture was at its most daring and experimental.” And they are beauties!
1972 Barr House
The book reproduces a number of Megson’s richly detailed drawings, from his sketches through to construction documents.
1973 Norris House
1973 Cocker Townhouses [which won an Enduring Architecture Award just last year]
1974 Rees Townhouses [respectfully upgraded recently]
1977 Bowker House
The heart of the book is a photo essay by Jackie Meiring, bringing Megson’s best works to life and showing how they are lived in today.
The [title essay by architect Giles Reid] provides an introduction to Megson’s career, considers his current reputation and analyses the five houses. It explores how Megson:
- Organised space through diagonal views and movement
- Tied the building to a cultivated landscape
- Articulated their external appearance with the ‘house image’
- How he invoked ritual as the means to challenge social conventions
Books are on sale from 18 October. On sale only from the book’s website, order your copy now (it would make an ideal Christmas present, wouldn’t it).
Page from new book Counter Constructions | Claude Megson. Photo by Jackie Meiring.
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