Social Housing: Definitions and Design Exemplars Hardcover – 11 May 2017

This is an extraordinarily valuable and timely book. Paul Karakusevic and Abigail Batchelor have compiled a beautifully organized survey of case studies on new social housing projects in London and other European cities. The case studies show examples of how 'towers in the park' have been integrated into a street and perimeter block pattern such as the rebuilt Silchester Estate in Latimer Road London by Haworth Tomkins opposite the Grenfell Tower. The book has informative interviews with figures such as Neave Brown, architect to Alexandra Road in Camden and Professor Mark Brearley on the need to integrate Production Distribution and Repair (PDR) into residential neighbourhoods to create a dynamic mixed-use civic realm.The illustrations are admirable, all drawn to scale with unit plans and site plans that will be of great value to architects and students.The book is timely in addressing the need for more public housing and speaks to the challenges that cities like London and San Francisco face in the onslaught of wealth that is displacing so many from a booming economy. There is a valuable timeline about how far the UK has fallen behind its home building efforts compared with the 1960's.John G Ellis AIA RIBA, San Francisco

The enquiry, in this book, offers a unique amalgam of community-based publicness, legacy and contextual restoration, and new mass market (social housing) residences within the UK and Europe. The underlying tenet of 'community' is evaluated against social and political terms, consequentially the dominant architectures that are produced are not described by the geometries, programs, and/or aesthetics of design, but by the processes of financing, architectural coordination between practices, and construction tendering management by the clients. The precedents briefly analysed, in real terms, are not development protocols', which undoubtedly express constraints over the creative potential. However, I would argue that the realised projects lay the foundation for a rich social anchor within the economic development revitalisation schemes of the regions concerned in conjunction to mediating the personalities of the public body’s needs (as lead clients) and the building's users. I recommend reading this book, in association, to the following: (Garber Richard (Ed.)., (2014) AD SMART 02, BIM Design, Realising the Creative Potential of Building Information Modelling, Wiley); (Hillier, B., (2007) Space is the machine, configurational theory of architecture, Space Syntax, UCL, Chapters 4, 8 & 10); (Legendre L George (Ed.)., (2011) AD, Mathematics of Space, Wiley). (Review written by Lee Knight).

Disappointed this book is damaged as was hoping to give this 'new' book as a gift. However, the cardboard can be seen through each of the ripped corners of the cover. And there's a dent in the middle of the cover. I'm sure the content is great- but quality of the book I've received is poor, sadly.