Thoughts: Theory
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NPPF Paragraph 84e Explained
Many people, would love to build a new house in the country. The problem is getting planning permission. But don't despair, NPPF paragraph 84e is the planning legislation which is specifically written to allow this to happen. In this video architect Francis Terry and planning specialist Martin Leay discuss how this can be done in practical terms using examples of their many past successes of 'paragraph 84e' houses.
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Why does my Puppy like Mozart?
(And what does this tell us about classical architecture?)
We recently bought a puppy and discovered that he much prefers classical music to pop. It seems that dogs are born with discernible musical tastes which effects their moods and this seems to be consistent throughout the species.
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Glad to be Pastiche
The definition of Pastiche is 'an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.' I imitate historic buildings, rather than inventing new styles, and with this in mind, it may seem fair game to direct the word at my work...
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What is Sustainable Architecture With Joey and Francis Terry
In this video Francis Terry discusses with his son Joey what ways architects can address these pressing issues, and how traditional construction methods and materials can contribute to the debate.
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Proportions in Architecture and Music
Architects for millennia have sought to find rules to determine the proportions of every aspect of a building. A window, for example, can look too narrow and thin or conversely it can look squat and fat. How can we work out the right proportions?
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Sustainable Building Materials
A good pair of brogues will last decades. Trainers will not. Nylon, as used in sports clothing, seems to be the 'go-to' fabric nowadays, unless you are a reactionary architect who peddles nostalgia - like me.
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What Is More Important, Materials or Form?
Palladio's villas in the Veneto are made from render which is a cheaper alternative to stone, but it looks similar from a distance ... I think even if the Villa Rotonda was made of cheese, it would still look splendid from afar.
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Pretty Buildings
Architects are always presumed to be good at maths and physics. This suggests that people feel the primary role of an architect is to make a building stand up, which is curious because architect in the UK are not licenced to carry out this task. Perhaps architects are to blame...
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Where does your Chicken Cross the Road?
“Why did the chicken cross the road?” is not a great joke. What interests me more is where the chicken crosses the road in people’s minds. When asked the question, what do you imagine?
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Should Architects Just Do as They Are Told?
How much should I, as an architect, push my opinions? Should I simply take instructions from clients and blindly obey, or should I insist on buildings being a particular way?
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Our Ancient Love of Quality
Quality is so important. It is the different between mass produced bleached white sliced bread assembled in a factory and bread lovingly made in small batches by a baker who really cares. The ingredients are much the same, but the differences are enormous.
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Palladio: The One Trick Pony
Palladio-mania is just going too far. Last year I was invited to two Palladio parties on the same evening, one was at the RIBA and the other at the Italian Embassy. Wherever I look I see articles, symposiums, exhibitions, publications, parties and even a church service...
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NPPF Paragraph 80e Explained
Many people, would love to build a new house in the country. The problem is getting planning permission. But don't despair, NPPF paragraph 80e is the planning legislation which is specifically written to allow this to happen. In this video architect Francis Terry and planning specialist Martin Leay discuss how this can be done in practical terms using examples of their many past successes of 'paragraph 80e' houses.
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Fortune Favours the Friendly
On occasions I meet architects who think that they are, or more often should be, 'in charge' of every aspect of their buildings. These people are either very naive or deluded. They harp back to a golden age when architects were taken seriously like doctors or lawyers...
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What Informs Architectural Taste?
Taste is a curious thing and I have often wondered how it works. Things considered tasteful can stop being tasteful, seemingly for no apparent reason, but there must be more to it than that.
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The Platonic House
Many award-winning houses and those seen on ‘Grand Designs’ often look like space ships or abstract sculpture, which I am sure are worthy in their own way, but they do not look like houses. Is this a problem?
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Discussion About Beauty and Architecture
A few days ago I did a short podcast with my son Alfie. We wrestled with the question that if architecture is 'frozen music', as Goethe suggests, what sort of music should architects play.
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Designing for the Wingless
The gull sees a site plan, but the human sees a setting for their life carried out on the ground. Seeing from both points of view is a daily challenge for any architect or master planner.
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How to Start a Career in Architecture: Podcast
There is no correct way to pursue a career in architecture. In Francis’ most recent podcast, he debunks the myths and offers advice for young people interested in perusing a similar occupation. Francis is joined by his daughter, Claudia, who interviews him one on one.
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The Use of Scamozzi Ionic in Georgian Architecture
As a practicing classical architect, I have had a number of clients who have wanted their houses to look like the work of the English Palladians of the Georgian era rather than Palladio himself. From this I started to notice that the work of the English Palladians...
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The Secret of Popular Architecture
Over the past few years I have collaborated a number of times with Create Streets, an organization which aims to promote street based and human centred architecture. I had been introduced to the founder of Create Streets, Nicholas Boys Smith, via a mutual friend from Cambridge, and I first met him in Waterstone’s cafe in Piccadilly. He arrived brandishing various pamphlets filled with hard-nosed research backing up ideas of which I agreed. Though I had an instinct that traditional urbanism with its terraced streets and town squares was a better way to build than high rise towers with indeterminate space between, I was unaware that the vast data which backed up this prejudice.
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Ornament Podcast
A few weeks ago I chaired the Traditional Architecture Group’s first round table discussion and we chose ornament as the subject. It was a fascinating discussion you can listen to as a podcast. You are in for a treat!
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St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt, Suffolk
I needed to get a puncture on my daughter’s bike repaired and so I went to the Bike Doctor in East Bergholt. He said I’ll have this done in ten minutes. But what could I do in East Bergholt for ten minutes? I thought I would go and visit the church.
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Can Beautiful Homes Be Built in a Factory?
As lockdown is slowly being relaxed, more building sites are looking to return to productivity. Is there a safer, easier to police way of building houses that would enable social distancing to be maintained whilst still being productive and efficient?
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The RIBA’s Traditional Architecture Group
I have recently taken on the chairmanship of the Traditional Architecture Group (TAG). This society was formed fifteen years ago, as a linked group to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)...