The 70s House [Hardcover]

Heathcote and Barr's book goes some of the way to filling a gap for intelligent writing about architecture and design in the 1970's. Building on Richard Einzig's 'Classic Modern Houses in Europe' (1982), David Heathcote has sampled a range of European architects, including Michael and Patty Hopkins, Manser, Gwynne, and Christopher Day from the UK alone. Ranging through Ticino in Switzerland, Florence, and Long Island, Heathcote covers houses by architects such as Tombazis, De Vido, Frassinelli, the Neskis, and Norman Jaffe, amongs others.

Heathcote divides his subject into six sections. The first, 'Modernist', reflect on how 70's architects looked to Modernism for inspiration as they responded to the "altered sociology of the family". So double-height spaces, open planned living and grand entrances came to the fore. 'Diffusion' looks at how aesthetic trends diffused with Post-Modernism in terms of innovation, emulation and conservatism and also in terms of spreading across cultures and regions. 'Autoarchitectural' focuses on houses that architects have designed with themselves and their family in mind, highlighting the changing architectural response to domestic and service space, the need to incorporate work and study space, and the needs of children. 'Independent' explores the relationship between client and architect in the 1970's, as clients wanted to express more individuality and became 'consumers'. 'Reclaimed', one of the most interesting chapters, explores the tension between the old and the new, modern and vernacular, as pre-existing buildings were reclaimed in the 1970's, eg. barn conversions. This also highlighted issues of conservation and sustainability. The final section, 'Historicist', concerns the reassessment of the vernacular and of Classicism, looking at the villa form and Palladian influences in 70's houses.

Heathcote's text is clearly learned, and his expertise in Le Corbusier enables him to find references that others might have missed. However, his writing does tend towards the pretentious and those who hate jargon will be irritated on occasions. There is heavy reliance on the '-ist's and -'ism's of art historical discourse with little explanation, or seeming need for it. A house isn't just 'large' it "expresses gigantism", or there is "deep suspicion of all the technological positivist nostrums of the older reconstruction generation". Heathcote assumes that the average reader of a coffee-table sized book with lots of glossy photos must be conversant with Lyotard and terms like 'metanarrative'. If the reader can get over such wearing pretention, the introductory passages to each section are actually interesting and provide morsels of intellectual and historical context. The reader used to picking up scattered crumbs can find vital references for further reading, such as Banham's 'Architecture of Well-Tempered Environment' (1969) or Day's 'Places of the Soul' (1990).

Sus Barr deserves special mention for her stunning photographs that leave you wanting more. On the one hand they make the book seem like an archetypal "coffee table" book (just a quick flick through and look at the pictures) but on the other, they draw you in to want to read Heathcote's text. It is one of the few "coffee table" styled books I have read cover to cover.

The 70's House is a great read for anyone interested in architecture, interior and garden design. But whilst it fills a gap in the literature, it simultaneously opens one up.

This really took me by surprise, as the collection of houses in this book are trully stunning - and not a shag-pile carpet in sight! It's a very beautiful book to just look through, or if it's design ideas you're after you can't go wrong.