Architects increasingly operate on a global scene, and just as numerous British architects have proved highly successful at winning projects abroad, architects from Europe, the United States and the Far East are making their mark in Britain One thinks, for example, of Daniel Libeskind's Imperial War Museum North and Tadao Ando's new wquare and pavilion project, both in Manchester, or of Frank Gehry's Cancer Care Centre in Dundee. Well-Known British practices such as Future Systems, Alsop Architects and Nichlas Grimshaw & Partners also inevitably feature prominently in the exciting international story of Britain's recent architectural renaissance, but so too do newer, smaller practices, including many based outside the capital, example Ian Simpson Architects in Manchester, Glenn Howells Architects in Birmingham or Bauman Lyons Architects in Leeds.

This book engagingly describes and illustrates over 100 outstanding projects, both large and small, from around Britain – none completed earlier than 2001, and some still under construction or planned. A substantial introduction describes the development of architecture in Britain since the 1960s, with an analysis of the influences that moulded it and an examination of major issues that look sets to shape it in the future: urban regeneration, the current relevance of the ‘vernacular', energy concerns, conservation and reuse, and the impact of materials and technologies. This book makes a forceful contribution to continuing debate about the role of architecture in forging a new environment and underpinning the growth a healthy society.

 

Kenneth Powell is an architecture critic, journalist and writer based in London and Leeds . He contributes to newspapers and journals in Britain and abroad and is a former architecture correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. He has published widely, including books on Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Will Alsop, as well as the book New London Architecture, published by Merrell to great critical acclaim. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the royal Institute of British Architects in 2000.