Book review: Land of Stone
Contents |
[edit] Land of Stone: A Journey through Modern Architecture in Scotland by Roger Emmerson
‘Hybrid, ubiquitous, low-brow, high-brow, conflicted and thus deeply plural.’ This is how Professor Andrew Patrizio describes the Scotland explored by architect Roger Emmerson in his new book on the nation’s modern architecture.
This contradictory nature is evident when you compare the words of Karel Čapek and Louis I Khan. Playwright Čapek (who is credited for introducing the word ‘robot’) deemed Scotland’s architecture ‘stonily grey and strange of aspect’, whereas famed American architect Khan found it simply ‘fairytale’.
Emmerson’s book Land of Stone: A Journey through Modern Architecture in Scotland does not dwell on the superficial elements of architectural design. Instead, it gives far more focus to the ideas and inspirations that drove Scotland’s city-builders and designers.
Emmerson explores how modernity itself shaped the designers who shaped the nation in turn. He examines the role played by external forces and events, the developments of theory, philosophy and politics across Europe and the world, and how they intersected with Scotland’s own unique view of itself and its own cultural identity.
What makes Scottish architecture Scottish? What ideas drive Scottish architecture? What has modern architecture in Scotland meant to the Scots? Ever since the ‘granny-tops’, rattling and clanking in the wind to draw smoke up the tenemental flues from open coal fires, caught his attention as a three-year-old, architecture and its many parts, purposes, processes and procedures has fascinated Roger Emmerson. For him, architecture has always had profound significance. In Land of Stone he seeks to disengage widely-held conceptions of what a Scottish architecture superficially looks like and to focus on the ideas and events – philosophical, political, practical and personal – that inspired designers and their clients
to create the cities, towns, villages and buildings we cherish today.
[edit] About the author
Roger Emmerson was born in Edinburgh and attended Leith Academy. He studied architecture under Sir Robert Matthew at the University of Edinburgh and under Professor Isi Metzstein at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating from there in 1982. He has worked in London, Newcastle upon Tyne
and, mostly, Edinburgh, running his own practice, ARCHImedia, from 1987 to 1999 while concurrently teaching architectural design at Edinburgh College of Art when he was also visiting lecturer at universities in Venice, Lisbon, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berkeley. Since 2000 he has worked extensively in the fields of architectural conservation, housing, education and the leisure industries throughout the UK, retiring from architectural practice, although
not architecture, in 2016. He is married and lives in Edinburgh close to his four children, their partners and his seven grandchildren. He devotes his free time to writing, painting and playing guitar.
[edit] Publication details
Land of Stone: A Journey through Modern Architecture in Scotland by Roger Emmerson 9781804250167
Royal Paperback. £25.00
Luath Press Ltd 543/2 Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 2ND committed to publishing well written books worth reading www.luath.co.uk
This article appears in the AT Journal issue 146, summer 2023 as "‘Stonily grey and strange of aspect’ and ‘fairytale’ – the story of Scotland’s unique sense of architecture explored in new book".
--CIAT
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- A brief history of stone walling.
- Building with structural stone.
- Choosing stone.
- Defects in stonework.
- Dry stone walling.
- Finding stone to conserve historic buildings.
- Inspecting stone sample panels.
- Masonry.
- Modern Stonemasonry.
- Natural stone.
- Scottish planning and architecture documents.
- Sustainable stone.
- Stone dressing.
- Types of materials.
- Types of stone
- Wall types.
Featured articles and news
Discover and contribute to our specialist wiki microsites
Conservation, BIM, Diversity, AONBs and Circularity.
BIG Biodiversity Challenge and Awards 2024
Deadline extended to June 26 with two new categories.
Biodiversity net gain, tips and tools for small sites
How to deal with BNG when options become limited.
The benefits of breathable external wall insulation
Not just energy efficiency, but also wellbeing.
IEQ and net zero, thermal comfort, air quality and noise
Four free key guides for all that you need from BSRIA.
A systematic approach to conservation.
A brief description and use from traditional to contemporary.
Delivering on a sustainability policy and action plan
How ECA exceeded its carbon reduction targets.
UKCA and CE marking; changes in detail
Pre and post brexit, now and the future of product certificates.
Construction product certification schemes
The role, background to and types of products certificates.
The construction industry ramps up for the general election
Election manifestos, charters, campaigns and comments.
Collaboration benefits of real-time file synchronisation
Three areas for users to focus on.
Time to recognise construction’s top talent.
Future of Green Skills in Sussex
A report on the incoming Green Skills revolution.
Sustainable Futures: Redefining Retrofit for Net Zero Living
The BSRIA Briefing 2024.
Be alert to special features and techniques.
Practising Architect and Director of Sheldon Peever Studio.