iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

That's interesting - though on p 14 I am wondering if 'leaden' is to do with the material or is a statement of dullness, and I'm also struck by the 'much injured' gates

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Het Schip and the associated museum, if you like early C20th Dutch brick architecture.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The alternative plan in the short term was staying at John Sinclair House...but beyond that, who knows? There is apparently a proposal to have a searchroom at Longmore, which I hope my classes can use, but the material will presumably be stored offsite (somewhere)

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Hasn't the Bonnyrigg archive plan been scrapped (though with no indication of what is going to happen long-term instead)? I have to say that John Sinclair House has been brilliantly convenient and well set-up for taking students to, for classes looking at the archive.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A carpet cut from the same cloth (not literally!) as the Mitchell Library's now 46-year old installation, I imagine.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Meanwhile my Kenwood Chef is now 62 years old...

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Mine is 16! Entering adulthood...

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

In Milton Keynes to look at housing archives and to give an introduction to new towns history at a Gardens Trust conference on new town planning and landscape design, alongside excellent papers & discussion from @lucaknorr.bsky.social @jossdurnan.bsky.social @demetrius-art.bsky.social and others.

A building with reflective glass, with the sky and clouds reflected. The sky is blue and the sun is out. Some greenery is intruding on the picture on the right.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I quite like the idea of 'programme' as something curated (be it a concert season or the Light Programme); it addresses the ideal of choice and breadth that should be at the heart of the degree and the role of the student in selecting what they want to do.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Yes, and Edinburgh also calls degrees 'programmes', just to add to the merriment of the courses / modules thing.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If the mooted shakeup of Scottish regional authorities brings back a Greater Glasgow regional authority, I hope not only that it's called Strathclyde but also that it revives the brilliant and still contemporary 1975-96 logo.

A squared-off outline of Scotland, with a black lined edge and white body, with the area of the (former) Strathclyde Regional Council coloured black

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Reposted by Alistair Fair

Liverpool University Press @livunipress.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

New Towns Mark One by the late Elain Harwood, ed. @alistairfair.bsky.social provides the first detailed architectural survey of the ‘mark one’ new towns. ➡️ Read the interview with Alistair about the book on the LUP blog: bit.ly/HE-NewTowns @c20society.bsky.social @geraintfranklin.bsky.social

A blue background of a blue and white tiled building fascia with a clock on a blue sky background. The text on the image reads 'Charting the architectural history of Britain's initial post-war new towns: the so-called 'mark one' new towns.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Excellent day yesterday discussing all things New Towns in a @c20society.bsky.social event, & launching the late Elain Harwood's history of the 'mark one' generation of towns founded in the late 1940s plus Cumbernauld (book pictured here with an inquisitive reader). Work is ongoing on the sequel...

A small cat peering at a copy of the book New Towns Mark One, which is propped up against a door

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Put them all in, with different names! Then when they are all accepted, you can (on the day of presentation) assume various disguises and accents.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

'It has been perfectly legal to write history books for ages' !!

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Thanks John - you're acknowledged, as I know you spent time with Elain looking at MK. Although the later new towns aren't part of this book, I'm now writing the sequel...

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

New Towns Mark One - by Elain Harwood edited by me - exists! Obligatory unboxing pics. Launch on 10/9: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx.... Book link: www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

Some books on a table, wrapped in bubble wrap, with a box and scissors behind

Unwrapped copies of the book New Towns Mark One, on a table

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Spotted also in my local independent bookshop in the Scottish Borders last weekend!

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

West Midlands, maybe, but they were also made at Linwood.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Of course, we did have regional administrations in Scotland between 1975 and 1996, borne of a view of regional planning which dated back to the 1940s (and before, if you count Patrick Geddes)...

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Yes, there is definitely something weird about the motor, which seems to be all or nothing and has sent me hurtling forward in a slightly undignified fashion a few times.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Wren can do bright colours...and in our last house we had birch ply doors made up with Wasabi green Formica facings by a community enterprise in Liverpool, which we coupled with orange tiles (!)

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Reposted by Alistair Fair

Modern British History Journal @mbhjournal.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

This year's Duncan Tanner Prize is now open! If you're a PGR/ECR working on an article on modern British history do consider entering! Deadline Sept 1st. #skystorians 🗃️ academic.oup.com/tcbh/pages/e...

academic.oup.com

The Duncan Tanner Prize

The Duncan Tanner Prize recognizes outstanding scholarship amongst postgraduate research students in Britain and abroad. Entrants submit an article manuscript.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Buddleia would not be my plant of choice for the garden (though it has a fascinating history, as @moacarlsson.bsky.social has written about: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....). The butterflies do love it, however. A dozen were counted yesterday afternoon while I had a cup of tea.

Purple/pink buddleia flowers, and green leaves, with various butterflies on the flowers.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

International Cat Day! New book cover + uninterested cat.

A cat sits to the left of a computer monitor, on which is the cover of the book New Towns Mark One, by Elain Harwood (edited by Alistair Fair). The cat is looking out of the window, and ignoring the computer.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

We never enabled it in the end. Our cat was being bullied by a neighbour's (rather than making friends like yours) who kept trying to get in and we were concerned that if he succeeded he would then get stuck. We moved house instead!

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

If it's a Sureflap and this becomes an issue, there is a semi-secret setting which can be enabled to allow the flap to allow any cat to exit (but only the approved cat(s) can enter). Sureflap support can tell you how to do it.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Do they similarly try to upsell a Toblerone with every purchase?

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I've just finished (and enjoyed) @archhistdarling.bsky.social's excellent new book on the architecture of Broadcasting House which explores how in the 1920s/30s the BBC and its designers collectively used architecture and design to forge their identity in a modern world #20s30s

Cover of the book 'Palace of the Ether' by Elizabeth Darling. The title is in large letters over a monochrome image of BBC Broadcasting House in London

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Very exciting news that 'Building Modern Scotland' has been shortlisted for the @thesahgb.bsky.social's Alice Davis Hitchcock award alongside excellent titles by @holsmith.bsky.social @matthewwhitfield.bsky.social @rproctor.bsky.social and others! www.sahgb.org.uk/features/202...

A small tortoiseshell cat and a copy of the book 'Building Modern Scotland'

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

'New Towns Mark One' by the late Elain Harwood, edited by me, is now available for pre-order at £32 via www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10..... It explores the origins of the new towns programme & the 'mark one' towns begun in the 1940s, concluding with Cumbernauld, the first mk 2 town.

liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk

New Towns Mark One | Home

Architecture and Planning in Post-War Britain

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

A brief stop at Worcester Shrub Hill yesterday offered a chance to see the (listed!) K8 phone box on the station platform. This reminded me that @c20society.bsky.social was trying to get some of the next generation KX kiosks listed - I wonder if anything came of that?

A red K8 phone box on a station platform. The K8 is the simplified, cube-like 1960s design with big glass windows and little ornamental detail, which distringuish it from its 1930s predecessor.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I've co-organised a symposium with @c20society.bsky.social on 10 September to mark 80 years of the New Towns Act, and the launch of Elain Harwood's final major book, 'New Towns Mark One', which I edited (and the sequel to which I'm now writing). Details here: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...

Market clock at Harlow on a building with blue and white striped tiles. To the right is a tower block

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

On our previous Netherlands/Germany holiday, all the Dutch trains were on time (and the infrastructure was immaculate); the delays began literally the minute we crossed into Germany...

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Almere - a new town in the Netherlands, now 50 years old. Visited during my recent holiday. These photos show the De Werven area, one of the first, with clusters of houses backing onto communal gardens plus cycleways and a busway.

Brick houses with external stairs to an upper entrance, and lush trees around

A terrace of housing to the right, while the street to the left is marked for cycle priority and has a sign proclaiming it a Woonerf, i.e. shared zone for play, chat, cars and bikes

Cycle route crossing a busway. There is a set of traffic lights on the cycleway, with a green bicycle showing. The sign says 'Give way - Busbaan [busway]'.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Wow, that really is good, some excellent handling of brick. Echoes of Dutch architecture of the period.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Yes, there's a pleasing desire inside to convey something of its history, with displays of CWS stuff and bits of the building in glass cases on the stair and various interpretative panels.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Quick trip to Newcastle for work. The Premier Inn was built in 1932 as a Co-Op dept store and it's nice to see some original features survive

A staircase with vertical windows to the left hand side, and stone cladding

A stone building with two towers (external photo from my previous visit April 2026)

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Cat halts my attempt to read the 1968 Central Borders study.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Spotted last weekend, a sculpted stone panel at the National Hospital for Neurology in London #20s30s

A sculpted stone panel titled 'RESEARCH' with images of scientific apparatus and an open book with a quotation from Horace Mann: 'Every Addition to True Knowledge is an Addition to Human Power'

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Reposted by Alistair Fair

Elizabeth Darling @archhistdarling.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Adding to this feature in the new @c20society.bsky.social magazine, that listing is also for social value. Given the current full-blown onslaught against culture/the humanities let’s celebrate SBAC as a vision of state support for culture & architecture. See also. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

The branch tunnel is still there but dark and unused (except maybe in films?). There's also a branch tunnel on the Liverpool side, but with exit only

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I mis-read this as M People for a moment. Which would also be cool.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

That's the Scottish branch. You want www.docomomo.nl. @milesglendinning.bsky.social might have a contact.

docomomo.nl

Docomomo

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

The Festival Hall is 75 years old this year. I was pleased to be asked to contribute to a new book which explores its history, architecture and life (shop.southbankcentre.co.uk/products/roy...)

Cover of the book 'Royal Festival Hall: a living icon', showing the angled boxes of the Festival Hall auditorium

Two book pages. That on the left shows a cafe bar at the Festival Hall, with 1950s furniture, that on the right has text and another photo of the Festival Hall interior

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Years ago, when I first started working on C20th architectural history, Andrew Saint always reminded me that Dudok was one of *the* key sources for many 1930s designers in Britain, and not to over-emphasise Corb, the Bauhaus etc. Dudok was given the RIBA Gold Medal in 1935.

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