Publisher's Synopsis
The 70s House
Though described in the 90s as the decade that style forgot, the70s has since gained a renewed kudos and magnetism in the newmillennium. For anyone who grew up during the decade, the era hasan obvious nostalgic pull. It is, however, its aesthetic diversitythat has made it such a rich seam to mine for style and designideas. In the 1970s, architecture and interior design was at animportant turning point: the certainties and rigours of postwarModernism were giving way to a sense of adventure and pluralism.While excitement and indulgence in new technologies and gadgetrywas being pursued, so was a greater awareness of historical styleand the ecological. The dynamism and variety of the decade has muchin common with the Art Nouveau. Both periods share not only adesire to represent a new age and a preoccupation in localcontexts, but also took place at a time that technologicalpossibilities were running ahead of the design aesthetics of theday.
In order to encapsulate the pure range and scope of the age,David Heathcote and Sue Barr have travelled extensively in Europeand America photographing and researching afresh a unique set ofhouses. These have largely been unphotographed since their debut inarchitectural journals in the 70s. The book thus brings togetherfor the first time, not only a representative but also atypicalselection of domestic architecture. This is lusciously illustratedin a state of lived–in maturity that shows a very current diversityof ageless living spaces.
