This summary piece of Barnabas Calder's thinking about energy and architecture (in Dezeen, form 2023) is a blast of sense. There's mention too of Yasmeen Lari's important work. #architecture

I offered a dissenting voice in this article about "beauty" in #architecture, though little of it got in. Essentially, I can't see why style wars should wang on self-promotingly through a climate emergency. www.ft.com/content/fd8a... I put the case here too: www.dezeen.com/2023/01/12/a...

on the plane home from conferences on #sufficiency and #passivhaus I read "Form Follows Fuel" by Florian Urban and @barnabascalder.bsky.social. It has remarkable relevance to both, a brilliant book demonstrating that we cannot get a real grip on upfront carbon without embracing sufficiency.

This will be really interesting and fun if you can get to Chester this weekend: learning to build medieval gothic vaults from very accurate foam replicas. I can't wait! chestercathedral.com/events/event... #architecture #medievalarchitecture #vaulting #chester

In a slightly abstract twist, where were we yesterday?!

#architectureandenergy Thanks to the 100+ people who joined our book launch event last night at the Glasgow School of Art! Well done Chloe and Kieran @architectsdeclare.bsky.social for organising this event, and thanks to @barnabascalder.bsky.social and www.instagram.com/john_joseph_...

@barnabascalder.bsky.social @florianurban.bsky.social amazing job, this should be required reading for any history class!

if you only buy one book about architecture or history this year make sure it's form follows fuel! 14 buildings from 4 millennia show how energy has shaped human housing, sustainability and climate through history, and its topical and informative interdisciplinary approach make this a must read!

I love going by train. Recognise these roofs? #whatbuilding

St Agnes, Grade I, J L Pearson - Toxteth. We placed its Vicarage and Hall by Norman Shaw on our Top Ten Endangered Buildings list in 2024 - both have now been sold we believe. www.victoriansociety.org.uk/endangered-b... Thanks Barnabas.

just finished the pre-fossil chapters, very hard to put the book down for the night as it is both an extremely informative and entertaining read! great choice of examples too, serving the focus on energy and sustainability in architecture just wonderfully! fantastic book, highly recommended!

going in 🔥 @barnabascalder.bsky.social @florianurban.bsky.social very much hyped to finally have this

#WhatBuilding?

A real pleasure to hear my colleague in @liverpooluni.bsky.social's History of Architecture Research Cluster, Alex Buchanan, today as part of Heritage Open Days. Alex was talking about Rickman and early C19 gothic, in an iron church of 1815. Great talk, good audience, lots of appreciation.

BOOK LAUNCH: Edinburgh, 24th September. @florianurban.bsky.social and I will be discussing our new book quantifying the energy cost of architecture through history. Do come! The following night we're speaking about it in Glasgow, so see you at whichever suits. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bookshopla...

The weekend will be good. New book Form Follows Fuel arrived by @florianurban.bsky.social and @barnabascalder.bsky.social LOL @ multi-page embodied energy and embodied energy for materials tables per building ... How detailed is this please. 😄💪🏽

On BBC World Service this morning, talking about the joys of #Brutalism in architecture. @ddolzikova.bsky.social had me on after reading my book Raw Concrete. Don't worry: I mentioned that it's not a material for use in a climate crisis. Beginning at 43:30: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

More on Harrods Egyptian Hall Was William Mitchell responsible for throwing this shade on his client? Can it really be case that no one ever tipped off Al Fayed about the actual meaning of Ozymandias? @barnabascalder.bsky.social @c20society.bsky.social thesociologicalreview.org/magazine/mar...

In the meantime, watch a @barnabascalder.bsky.social lecture about unnatural materials: youtu.be/46SlQnwzk70?...

@florianurban.bsky.social and I have a new book out shortly, with superb drawings and calculations by John Joseph Burns. Launches in Edinburgh (24 Sept) and Glasgow (25 Sept). Available online in the usual places for £35.99/€39.50/USD39.50.

A wood by Seatoller in the Lake District this past week. It had an awful lot of dead and partially dead oak trees On the east-facing slope, whilst those on the north-facing side were looking pretty healthy. Does anyone know what is killing them? I was quite upset to see them.

Some actual good news: the ICJ have set out the ecological situation clearly and authoritatively, and confirmed that each country has a legal obligation to take effective climate action. Could we get on and do it, please? www-aljazeera-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.alja...

'...SHBT have united with the National Trust for Scotland and Bernat Klein Foundation as the Bernat Klein Studio Coalition aiming to buy and restore the building...' > this is very good news. www.shbt.org.uk/2025/07/savi... @c20society.bsky.social @barnabascalder.bsky.social

The Architecture Books that, step by step, changed my life.

“Copenhagen reported that 62% of its residents are now commuting to work or school by bike — an increase from 52% in 2015 & 36% in 2012, when the City Council launched a 14-year-plan to improve the quality, safety & comfort of cycling.” #Copenhagen chose. They keep choosing to go further each year.

Can anyone point me to a really good history of the urban effects of changing transportation in a case study non-"Western" city through the C19 and C20? I'm interested in things like employment and urban growth, but also in sociological effects (changing role of neighbourhood, etc.). Thank you!

If you have the funds and the vision, please buy and restore the stunning Bernat Klein Studio, Galashiels - guide price £18,000. auctions.savills.co.uk/auctions/30-...

Not to blow our own trumpets, but I reckon more academic books could do with disclaimers like that with which @florianurban.bsky.social and I begin our methodology section. #FormFollowsFuel #ArchitectureAndEnergy

Bless them - do you think they still pay humans to churn this stuff out, or do they have an Artificial Kneejerk LLM to produce it? Keep ranting at long-dead architects, right-wing journos - it's so much less uncomfortable than facing the ecological realities of contemporary architecture.

Couldn’t decide which one to buy so bought both 😂💜 #booksky (Whitechapel Gallery) @barnabascalder.bsky.social @davidhockney.bsky.social @whitechapelgallery.bsky.social

#whatbuilding? One for #medieval BlueSky.

We've done some studies of standardised passivhaus designs with one of the large contractors, it's perfectly feasible to use off-the-shelf pre-designed solutions in pretty much any orientation in a lot of UK locations.

It would indeed be interesting to explore this topic further. There's no reason why passivhaus levels of performance can't be achieved with largely natural / biobased materials and minimal use of plastics. ACAN and @asbpuk.bsky.social actively working on this.

Such a cheering account of the viability of bio-based #passivehouse life. Let's make them the norm for any new build that has to happen!

Off to Newcastle to discuss architectural history, knowledge and the contemporary architectural world. You'll be amazed to hear I'm banging the drum for quantitative research on #energyhistory and #environmentalhumanities.

John Joseph Burns's drawings and calcs lie at the heart of @florianurban.bsky.social's and my new book, Form Follows Fuel. See them at RSA show! John calculated quantities of materials for 14 historic buildings, Florian used the best production history data available to calc total #embodiedenergy.

Just finished Raw Concrete by @barnabascalder.bsky.social Fantastic insite into a much maligned architectural movement. Love the little details about workers and how the buildings “feel” to him as he walks around them.

The 3 pyramids you need to know when you work in construction / architecture / planning / live or work in a building: 1. materialepyramiden.dk 2. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%... 3. @barnabascalder.bsky.social 📘Architecture: From Prehistory to Climate Emergency

Does anyone find LEED's environmental certification headings a bit tone deaf in terms of concerns about #embodiedcarbon? How about replacing them with, in ascending order, the titles "timber, stone, earth, pre-existing building"?

@drachinifel.bsky.social Hi! @canadianerrant.bsky.social suggested you'd be the person who'd know where to get a total tonnage for the Royal Navy at some year 1880-1910ish. I'm hoping to estimate total steel weight for the entire navy in a given year (naive Q, but interesting in energy terms).

Any #navalhistory specialists on here who could help me with a question? I'm wanting to get an approx figure for the total tonnage of #RoyalNavy iron/steel ships at some point between 1870 and 1920. Is this a statistic that exists, and if so where? Any help deeply appreciated.

Still looking for #environmentalhistory expertise on a geeky question: were Watt's early #steamengine experiments made with coal iron or charcoal iron? Any pointers or reposts hugely appreciated! @eseh.bsky.social @envhistnow.bsky.social

How much carbon it costs/saves will depend on the structure required to support the extra weight, relative to the carbon saved by its good insulation and the lack of petrochemicals to make it. In theory earth is a good insulation.

Incidentally, researching Venturi Scott Brown I came across this obituary, by @barnabascalder.bsky.social, which is one of the best things I've read about them: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Another #WhatBuilding for enthusiasts of #architecture and #architecturalhistory

Edgehill station!

Need another clue? #whatbuilding