Architecture and the Face of Coal - Mining and Modern Britain

With only a handful of British coalmines remaining active and with targets set to reduce carbon emissions, the coal industry now seems to be heading towards extinction. Yet, it was coal that turned Britain into a world-leader during the Industrial Revolution and established the conditions for the modern state. In the 20th century, it generated building programmes on a massive scale concerning miners' welfare, settlements, and housing. The form, space, organisation, and aesthetics of architecture became of critical importance not just to the process of the industry's modernisation but also how it was perceived and understood both within and outside its workforce. But despite the centrality of coal mining and its workers to the development of modern Britain, as well as the contemporary recognition that aspects of its innovative architecture received, its built legacy has often been overlooked and physically almost completely erased. Divided into three parts, this is the first book which provides a critical and comprehensive examination of the architecture of coal in Britain and how it responded to the needs of the industry and, perhaps more significantly, its labour force.

About the author

Gary A. Boyd is a Professor in Architecture at Queen's University, Belfast.

Summary

Beautifully illustrated, Architecture and the Face of Coal is the first book to examine the fascinating story of the relationship between architecture and Britain's coal fields, and includes examples of iconic and avant-garde architectural forms.

Product details

• Authors: Gary A. Boyd, Boyd Gary A.
• Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.11.2022
• EAN: 9781848223561
• ISBN: 978-1-84822-356-1
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Architecture; Social sciences, law, business > Business > Individual industrial sectors, branches; Public buildings: civic, commercial, industrial, etc, ARCHITECTURE / Buildings / Public, Commercial & Industrial, ARCHITECTURE / History / Modern (late 19th Century to 1945), History of Architecture, Energy industries and utilities, Architecture: public, commercial and industrial buildings, Coal & Solid Fuel Industries