Lecture date: 1983-01-13
Bruce Martin, Martin Richardson, Richard Rogers, Hugh Morris
Prefabrication is the topic for this AA membership dinner. During the Second World War, and after, prefrabrication provided a speed of erection and a quality of standard design and technology not easily afforded for one-off buildings. The AA trained many of the architects involved while also providing a forum where practising architects were able to discuss and develop new ideas. By 1965, over 170 prefabricated systems were on the market, many based on pre-cast concrete. By the 1980s few of these systems remained but the essence of the high-quality engineering survived in the ‘high-tech’ style in one-off buildings.
Hugh Morris – Introduction
Bruce Martin – The Hertfordshire schools systems
A.M.Gear – Prefabricated housing in the 1940s.
Martin Richardson – High-rise pre-cast concrete flats.
Richard Rogers – High-tech
Followed by discussion chaired by Hugh Morris