In The Iconic British House, author Dominic Bradbury seeks to define what being 'iconic' and 'British' might mean through an exploration of 50 examples of homes from 1900 to the present day. 'Within a country where the theme of house and home is something of a national obsession, a spirit of adventure is threaded through the residential architecture,' he writes in his introduction. 'To my mind, the houses over the following pages suggest that there is, in broad terms, a unique identity to British architecture,' he adds.
A House for Essex
The Iconic British House: a book exploring the UK's residential architecture
The book, published this autumn by Thames & Hudson, is a rich investigation of the genre through a variety of examples – houses from every style, including Arts and Crafts, art deco, modernism and postmodernism – and a range of authors, both established and emerging names alike.
Architects such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Edwin Lutyens, Berthold Lubetkin, Richard Rogers, Skene Catling de la Pena, and Seth Stein all make an appearance. Many of the designs have been influential beyond the country's borders or even define entire eras or architectural periods.
Bradbury, a frequent Wallpaper* contributor and prolific architectural writer, is an authority on the subject, having penned architecture books such as Off the Grid, The Iconic House, The Iconic American House and The Iconic Interior in the past. Meanwhile, this particular tome is richly illustrated by architectural photographer – and frequent Bradbury collaborator – Richard Powers, whose lens transports us to every home, whether we've ever visited in real life, or not.
Dr Rogers House
Alain de Botton, founder of Living Architecture, the holiday rental company whose property, A House for Essex (designed by Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture), features in the book, has written the foreword, where he stresses the importance of house design. Homes affect our mood, plans, and understanding of the world, he says, highlighting how pivotal they are to wellbeing, relationships with the environment and each other, and creativity. 'Without good architecture, we cannot be properly or fully ourselves,' he concludes.
Greenways
The Black House
The Iconic British House: Modern Architectural Masterworks Since 1900, by Dominic Bradbury (Author), Richard Powers (Photographer), Alain de Botton (Contributor)
Also available from amazon.co.uk and whsmith.co.uk
-
Studio Job’s House of Delft is the Netherlands’ biggest, craziest artworkDesigner Job Smeets of Studio Job invites us into his atelier to see work in progress for his surreal 2,000 sq m ode to the Dutch city of Delft
-
Fuseproject and Tuux join forces to create a womb-like meditation retreat for the workspaceThe Iris Meditation Pod from OpenSeed is a scientifically driven one-person retreat, designed to increase concentration and overall well-being
-
Formafatal ventures deep into the Costa Rican jungle with Studio House, a spectacular retreatSet high on a forested hillside, the Studio House has far-reaching ocean views yet is completely integrated into its site
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into bouldersThe American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
‘Belonging’ – the LFA 2026 theme is revealed, exploring how places can become personalThe idea of belonging and what it means in today’s world will be central at the London Festival of Architecture’s explorations, as the event’s 2026 theme has been announced today
-
‘Brutalist Berlin’ is an essential new guide for architectural tourists heading to the cityBlue Crow Media’s ‘Brutalist Berlin’ unveils fifty of the German capital’s most significant concrete structures and places them in their historical context
-
Join us on a first look inside Regent’s View, the revamped canalside gasholder project in LondonRegent's View, the RSHP-designed development for St William, situated on a former gasholder site on a canal in east London, has just completed its first phase
-
The Royal College of Art has announced plans for renewal of its Kensington campusThe Royal College of Art project, led by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, includes the revitalisation of the Darwin Building and more, in the hopes of establishing an open and future-facing place of creativity
-
Power Hall’s glow-up shines light on science and innovation in ManchesterPower Hall at The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester was given a spruce-up by Carmody Groarke, showcasing the past and future of machines, engineering and sustainable architecture
-
Celebrate the angular joys of 'Brutal Scotland', a new book from Simon Phipps'Brutal Scotland' chronicles one country’s relationship with concrete; is brutalism an architectural bogeyman or a monument to a lost era of aspirational community design?
-
Max Creasy on the future of architectural photography and a shift to the ‘snapshot’A show of photographer Max Creasy’s work opens at the AA in London, asking a key question: where is contemporary architectural photography heading?
