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Robert Proctor

@rproctor.bsky.social

Architectural historian of the twentieth century.

1,195 Followers  |  428 Following  |  816 Posts  |  Joined: 31.08.2023  |  2.651

Latest posts by rproctor.bsky.social on Bluesky


Fake newspaper column headline purporting to be by Allister Heath in the Telegraph saying 'How the Marxist infiltration of Nikolaus Pevsner's Buildings of England poisoned the minds of the young'.

Fake newspaper column headline purporting to be by Allister Heath in the Telegraph saying 'How the Marxist infiltration of Nikolaus Pevsner's Buildings of England poisoned the minds of the young'.

Simon Bradley's fault. (Sorry, I'll stop now).

26.02.2026 17:49 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Fake newspaper column headline purporting to have been written by Allister Heath of the Telegraph saying 'We are sleepwalking into a totalitarian nightmare disguised as eighteenth-century landscape gardens'.

Fake newspaper column headline purporting to have been written by Allister Heath of the Telegraph saying 'We are sleepwalking into a totalitarian nightmare disguised as eighteenth-century landscape gardens'.

Is that bad?

26.02.2026 17:46 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

And the Tange style library. Spent many good days in there.

26.02.2026 10:43 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Black Magic’s Yvonne Chireau Consults on Ryan Coogler’s Sinners Peggy Chan Professor Emerita of Black Studies and Professor Emerita of Religion Yvonne Chireau served as a historical consultant for Sinners, the hit new Ryan Coogler film set in 1930s Mississippi. Wr...

Here's one. There were surely more. www.swarthmore.edu/news-events/... (better source).

26.02.2026 07:58 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Expecting any rational, constructive policy at a time of such dire and irresponsible public discourse is probably doomed.

22.02.2026 12:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Universities should collaborate to help one go through a court case but you know they won't.

21.02.2026 19:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Latest thing on LinkedIn seems to be people using AI to write criticisms of other people using AI.

20.02.2026 08:37 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Also, "the palace" potentially includes the candidate.

20.02.2026 08:29 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Also (if you don't already know it this will blow your mind) cf my former colleague Mark Wilson Jones's theory that the Pantheon switched in short columns because the big ones were lost in a shipwreck, hence the weird shadow pediment.

19.02.2026 19:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Ancient Roman triumphal arch at Aosta, Italy, with Corinthian order under a Doric entablature. Quite wrong.

Ancient Roman triumphal arch at Aosta, Italy, with Corinthian order under a Doric entablature. Quite wrong.

I don't know, I've seen some cranky Roman rule-breaking, there's probably classical precedent if you look for it.

19.02.2026 19:18 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
'A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach' by Stanhope Forbes | The Box Plymouth This painting by Dublin-born artist, Stanhopes Forbes (1857-1947) is quite possibly the most popular work of art from our collections. Even though it’s been on display many times since it was acquired...

One of my favourite paintings but it's actually in Plymouth. www.theboxplymouth.com/blog/press-r...

19.02.2026 12:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Amazing what you can get away with in a World Heritage Site.

19.02.2026 08:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Apart from the fact that yes, AI doesn't currently work all that well for this purpose, how do you think humanities assessment could test thinking process without an end product? (And sadly but necessarily, at large scale with few staff). This is the q we're all asking.

18.02.2026 18:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Reading a book from 2013 with useful archive references, except the archive changed all the numbers in 2016 so I can't find them any more.

18.02.2026 15:09 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The point of Bsky is it has no algorithm. (Except for the Discover feed, which I don't think is customised to stoke narcissism in the same way as elsewhere).

18.02.2026 10:08 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Recently been on one where every single time I clicked on an entry to look at the details (even in a new tab), the overall search results go awry and I have to do the search again.

17.02.2026 12:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Eeew.

14.02.2026 13:42 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Interior of semicircular St Patrick's church, Coventry, with big wedges of timber-clad roof forming slices of clerestory between them, a stained glass panel of the crucifix over the altar lit from behind, random coloured panels of green, orange, red and white forming the walls between internal butresses.

Interior of semicircular St Patrick's church, Coventry, with big wedges of timber-clad roof forming slices of clerestory between them, a stained glass panel of the crucifix over the altar lit from behind, random coloured panels of green, orange, red and white forming the walls between internal butresses.

St Mary, Dunstable, interior of round church with altar on one side, brick piers in pairs forming side chapels, stained glass slots between them, a clerestory of yellow glass, over which hangs a big round ceiling in teal and white stripes with sculptural zig-zag pattern.

St Mary, Dunstable, interior of round church with altar on one side, brick piers in pairs forming side chapels, stained glass slots between them, a clerestory of yellow glass, over which hangs a big round ceiling in teal and white stripes with sculptural zig-zag pattern.

St Michael, Wolverhampton, exterior, a round brown brick church with slot windows between buttress-like piers, lead-roofed wedges clustered around the a small spike on the roof, and a separate tower made of two parallel brick piers.

St Michael, Wolverhampton, exterior, a round brown brick church with slot windows between buttress-like piers, lead-roofed wedges clustered around the a small spike on the roof, and a separate tower made of two parallel brick piers.

Interior of St Michael's church, Wolverhampton, looking up to circular drum bathed in yellow light, in a sculptural ceiling of diamond-shapes, apparently floating as light enters around the edges from hidden sources above, supported over brick panel walls with slot windows of stained glass; on axis there's a crucifix in front of an abstract ceramic panel.

Interior of St Michael's church, Wolverhampton, looking up to circular drum bathed in yellow light, in a sculptural ceiling of diamond-shapes, apparently floating as light enters around the edges from hidden sources above, supported over brick panel walls with slot windows of stained glass; on axis there's a crucifix in front of an abstract ceramic panel.

Sad to hear recently of architect Desmond Williams's passing. Fond memories of exploring his dramatic 1960s churches. Now preparing some photos for the Manchester Modernist Society. Obituary by his son here: www.ribaj.com/intelligence...

13.02.2026 11:20 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A beautiful street of historic buildings including lime-washed cottages with a Victorian church tower at the end.

A beautiful street of historic buildings including lime-washed cottages with a Victorian church tower at the end.

A handsome gabled historic house, 17th century with windows of various later periods, covered in a peach-coloured lime-wash.

A handsome gabled historic house, 17th century with windows of various later periods, covered in a peach-coloured lime-wash.

An impressive turreted Tudor mansion in the distance framed by a Georgian arched gateway.

An impressive turreted Tudor mansion in the distance framed by a Georgian arched gateway.

A rubble stone wall of ruin with architectural elements inset into it including a blocked up traceried window.

A rubble stone wall of ruin with architectural elements inset into it including a blocked up traceried window.

Corsham, Wilts. A fine town. Speaks for itself, really.

11.02.2026 18:02 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Trawling a well-organised archive catalogue to draw up a list for a future visit is a bittersweet pleasure. So many tantalising documents, so little time.

06.02.2026 12:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

As Channel 4 posh house show presenters?

05.02.2026 18:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A modernist church with big peaked roof and concrete window made of vertical slots, with an old-fashioned white-rendered church tower with onion dome stuck on one corner.

A modernist church with big peaked roof and concrete window made of vertical slots, with an old-fashioned white-rendered church tower with onion dome stuck on one corner.

Also, quite enjoyed this bizarre Frankenstein church in Hinterzarten.

05.02.2026 17:11 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Detail of a brutalist concrete building with random windows, strange flanges cantilevered out over dark slots on a projecting corner, an overall texture of vertical corrugations.

Detail of a brutalist concrete building with random windows, strange flanges cantilevered out over dark slots on a projecting corner, an overall texture of vertical corrugations.

Loved that building, visiting 2 years ago.

05.02.2026 17:01 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

You could just not and see if anyone checks. What are the chances anyone cares enough?

30.01.2026 16:18 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah but if you had an AHRC grant you still have to input all your data in full knowledge that they will shortly delete it.

30.01.2026 16:10 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Asbestos from power station has been found on Welsh beach Carmarthenshire Council arranged for tests of the material after concerns were raised locally, and said it was a low risk to the public

I think about this article about Percy Thomas's Carmarthen Bay power station quite regularly, its workers having asbestos snowball fights, and their grandchildren decorating sandcastles with the asbestos from its ruins. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

30.01.2026 11:22 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The thing about this is, they (non-graduates) already do (fund universities); so is this a pitch for a massive increase in the student loan burden?

30.01.2026 09:18 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Tell me about it. Much is corporate rather than council instigated, though. Massive whirring 5G cupboards blocking up pavements, etc.

28.01.2026 10:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The post blames the council, but in Bristol's experience, councillors reject them and the planning inspectorate passes them on appeal.

28.01.2026 09:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Property factors Find out about property factors who provide services to homeowners, including the duties of a factor and how to complain about a factor.

Good overview of the system and its safeguards here. www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/hou...

27.01.2026 12:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

@rproctor is following 19 prominent accounts