@williamtozer.bsky.social
Critic, educator, researcher, architect | Posting daily about architecture | Bartlett UCL PhD | also studied RMIT, University of Auckland | Founder of William Tozer Associates @williamtozerassoc.bsky.social
‘Farrell grew disenchanted with high-tech Modernism — an architecture that, as the architect Colin Fournier wrote in 2011, tolerated “no contradictions, no jokes, no attempts at seduction, no symbolic references, no slang, no local dialects”’
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/a...
What architectural style is this?
20.01.2026 02:54 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
‘John Merz could not shake the sense that what was happening now was a defamation of his parents’ legacy. His parents understood their domestic space as a shared civic commodity.’
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/s...
The Roses is pretty good entertainment, but the architecture angle is a bit cringey. The only fun bit for architecture viewers is his architect friends eviscerating his museum design, and another friend then pointing out how unintelligible they sound.
youtu.be/XkgMaS5gbaA?...
‘From dark, sound-proofed rooms to clever storage solutions, families with autism and ADHD are finding inspired ways to adjust their environments’
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
New York architecture chess set
www.farrar-tanner.com/acrylic-new-...
‘A RIBA report says “stark displays of sexism” are driving women from the profession. If we don’t fight this systemic misogyny, we won’t just lose dazzling designs – we’ll have a world only fit for 6ft tall policemen’
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
‘housing policy should be understood not only in terms of supply, affordability, and efficiency, but also in terms of social architecture.’
epsig.substack.com/p/why-modern...
‘Still, the water rises and more houses tip their contents — fiberglass insulation, toxic chemicals, a novelty pillow — into the sea.’
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/m...
‘The origins of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when CH “Buck” and Carlotta Stahl bought a hilly patch of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles for $13,500.’
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Looks almost exactly the same as the door of the first architect I worked for (in the mid ‘90s). Private investigator vibes.
Excellent access to the fire escape too!
Just saw a one-sentence journalist bio describing them as a ‘skilled and knowledgeable journalist’.
Similar vibe to fast food ads proclaiming their food, ‘fresh and tasty’ because it’s all they can really say, and people even need reassurance on that.
‘Through Ruys’s influence, this approach to gardening became the basis of the modernist garden aesthetic of the 20th century and onward.’
www.dwell.com/article/mien...
‘ . . . the specific teachings of one ultra-Orthodox community have led to more generous council housing for everyone.’
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Surely a large part of this is just survivorship bias. The ‘traditional’ buildings around us today are the best ones, which have survived demolition for that reason.
www.dezeen.com/2025/10/30/t...
How does this article not make comparisons to Louis Kahn’s Yale Center for British Art? The university architect even mentions Kahn—all they needed to do was run with it . . .
www.dezeen.com/2025/10/31/a...
‘Build It Together highlights growing examples of good practice: flexible working, transparent promotion processes, and networks leading change from the ground up. ‘
www.riba.org/campaigns/po...
‘To be truly local, architecture should prioritise process over product’
🤔
Curious to choose three distinctive-looking buildings to demonstrate the very polemical argument that process matters more than output, particularly style.
www.ribaj.com/intelligence...
Some nuanced thoughts on gentrification.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
London domestic architecture trends for 2025, for no particular reason whatsoever:
Round skylights, and spiral staircases.
And the fake exposed ceiling rafters won’t stop. Please, make it stop!
‘In the 1960s, home builders Pettit & Sevitt collaborated with Australian architects Ken Woolley and Michael Dysart to bring good architecture to the suburbs, delivering simple, functional, and affordable homes that respond to the natural landscape.’
www.dwell.com/article/new-...
Just saw another one of those posts bemoaning the travesty that architects only design 5–10% of the built environment.
Architects need to remember that they’re the OG influencers of the building industry. We don’t have to design every building to have a huge impact.
‘Supervillains get the best lairs”
www.ft.com/content/74f5...
20.10.2025 04:38 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Real estate agents are so funny about architecture. Often list houses as ‘architect-designed’ without naming the architect.
Went to a viewing recently where they named the architect, but said it was disrespectful to take pictures of it. Architecture as commodity only, please.
‘Designing social housing for later life is too often reduced to a simple provision of service. Appleby Blue, however, is a provision of pure delight . . . high-quality spaces that are generous and thoughtful, blending function and community . . .’
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Most Y*MBYs will consider this just a foot in the door. It was always a counterproductive moniker, and it’s become toxic—time to retire it.
16.10.2025 05:33 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Seems like a misread to say that this is a Y*MBY win. If the Y*MBY movement was focused on tactical high density housing around transport hubs, they’d have much broader support. Upzoning everywhere and letting the market decide is the Y*MBY platform.
www.dwell.com/article/what...
‘Tucked between joists above the ceilings are packs of BioPCM, an engineered wax that melts as it absorbs heat when the interiors are sultry, and solidifies, releasing warmth, as the rooms turn cold.’
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/r...
