This thesis looks at the contribution of real and constructed local traditions to modern building practices and discourses in a specific region, focusing on the case of Algarve, southern Portugal, between 1925 and 1965. By shifting the main research focus from the centre to the region, and by placing a strong emphasis on fieldwork and previously overlooked sources (the archives of provincial bodies, municipalities and architects), the thesis scrutinises canonical accounts of the interaction of regionalism with modernism. It examines how architectural ‘regionalism’, often discussed at a central level through the work of acknowledged metropolitan architects, was interpreted by local practices in everyday building activity. Was there a real local concern with vernacular traditions, or was this essentially a construct of educated metropolitan circles, both at the time and retrospectively? Circuits and agents of influence and dissemination are traced, the careers of locally relevant designers come to light, and a more comprehensive view of architectural production is offered. Departing from conventional narratives that present pre-war regionalism in Portugal as a stereotype-driven, one-way central construct, the creation of a regional built identity for Algarve emerges here as the result of combined local, regional and central agencies, mediated both through concrete building practice and discourses outside architecture. Post-war regionalism appears as more than a sophisticated re-appropriation of vernacular features by cultured architects to overcome the shortcomings of both modernist orthodoxy and official stylistic conservatism: the thesis shows how Algarve’s traditional features allowed modernism to be pragmatically restyled as locally sensitive and keep its fundamentals unquestioned; and the architects’ authority to be reasserted where non-architects dominated. Tradition became the key to architecture’s future. Regionalism, a consistent undercurrent of twentieth-century architecture, resurfaced and was morphed by modernism, with mutual benefit. In Algarve, vernacular tradition and regional agency appear as not mere footnotes in the narrative of modernism, but as part of its main text.

The second half of the twentieth century was a time of change marked by increased global mobility and the exchange of ideas, a context framed by the diversification of approaches that occurred at the confluence of modernism and postmodernism. Responding to this context of dispersal and fragmentation, the Canadian-born educator Alvin Boyarsky (1928-1990) acted as a collector of ideas, drawings and people, and, consequently, a promoter of novel forms of architectural pedagogy that affected architectural culture worldwide. His Transatlantic web of educational, curatorial and publishing venues absorbed new disciplinary discourses and propelled careers of protagonists like Zaha Hadid, Bernard Tschumi, and Rem Koolhaas, who in turn influenced architectural ideas and built work around the world. As Boyarsky’s pedagogical experiments poured into practice, they engendered a form of architecture that distanced itself from any national or professional confines, thriving instead on international displacement of people, ideas and images. Boyarsky embraced this peripatetic context – the growing national and professional mobility of architectural ideas, artifacts and educators – allowing his collections of postcards, books, and drawings to act as itinerant sites of architectural production worldwide. His pedagogical models echoed these collections, embracing estrangement, opposition and resistance not only as pragmatic opportunities conducive to global economic change, but also as engines of disciplinary transformation that erased boundaries between academia and practice, the local and the global, and production and consumption. In blurring such boundaries these pedagogical models imploded traditional institutional, national and disciplinary structures and heralded a truly international era of architectural education and practice. Rather than mere globalisation of architecture, they signalled a more nuanced estrangement of architecture – a time when strangers and foreignness resurfaced as globally significant categories whose diverse narratives were only reconciled within the loose framework of a collection and the constantly shifting desires of its collector.

This thesis draws conceptually and directly on music notation in its investigation of the temporality of landscape architecture. It differs from other studies that refer to music in two critical ways: firstly rather than their references to Baroque, Classical or Romantic music, this investigation focuses on music notation from a 27 year period of musical innovation in the twentieth century; secondly in referring to music notation as a source for landscape architectural notations, I address their omission of sound, which in importing aspects of music notation into design, they curiously left behind. The thesis studies three music notations in fine detail: Projection I1 by Morton Feldman, from 1950, Lontano by Gyorgi Ligeti from, 1969, and Green Meadows by Michael Finnissy, from 1977. Each study examines the notation of a musical score and its specific approach to time, investigating whether the temporality of this music is similar to that of aspects of landscape time. Each is juxtaposed with design notations representations by First nameDonald Appleyard et al from The View from the Road, 1965, Bernard Tschumi from Manhattan Transcripts, 1994, and William Kent from Rousham garden, 1748, before examining four landscape spaces through the development of new landscape architecture notations. The research makes available to a wider design audience the works of three influential composers of the latter half of the twentieth century, presenting a critical evaluation of their work within music, as well as a means in which it might be used in landscape architectural research. The thesis also offers valuable insights into the methods used by landscape architects for the benefit of musicians, and by bringing together musical composition and landscape designarchitecture through notation, it affords a focused and sensitive exploration of temporality and sound in both fields.

Publicly accessible toilets present a site of entrenched cultures of tolerance and intolerance that centre on our relationship with our bodies, and those of others with whom we share the space. This research uses the case of the publicly accessible toilet to demonstrate how the design of these facilities has continued to present a ‘special needs’ approach, opposed to inclusive design. Analysis of design guidance and user experiences of both the standard and accessible toilet accommodation highlights how current design and provision of these essential facilities contribute to ‘environmental pressure’ (Lawton, 1986). Thus current design continues to create barriers in the built environment that prevent wider access to the city and engagement with education, work and leisure opportunities it affords. The thesis incorporates a reanalysis of secondary data from 166 able and disabled informants, which focuses on their experience of accessing and using publicly accessible toilets. It considers these experiences through the concept of affordance and makes the case for a shift from the built environment determining behaviour, to one in which the body affords experience of the environment.

The aim of the research is to explore and understand the role of local councillors in local government. There are three dimensions that influence this role. The first is the tension between central and local government and the highly centralised party political system which constrains local autonomy. The second is the role of the political party in local government, and its dominance in policy making. The third is the evolving spatial planning system and the new emphasis on localism and collaborative planning. These themes are explored through an examination of the spatial planning system, and in particular a case study of plan making in the growth area of the Central Oxfordshire Sub- region. My reading and reflection have helped me formulate three research questions : a) Has the lack of local government autonomy inhibited the adoption of innovative forms of collaborative planning; b) Have councillors understood the central tenets of collaborative planning and acted upon them and c) Can local politicians who are not members of the council`s executive play a more effective community leadership role by becoming more involved in the scrutiny of policies for space and place - making. The study has contributed to knowledge in a number of ways. It provides confirmatory evidence for other research exploring the role of the councillor in local government. This study has shown how the politicisation that has affected local government has also had an influence on the role of spatial planning in local government and that the dominant role of the political party in local government also involves spatial planning. Finally it demonstrates the importance of effective scrutiny within local government so as to create political space for other stakeholders who otherwise are inhibited by this politicisation.

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The Cotswold region is a relatively well-defined, upland district that reaches across the heartland of Britain. It has a rich and complex history and is renown for its natural beauty and its outstanding vernacular architecture. During the second half of the nineteenth century, after a long period of decline, it began to attract the interest of artists, designers and craftsmen, among them William Morris. They were followed by several prominent architects associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, who welcomed the opportunity to work in the Cotswolds as its unspoilt character provided the perfect environment to foster their principles and beliefs. They were responsible for an impressive number of new buildings and repair and alteration works in the region. This thesis is divided into three parts. The first part provides a general background to the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain, and to the Cotswold region itself, its history, topography and building traditions. It also describes the special appeal of the region to Arts and Crafts designers and craftsmen who established workshops in the region. Particular reference is made to the achievements of Ashbee and the Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden and of Ernest Gimson and the Barnsley brothers in Sapperton. The second part of the thesis examines Cotswold Arts and Crafts architecture according to type. The majority of commissions were for domestic buildings, which range from large country houses to cottages. There are also some important Arts and Crafts community projects and minor ecclesiastical works found throughout the region. A significant proportion of commissions concerned the repair and reuse of old buildings, and these include many of the most inventive and imaginative designs. In the third part of the thesis. the late flowering of Arts and Crafts architectural talent in the region is summarised. Some of the best works date from the inter-war years. Many of these were deSigned by a younger generation of architects and craftsmen, notably Norman Jewson and F.L. Griggs, who gave new direction and purpose to the Movement's architectural ideals. This remarkable group of Arts and Crafts buildings share an admirable sympathy for their surroundings, and they reveal an inventive and informed response to the dominant vernacular precedent. The high standard of design and craftsmanship that was established, together with the notable emphasis on conservation, had important implications at a local and national level. This thesis aims to reveal the significance of this group of Cotswold Arts and Crafts buildings to an evaluation of the Movement's architectural achievements in general.

This research examines connections between British and Chinese architectural cultures in the history of Anglo-Chinese relationships. The research subject is British diplomatic, judicial and consular establishments built in China between 1867 and 1949. These consulates were established by the British government in a variety of Chinese environments, from freezing to humid climates, and from Muslim to Westernised Russian-Japanese dominated cultures. They become an ideal subject for an investigation into the interaction between Chinese and British cultures. Instead of repeating the dichotomy between Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism or between tradition and modernity, this research argues that British consular architecture was developed based on British's Orientalist impressions of the Chinese environment. The research is carried out using the case study method in order to understand in detail the response of each British consulate to a variety of political, cultural, and geographical environments, and the craftsmanship then available in China. Together, it can also understand China's response to these political and economic institutions. Cases include the Peking Legation, the Shanghai British Supreme Court, the Canton Consulate, the Tientsin Consulate, and the British Consulates in the provinces of Yunnan and Manchuria. These cases are examined by mainly using correspondence between the Office of Works, Foreign Office and the Treasury. Counter-evidence is drawn from contemporary Chinese literature, such as Lu Ban Classic of Carpentry and Yuan Yeh Craft of Gardens as well as the diaries of Chinese people, to prevent misinterpretation of the correspondence as well as to reconstruct the late Imperial Chinese environment. The final result of the research is presented in the form of a thesis whose structure consists of reviewing literature, a case study based on five British consulates, and a discussion about the development and characteristics of the British consulates. Finally, in the conclusion, the research finds great similarity between British and Chinese architectural cultures in the case of governmental buildings. Both the Chinese and the British chose identical strategies to face the varied conditions of the Chinese environment.

Efficient and effective urban guidance for regeneration areas coupled with quality design, are recognised to make a positive effect on social wellbeing of communities. Unfortunately, the Libyan urban planning system and urban regeneration suffer from inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The aim of this study is to improve the existing urban regeneration practice in Libya and to respond to the lack of urban design guidance in regeneration projects. This study proposes urban design guidance that achieves this aim by providing a new, authentic approach to rehabilitate deprived areas in Benghazi, Libya. The methodology followed adopts the use of the Typo-Morphological approach, coupled with the Libyan/Islamic socio-cultural norms as roots and measures to deliver genuine solutions for the rehabilitation process. This methodology is utilised by studying three distinct neighbourhoods in Benghazi, Libya. The analytical framework is based on six elements of urban forms that are socially defined. The outcome of this study is the urban design guidance which is easy to use, reliable, genuine, and tackles the communities' social-cultural needs. This guidance is proposed to the Libyan urban planning authorities to enhance a better quality of life and more sustainable building environment in Benghazi, Libya. This guidance is the key contribution of the thesis. In addition to the main outcome, the thesis provides several theoretical and practical contributions. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first one to apply typo-morphology approach in Libyan urban design. Also, it is the first to link Libyan/Islamic socio-cultural norms with the urban form of Benghazi, Libya. Practically, six analytical elements and various tools are produced by the applied typo-morphological categorisation that represents a systematic analytical framework. Moreover, the author has originated the social block analytical element, and analytical tools such as measures of public open spaces configuration, and housing privacy and walls permeability. Also, the author has further developed other elements and tools that were originated by other scholars to suit the Libyan context.