Towers for the Welfare State  

Towers for the Welfare State  is an architectural History of British Multi-Storey Housing 1945-1970 which devotes six pages to Liverpool

Municipal tower blocks have had a bad press for a very long time, to which the burning of Grenfell Tower has added a new anxiety. This book takes a very different line. It goes right back to the 1950s when a flat high up was held to provide the healthiest airy, light and green surroundings.  The high costs of these architect- designed and daringly engineered blocks did not seem to trouble the Welfare State providers. In the 1960s new, radical methods of pre-fabrication brought more sameness as well as greater variety overall. By 1970 the story closes with the audacious breaking of the 30-storey barrier in Glasgow, London and Birmingham. A large part of this book is devoted to the different scenarios of all the major centres.

Special offer for Members of Merseyside Civic Society £10 including P&P. from s.muthesius@uea.ac.uk