Kevin McCloud, the presenter of Grand Designs, has said residential architecture is becoming more playful after nearly three decades of documenting ambitious private housebuilding projects in Britain.
In an interview with Dezeen, McCloud reflects on changes in British architecture during the 27-year run of the television programme. Grand Designs first aired in 1999 and continues to follow individuals and families as they attempt to build their own homes.
The programme's lasting appeal has been its unvarnished record of self-build: the projects' aspirations, construction pressures and setbacks as well as their eventual outcomes. That long view gives McCloud a rare perspective on how homeowners and designers have approached domestic architecture over time.
For Latvian property professionals and homeowners, the observation is a useful point of reference rather than evidence of a comparable local trend. It nonetheless underlines the enduring role of individual expression in residential design, particularly where clients take an active role in shaping a home from the ground up.