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In his preface to the book, the Presiding Officer George Reid writes:
‘Creating a Scottish Parliament’ tells the story of how the new Scottish Parliament was shaped. David McCrone [who wrote the introductory essay] and Alan Balfour provide unique insights into the historical, architectural, environmental and governance issues which inspired the construction of our new home at the bottom of Edinburgh’s Canongate’.
The book uniquely includes the drawings of Enric Miralles, photographs of the Holyrood building, as well as prints from Edinburgh’s past. It sets the building of Scotland’s new parliament in perspective, making use of unprecedented access to documents and materials to tell the story of the parliament.
Alan Balfour was born and educated in Edinburgh, is Dean and Professor of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and formerly chair of the Architectural Association in London. Balfour is a well regarded American academic who remains Scottish underneath it all. Recent books include cultural histories of SHANGHAI, NEW YORK, BERLIN: World City and BERLIN: The Politics of Order 1737-1989, these received AIA International Book Awards. In writing Creating a Scottish Parliament, he drew on painful memories of rugby on the playing fields of the Canongate while a student at the Royal High, as well the continual guidance from one of the leading architects on the Scottish team. He also greatly benefited from the political insights of David McCrone the Professor of Sociology, and Director, Institute of Governance, University of Edinburgh.
The book can be purchased for £9.99 (plus postage and packing) from Finlay Brown, sales@finlaybrown.com, Telephone 0131 454 3202 or from The Scottish Parliament Shop.
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