This 'In Conversation' explores the pivotal role of queer communities in shaping Britain's Arts and Crafts movement and its lasting cultural impact. Neal Shasore and Michael Hall examine how private homes became sanctuaries for those who rejected mainstream social norms, offering freedom for authentic self-expression—and how these radical histories have since been absorbed into conventional narratives.
Shasore, an architectural historian and founder of the School of Building, draws on his essay from the Earthly Paradise Reader to trace queer influence through design and living practices. Hall, a leading architecture critic and author of A Queer Inheritance: Alternative Histories in the National Trust, brings decades of expertise from his editorial roles at Country Life, Apollo, and The Burlington Magazine. Together they uncover the queerness embedded in our cultural heritage and challenge how it has been reinterpreted.
