Letter: The vision of the Crystal Palace

From Mr J. Michael Sharman

Sir: In her article on the Crystal Palace (18 October), Marianne Macdonald describes it as "the first prefabricated building". My grandfather, Sir Edwin Airey, who designed and built Airey houses all over the country after the war, would never willingly allow them to be called "prefabs". "All houses are prefabricated," he would say. "It just depends on the size of the bits." How many bricks, for example, are actually made on the site of the building?

Yours faithfully,

J. Michael Sharman

Rufforth, York

19 October