A beautiful tribute to some of the UK's strangest, most charismatic structures - and an invitation to see the world around us a little differently

'Allow me to vent my enthusiasm for the oddest book of the year... I never thought anyone would compile a book of ventilation shafts but I’m very glad that they have. A lot of other British vent fans must share my delight' - Christopher Howse, The Telegraph

At the heart of the modern world lie ventilation shafts. We may not notice them, but wherever there are tunnels, sewers, mines, car parks and energy stations under our feet, vents will be doing vital work keeping them cool and fume-free.

Vents come in a wonderful and inventive variety of forms. This book celebrates them both in their own right as intriguing individual structures, and as an innovative way to tell the story of Britain's subterranean industrial development from the eighteenth century to the present day.

Here are one hundred of the most interesting ventilation shafts, dotted around Britain, sometimes in the most surprising places. You'll find them masquerading as sculptures and small buildings, adorned with fine details or displaying their purpose with confidence.

Whether you're inspired to take off in search of them, or just to admire them from your armchair, vents are fabulous objects. By putting them – perhaps for the very first time – centre-stage, Adventurous Vents celebrates a highly unusual but exciting architectural form.

Richly textured and revealing... The examples gathered in Adventurous Vents are astoundingly varied in appearance and attitude to function... a book that is widely sourced, well curated and full of interest -- Will Wiles * Literary Review *
Adventurous Vents revels in an obscure design typology, revealing the marginal as central. This celebration of vents and their awkward disguises and blunt exposures is also a celebration of architecture’s double life, its ever-unresolved tension between the profane and the transcendent -- Sam Jacob * ArtReview *
I’ve been wondering whether this book is for existing lovers of ventilation shafts or is more like proshaft propaganda for the indifferent/ignorant. But these huge, polished-steel vents in brooding oranges and blues would surely appeal to both -- Seb Emina * Fantastic Man Magazine *
Allow me to vent my enthusiasm for the oddest book of the year... I never thought anyone would compile a book of ventilation shafts but I’m very glad that they have. A lot of other British vent fans must share my delight -- Christopher Howse * The Telegraph *
A revealing book on the subject. 'Revealing' is the operative word, since we are shown all kinds of structures that turn out to be vents hiding in plain sight... Time to make your own I-Spy book by taking this guide with you and trying to spot them... Further volumes would definitely be a treat -- Christian Wolmar * The Spectator *

Lucy Lavers, Judy Ovens and Suzanna Prizeman co-founded the architecture education charity Our Hut through which they deliver inspiring school and community projects focused on the built environment. Their previous book, Inventive Vents: A Gazetteer of London’s Ventilation Shafts, was the legacy of a London-centred project and led to this Britain-wide investigation of ventilation shafts, Adventurous Vents.

In addition to being educators, Judy Ovens and Suzanna Prizeman are art historians and Lucy Lavers is a practising architect with Thomson Lavers Architects.