From the Inside Flap
This series provides a survey of the vast body of theoretical work produced by modern and contemporary architects and examines the major projects and themes of international architecture.
The written word thus becomes a useful means of studying and analysing planning processes and questions relating to the modern city and urban and spatial design.
These publications are not just systematic collections of writings or transcripts of conferences and public statements but are also attempts by the architects themselves to reformulate their
oeuvre and to produce new, unpublished work. The texts are accompanied by original illustrations, often produced specifically for these publications, and by critiques and bibliographies of the architects' work.
Born in 1923, graduating from the School of Architecture at Liverpool University in 1950, James Stirling ranks as one of the most interesting figures to emerge in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. His activity lasted from 1950 until 1992, the year of his death. His work exemplified a continuous and undogmatic research, in which modern architecture is constantly redefined through the attention given to its social content and its physical context. In 1955 he founded with James Gowan the practice known as Stirling and Gowan, and at once, with their flats at Ham Common, they gave a new twist to the term
Brutalism, while with their Engineering Laboratories at Leicester University they reinterpreted modern architecture in Britain. Between 1964 and 1970 Stirling, working on his own, made fresh impact with designs for Cambridge and Oxford Universities, at St. Andrew's in Scotland, and for Olivetti at Haslemere. In 1971 he formed a partnership with Michael Wilford, who inherited the practice after his untimely death. Their projects for museums at Düsseldorf, Cologne and Stuttgart (the Neue Staatsgalerie) initiated a post-modern architecture that never ceased to be functional and forward-looking. James Stirling was awarded the Alvar Aalto Award in 1978, the Royal Gold Medal in 1980, and the Pritzker Prize in 1981.
Robert Maxwell was educated at the Liverpool School of Architecture, where he was a contemporary of James Stirling. After qualifying in 1950 he worked as an architect, and there are some six buildings in London that can point to as his work, including the river façade of the Royal Festival Hall. From 1958 he taught architecture, first at the Architectural Association, then at the Bartlett School, University College, London. In 1982 he was appointed Dean of Architecture at Princeton University, where he is now Professor of Architecture Emeritus. Among his many books and publications are
New British Architecture, 1972, and
The Two-Way Stretch: Modernism, Tradition and Innovation, 1996.
About the Author
Born in 1923, graduating from the School of Architecture at Liverpool University in 1950,
James Stirling ranks as one of the most interesting figures to emerge in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. His activity lasted from 1950 until 1992, the year of his death. His work exemplified a continuous and undogmatic research, in which modern architecture is constantly redefined through the attention given to its social content and its physical context. In 1955 he founded with James Gowan the practice known as Stirling and Gowan, and at once, with their flats at Ham Common, they gave a new twist to the term
Brutalism, while with their Engineering Laboratories at Leicester University they reinterpreted modern architecture in Britain. Between 1964 and 1970 Stirling, working on his own, made fresh impact with designs for Cambridge and Oxford Universities, at St. Andrew's in Scotland, and for Olivetti at Haslemere. In 1971 he formed a partnership with Michael Wilford, who inherited the practice after his untimely death. Their projects for museums at Düsseldorf, Cologne and Stuttgart (the Neue Staatsgalerie) initiated a post-modern architecture that never ceased to be functional and forward-looking. James Stirling was awarded the Alvar Aalto Award in 1978, the Royal Gold Medal in 1980, and the Pritzker Prize in 1981.
Robert Maxwell was educated at the Liverpool School of Architecture, where he was a contemporary of James Stirling. After qualifying in 1950 he worked as an architect, and there are some six buildings in London that can point to as his work, including the river façade of the Royal Festival Hall. From 1958 he taught architecture, first at the Architectural Association, then at the Bartlett School, University College, London. In 1982 he was appointed Dean of Architecture at Princeton University, where he is now Professor of Architecture Emeritus. Among his many books and publications are
New British Architecture, 1972, and
The Two-Way Stretch: Modernism, Tradition and Innovation, 1996.
