Modernism without Rhetoric: The Work of Alison & Peter Smithson
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Book Description
It seems remarkable that to date there has been no published critical review of the complete works of Alison and Peter Smithson. This fact was pointed out by the audience at a symposium dedicated to their work, which was held at the University of Bath in October 1994. As a response to this obvious omission and to the demand for information, especially from the younger generation of architects, this book gathers the papers given at the A+PS Symposium, together with an essay on their buildings and projects, and additional documentary and bibliographical information, with the aim of providing the first collection of critical writing on the work of the Smithsons.
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Modernism without Rhetoric Essays on the work of Alison and Peter Smithson Edited by Helena Webster Since the 1950s the complex and intellectually dense work of the Smithsons has attracted both acclaim and controversy. Alison (1928-94) and Peter Smithson (1923-) were responsible for three of the most important buildings in post-war Britain: Hunstanton Secondary Modern School, Norfolk (1950-54); The Economist Building, St James's, London (1964); and the Robin Hood Gardens housing scheme, Tower Hamlets, London (1964). Through their involvement with the Independent Group and Team 10, and with their writings, exhibitions, and built work, the Smithsons contributed significantly, to the development of architectural thinking in Britain. In their quest for a more ‘honest' architecture - what they referred to as ‘poetry without rhetoric' - the Smithsons were champions of the New Brutalism, believing that buildings should be determined by the specificity of their situation: geography, existing fabric and cultural tradition. Their studies of the unconscious order and ‘spatial presence' of vernacular settlements and structures had a profound impact on their architecture. Modernism without Rhetoric, the first ever collection of critical writings on the work of the Smithsons, addresses all aspects of their work. In a series of essays from a distinguished selection of contributors, the shifting theoretical preoccupations of the Smithsons are traced from their first Mies van der Rohe-inspired project at Hunstanton, through the Brutalist projects of the sixties to the recent exhibition work for the furniture manufacturer, Tecta. Contributors: Patrick Hodgkinson is a well-known architect and critic, and a contemporary of the Smithsons. He is Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Bath. Richard Padovan is a leading academic of twentieth-century architectural theory who specialises in Dutch architecture. He lectures on architecture at the University of Bath and recently published a book on the work of Dom Hans van der Laan. Derek Sugden is a distinguished engineer who has worked for Arup Acoustics for most of his career and now has a private consultancy. In 1955 he commissioned the Smithsons to build Farm Field (The Sugden House). Fouad Samara completed the final year of the BArch at the University of Bath in 1995, and wrote his dissertation on the Smithsons building for the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Bath, Building 6 East.
Modernism without Rhetoric: The Work of Alison & Peter Smithson,Helena Webster,John Wiley & Sons,0471977594,Architecture,Criticism,Domestic,Individual Architect,History Of Art / Art & Design Styles
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