Architectural Criticism Essays

Alan Colquhoun, himself a practicing architect, educator, and theorist, expertly demonstrates in Architectural Criticism how thinking, critical thought, and writing in architecture are intertwined with and nourish designing and practicing, vehemently rejecting the reduction of architecture to merely a technical professional matter.

Kenneth Frampton says the following about Colquhoun and the book in the preface:

"...While Colquhoun acknowledges that modern architecture has been deteriorating for the past thirty years—that is, absorbed by consumerism—he develops a conceptual paradigm of form and figure through which he can establish a critical threshold to weigh the relative merits of two new 'reformist' lines of thought in the late 20th century..."

In her preface to the Turkish edition of the book, published by Şevki Vanlı Architecture Foundation Publications, Sibel Bozdoğan states, "These writings, penned between 1962 and 1979, coincide with a period of significant upheaval and transformation in architectural culture. Each of these autonomously produced texts can be read individually or considered within a broader context..."

ALAN COLQUHOUN

Alan Colquhoun was born in England in 1921. He received his architectural degree from the Architectural Association in London in 1949. In 1978, his book Arquitectura Moderna y Cambio Historica: Ensayos 1962-1976 was published. He taught at educational institutions such as the Architectural Association, Cornell University, University College Dublin, and The Polytechnic of Central London.