Ends Middles Beginnings; Edward Cullinan Architects

by Jonathan A. Hale

Ends Middles Beginnings is an exceptional monograph on Edward Cullinan Architect's that analyses the entirety of the firm's practice. Influential, pioneering, and active as ever, Edward Cullinan Architects continue to hold the pivotal place within British architectural practice that they established in the 1960s. Providing a unique, privileged insight into their working process, this exclusive and timely monograph showcases the firm's sensitivity to the built environment that has shaped all of their work, from Ted Cullinan's first commissions to the present.

Ends Middles Beginnings takes a view from the present, looking from Cullinans' recent work to the future; situating this work within the contemporary scene, the book also provides an overview of how they reached the highly regarded position they hold today. Seminal buildings such as the Horder House and the RMC International Headquarters are explored alongside the practice's recent work.

Held in international regard for their innovative work in Japan and Jordan, their masterplans for the University of North Carolina and the Singapore Management University, and a wide range of other projects, Cullinans' work has been consistently informed by a tactile aesthetic. Avoiding grand, sweeping and alienating statements, their buildings are characterised by a feeling for both internal and external space. Whether urban or rural, there is a sense of continuity with the surrounding environment, while within are to be found spaces of circulation and exchange which recognise the interactions of human use. This book illustrates the careful thought process behind each project, and the consistency and commitment of the practice's approach.

Paul Finch, editor of Architectural Review, provides a purposeful introduction to the text. Jonathan Hale provides a commentary on Cullinans' portfolio, analysing key ideas rather than taking a chronological approach, and thus situating the recent work within the context of both Ted Cullinan's career and broader historical influences. This wide-reaching and accessible survey is supplemented by over 300 illustrations; shown here for the first time are new drawings by Ted Cullinan, and a series of specially commissioned photographs by Richard Learoyd. Eschewing the impersonal, decontextualised perspective of conventional architecture photography, Learoyd's work complements the practice's approach by showing the buildings in the broader spaces they inhabit, as the architects themselves conceive of them and as they are experienced by the user.

287 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

Prof Jonathan Hale is an architect, and Professor of Architectural Theory in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Nottingham, UK.

He is Head of the Architecture, Culture and Tectonics research group (ACT) and Convenor for Architectural Humanities II, and Design, Culture & Context modules.

Research interests include: architectural theory and criticism; phenomenology and the philosophy of technology; the relationship between architecture and the body; museums and architectural exhibitions.

He has published books, chapters, refereed articles and conference papers in these areas and has obtained grants from the EPSRC, the Leverhulme Trust, British Academy, and the Arts Council. He is founder and current steering group member of the international subject network: Architectural Humanities Research Association (AHRA); a member of the interdisciplinary Science, Technology and Culture research group, hosted by the Dept of French, and a Management Board member for the University's Research Priority Area in Creative and Cultural Industries.

Personal website/blog: bodyoftheory

Personal page on Academia.edu