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Nincompoopolis: The Follies of Boris Johnson
In a world where the built environment seems ever more shaped by invisible market forces, where modern architecture can seem to dissolve into a generic void, sometimes it takes a very special person to make a difference.
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was Mayor of London from 2008 until 2016, during which time he took a remarkably keen interest in the built environment, commissioning, guiding, and shaping all manner of different projects. With his achievements he showed us all that massive privilege, leaping ambition, no concern for detail and a wasp’s attention span needn’t hold you back when it comes to creating terrible architecture. Nincompoopolis examines the built legacy of Johnson’s tenure, from his embarrassing follies to the folly of his policies, and wonders if there’s anything that can be learned from letting someone like him have a go at one the world’s great cities.
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was Mayor of London from 2008 until 2016, during which time he took a remarkably keen interest in the built environment, commissioning, guiding, and shaping all manner of different projects. With his achievements he showed us all that massive privilege, leaping ambition, no concern for detail and a wasp’s attention span needn’t hold you back when it comes to creating terrible architecture. Nincompoopolis examines the built legacy of Johnson’s tenure, from his embarrassing follies to the folly of his policies, and wonders if there’s anything that can be learned from letting someone like him have a go at one the world’s great cities.
272 pages, Paperback
Published September 19, 2017
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67 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Murphy
3 books22 followersDouglas Murphy is an architect who has written a clutch of books and a lot of articles. He spends much of his time in an architecture school.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 26, 2021
Funny how people are raging in the reviews about how Murphy is biased against Johnson... Someone who 'clearly just has it in for him' etc, where is the rule that people have to be unbiased in books that they write?? It's not like it's a personal vendetta the whole book literally lists dumb things Johnson did and even some things he kinda did slightly maybe not completely horrendously. It's not like it's unsubstantiated personal attacks. Silly!!
Anyway this book did an incredible job of taking two things that I have literally zero interest in (Johnson and architecture) -I don't know why I bought it tbh - and making it a complete page turner. I loved it it's such an interesting an well written read so all you Johnson supporters crying because it's 'biased' can fill a well with your tears and fall in it x
Anyway this book did an incredible job of taking two things that I have literally zero interest in (Johnson and architecture) -I don't know why I bought it tbh - and making it a complete page turner. I loved it it's such an interesting an well written read so all you Johnson supporters crying because it's 'biased' can fill a well with your tears and fall in it x
dnf
December 14, 2017I just couldn't get further than 20% through this one. I found the writing to be very dry and the author was extremely critical of Boris Johnson without giving any evidence so I just got annoyed with it unfortunately. I won't rate this as I didn't finish it. I'd only recommend this if you are really interested in architecture and how buildings are financed nowadays, not if you want a book about Johnson's politics.
July 23, 2017
'Nincompoopolis' was a brilliant read, chock full of examples of Boris Johnson's mishandlings as Mayor of London. As a Londoner, I marvelled at his ineptness of tackling the housing crisis and heavy handed nature of The Met, but until reading this book had no idea of the scale of corruption involved at the top levels.
Spanning from the aforementioned pressing social issues to the ridiculous vanity projects of the Olympic Park, unnecessary Garden Bridge, and potential rebuild of the Crystal Palace, the book exposed the financial gains and illegal business dealings Boris entangled himself with during his tenure as Mayor. The amount of money from the public purse wasted on planning alone is eye watering; how far it could have gone to make this city a better place for its citizens absolutely engages me.
Murphy did a fantastic job of researching the subject from many angles and was able to back up his damming verdict that Boris just did not take his job seriously. The author is also an architect, so his eye for detail and design also helped to further explain Boris's professional gimmicks and personal gaffes at the top level.
A fantastic read for anyone interested in modern London, architecture, or political cronyism.
Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an advanced copy.
Spanning from the aforementioned pressing social issues to the ridiculous vanity projects of the Olympic Park, unnecessary Garden Bridge, and potential rebuild of the Crystal Palace, the book exposed the financial gains and illegal business dealings Boris entangled himself with during his tenure as Mayor. The amount of money from the public purse wasted on planning alone is eye watering; how far it could have gone to make this city a better place for its citizens absolutely engages me.
Murphy did a fantastic job of researching the subject from many angles and was able to back up his damming verdict that Boris just did not take his job seriously. The author is also an architect, so his eye for detail and design also helped to further explain Boris's professional gimmicks and personal gaffes at the top level.
A fantastic read for anyone interested in modern London, architecture, or political cronyism.
Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an advanced copy.
August 24, 2018
Whilst reading this book on the legacy of Boris Johnson's mayorship i had the feeling that it reads more like a collection of opinion pieces plucked from The Guardian, The New Statesman and other left-leaning publications. Lo and behold, when I reached the acknowledgements section at the end it is disclosed to the reader that this is exactly the case. I tend to avoid such books as the random selection of articles chosen rarely seem to hang together in a book but this is actually a decent exception and is well structured and seamless in transitioning from chapter to chapter.
What marks it down for me though is the naked political bias in the writing. You can safely assume that this is not a man who voted for Johnson and he wants you to know it. The information on how Johnson subverted legal or planning processes to further his own aims is truly interesting (and shocking) but each sentence is peppered with personal disdain for Johnson and it gets very tiring very quickly.
What marks it down for me though is the naked political bias in the writing. You can safely assume that this is not a man who voted for Johnson and he wants you to know it. The information on how Johnson subverted legal or planning processes to further his own aims is truly interesting (and shocking) but each sentence is peppered with personal disdain for Johnson and it gets very tiring very quickly.
February 10, 2018
A most enjoyable review of Johnson's tenure as Mayor of London from an architectural perspective, albeit with some intrusion from wider issues that impinge on the culture of the city.
As someone with a decided lack of knowledge about the finer points of architecture and the processes involved in such projects, I can say that the book helps the layman to understand the issues in straightforward terms.
Equally, if you're looking for a wholesale demolition (sic) of Johnson this is perhaps not the book either. Having said that, it does paint what seems an accurate picture of him i.e. fundamentally unprincipled with no concept of public service that would have given his tenure as Mayor some substance. His lack of interest in pursuing anything that wasn't of benefit to his ambitions being a clear indicator of that.
As someone with a decided lack of knowledge about the finer points of architecture and the processes involved in such projects, I can say that the book helps the layman to understand the issues in straightforward terms.
Equally, if you're looking for a wholesale demolition (sic) of Johnson this is perhaps not the book either. Having said that, it does paint what seems an accurate picture of him i.e. fundamentally unprincipled with no concept of public service that would have given his tenure as Mayor some substance. His lack of interest in pursuing anything that wasn't of benefit to his ambitions being a clear indicator of that.
July 17, 2017
I love books on architecture and i love a polemic so this is up my alley .
Murphy dissects Johnson's time in charge of London. Each chapter is a different aspect of life in London and it skewers Johnson as a buffoon and a man who will do whatever is necessary to succeed regardless of his abilities and the rights of his actions.
If you think this seems pointless never forget that Johnson has managed to use the lovable buffoon mask to hide the truth of who he is. The sense of anger is beautifully hidden behind a dissection of the action, any attempt to say this is a hatchet job is invalidated by the level of detail and the facts presented in the book .
Murphy dissects Johnson's time in charge of London. Each chapter is a different aspect of life in London and it skewers Johnson as a buffoon and a man who will do whatever is necessary to succeed regardless of his abilities and the rights of his actions.
If you think this seems pointless never forget that Johnson has managed to use the lovable buffoon mask to hide the truth of who he is. The sense of anger is beautifully hidden behind a dissection of the action, any attempt to say this is a hatchet job is invalidated by the level of detail and the facts presented in the book .
October 23, 2019
A vindictive pamphlet written by a Boris-Johnson-hater. Not worth the paper it's printed on.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews