Denys Lasdun

by William J.R. Curtis

Denys Lasdun (1914-2001) was one of Britain's most eminent architects, whose career spans the entire period of Modernism in British architecture. His notable buildings include the Royal College of Physicians in Regent's Park, the University of East Anglia, the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg and the National Theatre on London's South Bank. In this first full-length study of the architect, William Curtis offers a critical assessment of Lasdun's ideas and achievements, tracing the evolution of his architectural language. With detailed analyses and many outstanding illustrations from the architect's own archive, the author presents a challenge to the critics of Modernism and demonstrates the enduring and human qualities of Lasdun's work.

Genres: Architecture

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

William J. R. Curtis is an architectural historian whose writings have focused on twentieth century architecture. Curtis seems particularly interested in broadening the "canon" to include a wider range of architects working across the world.
Curtis was educated at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (First Class Honors, 1970), and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1975). He has taught history and theory of architecture in the United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Curtis's most important work is Modern Architecture Since 1900, first published in 1982, and now in its third edition (1996). This book won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain in 1984. The third edition was awarded the architecture book prize of the American Institute of Architects in 1997. In 2006 the Museum of Finnish Architecture awarded Curtis its Commemoration Medal of Foundation on the occasion of the Museum's 50th Anniversary.
Curtis currently lives in southwestern France.