Radical Classicism: The Architecture of Quinlan Terry

by David Watkin

Often described as Prince Charles's favorite architect, Quinlan Terry is at home in every traditional style, from Classical Greek to Roman, Gothic to Renaissance, and Baroque to Neo-classical. With intense new interest in classical design, there is a high demand for a compilation of Terry's work, a volume that showcases the ideas and creations of one of the world's most daring traditionalist designers. At the pinnacle of his career—this year's winner of the Driehaus Prize, classical architecture's highest honor—Quinlan Terry is one of the most celebrated practitioners of the form and also perhaps the most radical. Radical Classicism contains hundreds of lavish color illustrations and thirty of Terry's designs, including state rooms at #10 Downing Street, a library and residential building at Cambridge University, a cathedral in Essex, a church in Bishopsgate, four buildings in Williamsburg, Va., townhouses in London, and ten large country houses in England, Germany, and the U.S. Buildings featured include Juniper Hill in Buckinghamshire; Ionic Villa, Corinthian Villa, and Regency Villa in Regents Park, London; Abercrombie House in Kentucky; Latourette Farm, New Jersey; Highland Park House, Dallas, Texas.

Genres: Architecture

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2006

About the author

David John Watkin, MA PhD LittD Hon FRIBA FSA (born 1941) is a British architectural historian. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Professor Emeritus of History of Architecture in the Department of History of Art at the University of Cambridge. He has also taught at the Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture.[1]
David Watkin is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He is Vice-Chairman of the Georgian Group, and was a member of the Historic Buildings Council and its successor bodies in English Heritage from 1980-1995.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heady showcase beautiful and glorious traditional Western architecture par excellence.

[Sean Fishlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry is oft criticised as pastiche. However beyond his buildings' superficial aesthetics are Ruskin and Venturi-like ideas of timeless post-modern expression. In today's world we are so often told that all that is new and shiny is inherently ground-breaking and that old things and ideas should be swiftly thrown out and abandoned. Watkin's book brings forth Terry's challenges to these perceptions: that buildings should be enjoyed for hundreds of years, and; that every cent spent on them is justified.Terry's spirit, instead, sees an opportunity to recycles rather than abandon and pledges to "go one better" than history. Despite his adherence to centuries-old styles and crafts, he manages to meld old ideas with new, enhancing existing cityscapes. Many of his works are landmarks in their own right.

Classicism has been practiced on and off for longer than almost any other style and Vitruvius' Theory is as relevant today as it was for the ancient Greeks. Artists that practice traditional skills that bring sensitivity intricacy, beauty and solidity back to architecture are so rare that they should be praised for going against the grain and bringing new life to proven ideas.

Truly loved this book, including the foreword by Prince Charles and the insight into Quinlan and his son Francis.

I'd recommend it to anyone interested in architecture, including modernists.