The Thumbnail Book Reviews

by John Q McDonald --- 15 March 2002

A Critic Writes

Essays by Reyner Banham

selected by Mary Banham, Paul Barker, Sutherland Lyall and Cedric Price

Architecture and design historian Reyner Banham was a tireless advocate for the Modern in the late 20th century. This is a collection of fifty-four of his essays written over a career spanning nearly four decades of modern design and architectural history. His highly personal style, intellectual outlook, and exuberant affection for the vernacular, make this book a dense and entertaining read. Early on, Banham writes of specific buildings and styles of which he was fond, such as the much-maligned Brutalism and the International Style. These early essays are erudite and complex. There are many references to places and people which the lay reader may find confusing and obscure. It would be well to keep your favorite Internet search engine handy so you can look for references and photographs of the things Banham is talking about here. For example, it is good to be able to look upon the Garden of Peace at the Unesco House in Paris, which Banham touts as the one saving grace of that project. Later essays show Banham's eclectic style and his broad fascination with design including everything from the potato chip to airplane hangars to cars and old motels. Some of the essays are short, light and concise. Others are longer meditative, insightful and critical essays. He was an accutely observational historian, and takes issue with Architecture's often snobbish behavior. Banham is an ardent defender of good design on all levels, however, including canonical works by noted figures in the profession. This is a broad overview of design history in the middle of the 20th century. Much of it is educational and fascinating. Some of it is dated and more biographical than professional. Yet Banham's voice should be much missed in architectural circles. He was an advocate and a conscientious voice. (On a personal note, this reader took a course in high-tech architectural history from Banham when he taught at University of California, just a couple years before his death. He was a vastly entertaining lecturer, and that voice is vivid in this book. It was as if I was still learning from him.) The book includes an extensive bibliography of Banham's books and other writings. A good source for further reading.

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Also by Reyner Banham: [Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies] [Megastructure]

See also: [Reyner Banham by Nigel Whiteley]

[Other Urban Studies and Architecture]