Post Modernist Architecture

This project starts by asking the question of what happened in the time between the heroic period of post-war reconstruction and the arrival of post-modernism in British architecture. The recent popularity of post-war British architecture, amongst architects and non-architects alike, unravel threads of lesser-know continuity between the post-war neo-avant-gardes and the post-modernists. This research will focus on a relatively well-known yet under-examined figure, Theo Crosby, to fill in the gaps and to expand the existing historiography of post-war British architecture. Crosby’s significance had been widely identified through his connections to the Independent Group, the Smithson couple and later the Archigram group. His tenure as the technical editor of the Architectural Design magazine from 1953-1961 has been commonly recognized as a key driver in the changes in architectural discourses of the period.

Crosby’s practice as an architect and the later half of his career, however, has rarely been mentioned in the existing historiography. One reason behind this obscurity of Crosby’s works, this research will demonstrate, is his betrayal of the Modernist doctrine in the 1960s. In the following decades, Crosby would transform from a forceful proponent of New Brutalism to an ardent advocate for preservation and …show more content…
Crosby’s appointment came as part of a larger scheme to establish an architectural school for the Prince of Wales Institute of Civic Architecture. As one of the advisors of the Prince, Crosby introduced significant changes to the Royal College of Art curriculum including an emphasis on Classical architectural history and community architecture. Crosby’s pedagogy and advisory role can also serve as a starting point to question how to position the Prince’s intervention in the larger post-modern British architectural