Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William Curtis

Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William Curtis

Since its first publication in 1982, Modern Architecture Since 1900 has become established as a contemporary classic. Worldwide in scope, it combines a clear historical outline with masterly analysis and interpretation. Technical, economic, social and intellectual developments are brought together in a comprehensive narrative which provides a setting for the detailed examination of buildings. Throughout the book the author's focus is on the individual architect, and on the qualities that give outstanding buildings their lasting value.

For the third edition, the text has been radically revised and expanded, incorporating much new material and a fresh appreciation of regional identity and variety. Seven chapters are entirely new, including expanded coverage of recent world architecture.

Described by James Ackerman of Harvard University as immeasurably the finest work covering this field in existence, this book presents a penetrating analysis of the modern tradition and its origins, tracing the creative interaction between old and new that has generated such an astonishing richness of architectural forms across the world and throughout the century.

William J. R. Curtis is an award‐winning historian, critic, curator, painter and photographer. Educated at the Courtald Institute of Art, London, and at Harvard University, he has taught the history of art, theories of design, and architecture at several universities worldwide: among others, Harvard; the Architectural Association, London; UNAM, Mexico City; ETSADB, Barcelona; Helsinki Institute of Technology; the Accadmeia, Mendrisio, Switzerland; and the University of Cambridge where he was Slade Professor of Fine Art from 2003-4. In addition to teaching history and theory, Curtis has been directly involved in architectural education in the studio and in juries. He has written historical, critical and theoretical texts on subjects as varied as modern objects, the process of design, historiography, visual education and criticism. His best known books include: the best‐selling Modern Architecture since 1900 (Phaidon 1982, second ed. 1987; fully revised third ed. 1996), and Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms (Phaidon, 1996).