Flying gave "his criticism an another perspective."

Jun 02, 2005

Flying gave "his criticism an another perspective."

The Missing Art of Townscape

In reviewing the contribution of Ian Nairn (1930-83) to the theory and practice of what we now call 'Urban Design' it is interesting to note that he is the first. and still virtually the only commentator who exercised his critical skills across the media, magazines, books, newspapers as well as on television. Nairn also occupies a unique position as an outsider, a mathematics graduate and National Service RAF flyer, he was not an academic or a practitioner. Unlike the fellow Architectural Review contributors of the 1950s, he was neither an academic/writer (Pevsner, Summerson, Sharp, Richards) nor an architect/illustrator (Cullen, Browne, Holford, Gibberd). However his photographs are to be found in their volumes as well as in his own, and he flew the country as well to give his criticism another perspective.

Admirable indeed.

Jun 2, 2005 11:32:00 AM

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