SMITHSON: ALISON AND PETER SMITHSON

Alison and Peter Smithson figure among the most controversial and widely influential of postwar architects. From their first youthful project, the school at Hunstanton, to their final works, these two architects epitomized the avant-garde. This book presents a coherent and compact narrative of the Smithsons' work and ideas: starting with their major buildings, including the Economist complex, the Garden building at St. Hilda's College, and the Robin Hood Gardens estate; moving on to examine their unbuilt projects for the British embassy at the Brasilia and the Kuwait mat-building; and culminating with their lesser-known works, from factory additions and museums to the house they designed for Axel Bruchhäuser, a furniture manufacturer in Germany. Through this trajectory, Mark Crinson draws out the central theme of their work: the question of belonging, of how we identify ourselves with places in a context of change. Lavishly illustrated with new color images as well as original drawings and historic photography, this book is an essential read for architects, students, and enthusiasts of modernism.