Cedric Price Works 1952-2003 - by Samantha Hardingham (Mixed Media Product)

Book Synopsis

Published in conjunction with the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), this anthology brings together for the first time all of the projects, articles and talks by British architect Cedric Price (1934 - 2003). A chronological arrangement places Price in postwar England, illuminating how cultural, social and political factors conditioned his work from the outset and then shaped its development as his practice changed from the 1960s - 90s. Full project descriptions are set alongside illustrations, many previously unpublished. Content material is drawn from the original work, now largely held in the Cedric Price Fonds at the CCA to present the munificence of Price: thinker, philosopher, artist and unparalleled raconteur - a thoroughly modern traditionalist. Two vols. (912pp and 528pp), hardback & paperback in slipcase

Review Quotes

"In a way, the role Price played in architectural history is that of the Last Amateur, a fate he shared with Buckminster Fuller, 40 years older but occupying a similar niche. The two iconoclasts shared a certain holistic expertise, a non-scientific scientism, trying to make new connections across an exploding terrain of information and knowledge. This is the cybernetic dream of the harmonic reconciliation of man and machine, but it's one that was swiftly professionalised and monetised. Price couldn't have his career now, as nobody would come looking for his advice. Why go to a brandy-swilling boffin when there are so many biddable consultants you could tap up instead?

Despite the disappointments, the radical core of Price's work is that it tackled head on one of the paradoxes at the heart of architecture, namely, that true fidelity to the ideas of Modernism means the disappearance of the building. There is something fundamentally communist about this, a vision of a technologically advanced society of public leisure, freedom, learning and equality. The attempt always fails, as we just can't seem to do without walls and monuments. But it's always worth trying. " --Douglas Murphy, The Architectural Review