Home News Daily news

Author and critic Martin Pawley dies

Author and critic Martin Pawley dies

Architecture critic, author, academic and columnist, Martin Pawley, has died after a long battle with poor health.

Pawley, who had a weekly column in the AJ for 11 years, passed away  early yesterday morning (9 March), a few weeks before his 70th birthday.
 
Throughout a wide-ranging career, in which he advised the Chilean government on housing, taught at the AA, and wrote and edited numerous periodicals and papers, Pawley was known for his unsentimental, sometimes cantankerous demeanour.
 
Late last year Pawley published The Strange Death of Architectural Criticism: Martin Pawley Collected Writings.
 
Foster + Partners partner David Jenkins said a planned 'celebration' of the book and Martin's birthday at the AA on 18 March would now become a memorial event.
 
A full obituary will feature in this week's magazine.

Please note: In order to post a response you need to be registered on the site. You can register here.

Reader Response

Added: Thursday, 13 March 2008 17:36 GMT
David Bieda, London, United Kingdom

I was very sorry to learn of Martin Pawley's death. In 1971 when I & others were battling against the plans to demolish most of Covent Garden Martin helped us prepare for the Public Inquiry which helped turn the tide against comprehensive development and laid the CG proposals to rest. This in turn helped to thwart similar plans for the demolition of historic Bloomsbury to house the new British Library. I briefly taught a course on the CG Plan at the AA where Martin was again very helpful. He was stimulating, witty and knowledgable.
David Bieda - founder trustee the Covent Garden Are Trust & chairman the Seven Dials Trust.


Alert if offensive or unsuitable

Added: Monday, 10 March 2008 17:02 GMT
Gerardo Brown-Manrique, Oxford, United States

This is sad news. I first met Martin in 1972 when he was a visiting professor at Cornell where I was in graduate school. The fifth year class was working of garbage housing for Chile. As I was going to be in Cologne that next summer, he asked if I'd be interested in doing the translation to Spanish of the report to the Chilean Housing Ministry. We left it at that. While I was traveling in the Netherlands, the coup occurred. No more project. We stayed in touch over the years; I invited him to lecture at Oklahoma when I was teaching there (and he was continuing his garbage housing explorations at Rensselaer, my undergraduate school). I will miss his wit and criticism.


Alert if offensive or unsuitable