The Critics
The latest criticism and comment in architecture, art and designWhat's new
Jonathan Woolf's Painted House
In his dramatic intervention to two 1940s semis, Jonathan Woolf highlights suburbia’s disjunction between familiar facade and hidden interiors, writes Irina Davidovici
England’s Schools: History, Architecture and Adaptation
England’s Schools, a new book by English Heritage’s architectural investigator Elain Harwood, surveys a century of national school-building
Restless Ron Arad at the Barbican
Ron Arad has gone from scavenging in London scrapyards to designing galleries in Tel Aviv, and the resulting works are now on show at the Barbican.
Theo van Doesburg: Jack of all trades, master as well
As a retrospective of the work of Theo van Doesburg and his contemporaries opens at the Tate Modern, Joseph Rykwert recalls the life of the Dutch polymath
The green screen: Avatar, Moon and Wall-e
Ecology is a recurring theme in science fiction, but two recent movies, Avatar and Moon, suggest mankind will continue to plunder its resources – both here on Earth and in alien worlds, writes Rory Olcayto
‘The form simply came naturally’: I M Pei interview
RIBA Royal Gold Medallist IM Pei discusses concrete, Parisian controversy, architectural influences, Chinese tradition and what winning the award means to him. Interview by Paula Deitz
I M Pei: a life in architecture
I M Pei’s combination of geometric modernism and contextual sensitivity has won him respect – and commissions – all over the world. A week before he receives the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, long-time follower Paula Deitz surveys his career
Design Real at the Serpentine
Invoking the spirit of MoMA’s Machine Art exhibition, designer/curator Konstantin Grcic’s Design Real introduces car lights and IKEA furniture to the Serpentine Gallery
Theory in Architecture: Architects groan, critics purr
Architect and critic Irénée Scalbert looks at the dysfunctional relationship between the two callings, as a London Met exhibition and symposium tackles theory in architecture
Asia’s urbanisation: Big cities and bigger books
The bombastic packaging of AECOM’s book on Asia’s rapid urbanisation belies a meek engagement with its vast subject, says Adrian Hornsby
Last Orders at the Bar: The Demise of the Great British Pub
In the last year, thousands of pubs closed their doors for the final time. Photographer Chris Etchells’ new exhibition charts the decline of the Great British public house
The Lighthouse Centre for Architecture, Design and the City: a beacon of design
The Lighthouse Centre for Architecture, Design and the City opened its doors in Glasgow in 1999. Ten years on, it has gone into administration. Johnny Rodger surveys the lasting legacy, and shortcomings, of one of Europe’s largest architecture centres
Keith Williams: Architecture of the Specific
Edwin Heathcote reviews a new book exploring the work of Keith Williams
BOOK: Pattern Place Purpose: Proctor and Matthews Architects
Satwinder Samra on this book marking 20 years of Proctor and Matthews architects
The freedoms of suburbia
Forty years on from his 1969 co-published esay ‘Non-plan: an experiment in freedom’, Paul Barker’s new mission is to rehabilitate the reputation of suburbia. Here, he explains why architects need to engage with this much-maligned space
Arts in Brief
Henry Moore at the Tate Britain
The largest exhibition of Henry Moore’s work for 20 years opens at the Tate Britain today
Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde
This week Tate Modern will be opening its doors to the radical and multi-disciplinary artist Theo van Doesburg
After Redundancy: Living in and out of Architecture
Redundant architect James Whitaker has looked behind the statistics of the recession to see what redundancy has meant for individual architects in this selection of portrait photographs now on show at the RIBA
Charade or facade, it doesn’t matter as long as you have the front
Ian Martin experiments with Affordable Poverty and an illusory bourgeois hinterland
Yet another attempt to engage with young people and their stupid haircuts
Ian Martin destination enhancements the shit out of Loch Ness
Exploring the idea of ‘authenticated space’ in a pop-up Thinking Room
Ian Martin considers backing a campaign to save a library and designs a pop-up high street
London 2012: vision delivery, social rendering and inclusive narrativism
Ian Martin’s Olympic Vision wins a prize
Keeping it nice and short is the height of good manners
Ian Martin enters a competition to design the Nicest Building In The North
The sky is apparently not the limit for conservationists
Ian Martin has an interview for a prestigious religious commission
Reshaping our world one app at a time with the Etch-a-Space
Ian Martin has a breakthrough and puts Etch-a-Space to the test
Steve Parnell's Back Issues
Hubert de Cronin Hastings’ Neologisms in the AR - Back Issues
Hubert de Cronin Hastings’ neologisms were idealistic but ultimately futile, says Steve Parnell
D H Lawrence in the Architectural Review - Back Issues
The letters of DH Lawrence to the Architectural Review hold a timely resonance for Steve Parnell
Architectural Design's Cosmorama - Back Issues
Architectural Design’s Cosmorama documented architecture’s fascination with sci-fi, writes Steve Parnell
The rise of Concrete Quarterly - Back Issues
The crisp pages of Concrete Quarterly studiously follow the material that built the 20th century, says Steve Parnell
Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals baths in print
From Vogue to the LA Times, the representation of Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals baths in print is an exercise in architectural canonisation
Back Issues - 1930s pseudonyms
Pevsner used pseudonyms to great effect in the Architectural Review during the 1930, writes Steve Parnell
Back Issues - Building the London Olympics, 1948
Unemcumbered by professionalism, London’s 1948 Olympic Games came in cheap, says Steve Parnell
Back Issues - 1930s Space-saving
In the 1930s, magazines were enamoured with the latest in space-saving and fitted appliances, says Steve Parnell
Back Issues - Julius Shulman's Case Study House photography
The most replicated photograph in architectural history and its impact on a Case Study House, by Steve Parnell
Back Issues - Case Study House Program
Back Issues - What happens when the architectural press is your client? Steve Parnell revisits The Case Study House Program.
