Author: Peter Cook. Publisher: Circa, 2022. ISBN: 9781911422396. Format: Hardcover, 260 × 260 mm, 208pp.
Peter Cook’s distinctive drawings have captivated and inspired generations of designers. Freed from stylistic or functional conventions, his graphic speculations have redefined the language of architectural communication. Speculations spans Cook’s entire career, presenting some 160 drawings that range from student projects in the 1950s, through Archigram, to new work completed shortly before going to press. Arranged chronologically, these drawings chart the course of what can now be seen as an enthralling architectural adventure. Cook’s own observations about the nature of architecture and urbanism, and the concept of the buildable, are complemented by pieces from architects Frank Gehry, Toyo Ito, Thom Mayne and Peter Wilson.
As a founder member of the visionary collective, Archigram, Peter Cook (1936-) projected radically new possibilities for architecture, pursuing his fascination with ‘the puzzlement of the strange thing’ to create compelling forms. The pre-eminent architectural educator in the UK, from 1990 to 2006 he was Chair of Architecture (now Professor Emeritus) at the Bartlett School of Architecture, where he transformed an academically sober institution into one of the world’s leading centres of creative design. In 2007, he was awarded a knighthood for his services to architecture and teaching; and in 2004, his achievements with Archigram were recognised when the group was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal.