Cedric Price was one of the most visionary architects of the late
twentieth century, taking a playful, interactive approach to his
projects that was wholly lateral and completely unconventional. From
Agit-Prop to Free Space is the first and only authoritative text on the
early work of this visionary architect and thinker. Born in 1934 in
Staffordshire, Price studied architecture at Cambridge University and
then at the Architectural Association, graduating with a diploma in
1957. After working with Maxwell Fry and Denys Lasdun, he founded Cedric
Price Architects in 1961 and worked with Lord Snowdon and Frank Newby on
the design of the Aviary at London Zoo. It was one of the few buildings
designed by Price that was realised in his lifetime; it is the
revolutionary nature of his un-built ideas and his ground-breaking,
uncompromising thinking that have ensured his iconic status.
Price proposed radically new concepts of architecture and redefined the
ways in which the architect might enhance human life, extend human
potential and promote social change. He perceived architectural
possibilities amidst the apparent cultural anarchy of post-war Britain
where many pundits and social critics saw only the waning of an old
order. Forsaking tradition, he dealt with variable structures, firmly
believing in impermanent constructions designed for continual change;
that architecture should "enable people to think the unthinkable." This
book tells the story of Price's architecture, how his thinking expressed
the changing character of life and society, and how his work has shaped
architectural discourse today.
Specifically, From Agit-Prop to Free Space deals with two of Prices
major unrealised works: The Fun Palace and The Potteries Thinkbelt. Not
buildings in any conventional sense, these two projects were instead
socially interactive machines, highly adaptable to the shifting
conditions of their time and place. Initiated in 1962, The Fun Palace
was perhaps the most innovative and creative proposal for the use of
leisure time in post-war England. A collaboration with the avant-garde
theatre producer Joan Littlewood, it was conceived as a dynamic and
interactive theatre assembled by participant citizens using cranes and
prefabricated modules. In his 1966 Potteries Thinkbelt, Price further
pursued new architectural ideas in the service of revitalising the
failing industrial sector. His proposal transformed the derelict
Staffordshire potteries into a realm of higher education, mainly on
railway tracks, creating a widespread community of learning and
promoting economic growth.
From Agit-Prop to Free Space: The Architecture of Cedric Price is an
invaluable and entirely original guide to what was a truly epic period
in the story of modern architecture. It is the result of extensive
research based on vast quantities of unpublished archive material,
including letters, memos, notes, drawings and interviews. With
previously unpublished illustrations and engaging accessible text, a
portrait is painted of a true radical, who overturned conventional ideas
of what architecture means, and had a massive impact on architecture
across the world from Japanese Metabolism to High-Tech.
Stanley Mathews is an architect and professor of architectural history
and design at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York State. He
received his doctorate at Columbia University in 2003, where his
pioneering work on Cedric Price, under the direction of advisors Robin
Middleton, Kenneth Frampton, and Mary McLeod helped to further establish
Price's reputation as a major contributor to contemporary architectural
discourse.
Supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine
Arts.