William Allen and the 'Scientific Outlook' in Architectural Education, 1936-66

ABSTRACTModern architects in the inter-war period were enthused by the potential of science and technology to inform their work. The educational dimension of this changing mindset was first recognised and explored at the Bauhaus in Germany, the experiments of which were to inspire the teaching of architecture in schools across Europe and the United States, particularly after the end of the second world war. In the United Kingdom, the quest for a more science-based approach to architectural education had an equally important source in the work of the government's Building Research Station (BRS). From the early 1930s, the BRS initiated steps to familiarise architectural students with its methodologies, and in the postwar years such concerns were channelled into a comprehensive pedagogical reform agenda that culminated in the landmark Oxford Conference on Architectural Education of 1958. This article argues that it was William Allen (1914—98), rather than better-known figures such as Leslie Martin and Richard Llewelyn-Davies, who was the driving force behind this agenda. As chief architect to the BRS, Allen took up a pivotal position at the intersection of building science and professional practice. The article shows how, over the course of two decades, Allen used the institutional machinery of both the BRS and the Royal Institute of British Architects to inject a scientific outlook into the training of architects. His success in doing so positions Allen as a major figure in British post-war architecture, even though his own attempt to implement his vision as principal of the Architectural Association (1961-65) ended in failure.

Engaging the Archival Habitat

Drawing on experiences of researching India's architectural history, this article explores the affect generated by architectural archives as a source of knowledge. It traces the affective life of the archives and practices of a singular historical figure: Otto Koenigsberger, the chief architect and town planner of the princely state Mysore, the architect of Jamshedpur (a.k.a. Tatanagar, the “Steel City,” India's first planned industrial town), the first director of housing of the federal government of India, cofounder and director of the Department of Tropical Studies of the Architectural Association in London, and architecture and planning consultant at-large to the United Nations. Arguing that the affective archive has disruptive historiographical potential, the article posits that it exists fundamentally beyond the architectural object and archival documents themselves, and indeed fully in discourse with its users. The article argues for a more expansive and inclusive understanding of what constitutes an archive, designating the “archival habitat” as a place of active scholarly engagement.

Personal Paradoxes in Learning to Design “the Learning Organization”

This chapter is a personal reflection on the development of the author’s thinking over a period of forty years on the issues of learning in organizations. Starting with “live project” education in the Architectural Association School, London he traces the start-up of the London and Manchester Business Schools and the role of learning in both. From there his work with Ulster College, Belfast and the General Electric Company’s “Developing Senior Management” programs led to the publication of The Learning Organization, thought to be the first book in this area of study. This led to his growing interest in the lack of learning and development of boards of directors and to the publication of his Learning Board model in The Fish Rots from the Head. His work has been influential in developing business and organizational learning in China, South Africa, South East Asia, Australia and the Caribbean, as well as Europe.

Associationist Aesthetics and the Foundations of the Architectural Imagination

This chapter seeks to provide an account of how aestheticians and practising architects in the long eighteenth century variously accounted for the imaginative potential of Gothic architecture. Showing how architectural debates in the period were structured according to the classical/Gothic divide, it explores the empiricist discourse of architectural association as it runs from John Locke, through Joseph Addison, Mark Akenside, William Chambers, Alexander Gerard, Thomas Gray, William Gilpin, and others, into the work of John Soane. Situating the architectural writings of Horace Walpole within this tradition, it discusses Walpole’s engagement with the architectural theories of his day. Through a reading of the work of William Beckford, the chapter charts the shift from empiricism to idealism in the architectural imagination of the early nineteenth century.

The library examined: A workshop collaboration between OOMK, Thick/er Black Lines and Senate House Library

The Library Examined was a workshop held in January 2018 at Senate House Library, University of London. The workshop was designed and facilitated by Heiba Lamara and Rose Nordin from OOMK and Hudda Khaireh from Thick/er Black Lines in discussion with Laurence Byrne and Leila Kassir, Research Librarians at Senate House Library. The Library Examined was aimed at non-library-card-holders with the ambition to help demystify library processes and spaces and to provide a forum for the discussion and critiquing of the organisation of knowledge within the library. This article describes in the first three sections the librarians’ view of the workshop and why it was initiated, before Heiba and Hudda outline their invitation and research, and the workshop itself.A version of this paper was presented at the annual conference of ARLIS UK & Ireland held at the Architectural Association, London, in July 2018.