Peter Laurence Alexander Cockburn Buchanan (16 October 1942 – 28 August 2023) was a British architect,

urbanist Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, a profession focusing on the design and management of urban a ...

, writer, critic, lecturer and exhibition

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

. Buchanan is best known for his series of critical essays for ''The Big Rethink'' published by

The Architectural Review ''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism � ...

and for his books on architecture.

Life and career

After schooling in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, Buchanan studied architecture at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

, and after completing his degree in 1968 he worked with architects in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, first with Gabriel Fagan and then until 1971 with Revel Fox. Subsequently, he worked as architect and urban designer in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In 1979 Buchanan took up work with ''The Architects' Journal'' and with

, and in 1982 became The Architectural Review's deputy editor. Since 1992 he worked as

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. Buchanan curated the

travelling exhibition A travelling exhibition, also referred to as a "travelling exhibit" or a "touring exhibition", is a type of exhibition that is presented at more than one venue. Temporary exhibitions can bring together objects that might be dispersed among sever ...

s ''Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Selected Projects'' and ''Ten Shades of Green'' for the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construct ...

. His books included works stemming from these exhibitions: the five volumes of ''Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Complete Works'' and ''Ten Shades of Green''. Buchanan has also worked as a consultant on

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...

projects and publications. At the end of 2011, The Architectural Review launched "The Big Rethink", a year-long campaign of essays and events with at its core a series of monthly essays by Peter Buchanan. The essays are intended to involve architects in the challenges posed by the global economic and environmental crises. Architects are encouraged to re-evaluate the role of their profession, and to change architecture and design practice in order to meet the challenges posed by the crises while improving the

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

. Buchanan lectured and taught summer schools and master classes and lectured in a wide range of places including universities, and has published in journals of many countries. Peter Buchanan died from lung cancer on 23 August 2023, at the age of 80.

Publications

"The Big Rethink" Series of ''The Architectural Review'' (AR):
The Big Rethink: Spiral Dynamics and Culture
23 November 2012
The Big Rethink: Rethinking Architectural Education
28 September 2012
The Big Rethink: Lessons from Peter Zumthor and other living masters
28 August 2012 (with a review of the work of

Herman Hertzberger Herman Hertzberger (born 6 July 1932) is a Dutch architect, and a professor emeritus of the Delft University of Technology. In 2012 he received the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Biography Herman Hertzberger was ...

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...

Emilio Ambasz Emilio Ambasz (born 1943) is an Argentinian-American architect and industrial designer. Ambasz has been called "the father, poet, and prophet" of green architecture by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. His style is characterised by a combinat ...

and

Peter Zumthor Peter Zumthor (; born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm and not being a prolific architect, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Pri ...

)
The Big Rethink: Place and Aliveness: Pattern, play and the planet
24 July 2012
The Big Rethink: Learning from Four Modern Masters
28 May 2012
The Big Rethink: Transcend And include The Past
24 April 2012 (with a discussion of the work of

Christopher Alexander Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander (4 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an Austrian-born British-American architect and Design theory, design theorist. He was an Professors in the United States#Professor emeritus and emerita, emeritus profes ...

)
The Big Rethink: The Purposes of Architecture
27 March 2012
The Big Rethink: Integral Theory
29 February 2012 (on architecture viewed from the point of view of

integral theory Integral theory as developed by Ken Wilber is a synthetic metatheory aiming to unify a broad spectrum of Western theories and models and Eastern meditative traditions within a singular conceptual framework. The original basis, which dates to t ...

Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber II (born January 31, 1949) is an American theorist and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a four-quadrant grid which purports to encompass all human knowledge and experience. Starting publishing ...

)
The Big Rethink: Farewell to modernism − and modernity too
30 January 2012
The Big Rethink: Towards a Complete Architecture
21 December 2011 Other publications:
Ushering in a third industrial revolution
AR, 31 January 2012
1987 January: 'Corb87: Master of a misunderstood modernism'
AR, 1 September 2010 (at the occasion of the centenary of

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

's birth)
1983 July: 'High-Tech'
AR, 9 August 2010 Books: * Peter Buchanan. Norman Foster: ''

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

: The Philological Library'', Prestel, 2011, * Peter Buchanan, Paul Finch, Felix Mara, Hattie Hartman, Peter Blundell Jones (and James Pallister (ed.)): ''The London 2012 Velodrome'', Hopkins Architects, Expedition Engineering, BDSP, Grant Associates. The Architects' Journal, Emap Inform, 2011, * Anthony Sargent, Peter Buchanan: ''

The Sage Gateshead The Glasshouse is an international centre for musical education and concerts on the Gateshead bank of Quayside in northern England. Opened in 2004 as Sage Gateshead and occupied by North Music Trust, the venue's original name honours a patron ...

: Foster + Partners'', Prestel, 2010, * Peter Buchanan, Michele Alassio: ''Emilio Ambasz Casa de Retiro Espiritual'', Skira, 2005, * Peter Buchanan, Frances Dunkels (and with prefaces by R.G.W. Anderson and Norman Foster): ''The Great Court and The

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

'', British Museum Press, 2000, * Norman Foster, Martin Pawley, Helmut Engel, Peter Buchanan: Der neue Reichstag (''The new Reichstag''), Brockhaus in der Wissenmedia, 1999, * P. Buchanan: ''Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Complete Works'', Volumes 1 to 5, Phaidon Press * P. Buchanan: ''Ten Shades of Green'', WW Norton * Josep Martorell, Peter Buchanan: ''UIA Barcelona 96 Competitions: Three Areas in Barcelona'', Actar Coac Assn of Catalan Arc, 1997, * P. Buchanan: ''Vazquez Consuegra'', Gustavo Gili, 1993, * Oriol Bohigas, Peter Buchanan, Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani: ''Barcelona, arquitectura y ciudad, 1980–1992.'' (English-language translation: ''Barcelona, city and architecture, 1980–1992'', )

References

Sources

Peter Buchanan
Fundación Arquitectura y Sociedad
Speakers 2012: Peter Buchanan, South Africa

World Architecture Festival The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an Architecture, architectural and design event held annually and considered to be one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industries. It was founded by Paul Fin ...

External links

The Big Rethink
The Architectural Review
list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Peter 1942 births 2023 deaths 20th-century South African architects Architecture writers Malawian architects Malawian essayists Urban theorists