Born in Warsaw in 1926, Joseph Rykwert was one of the best-known critics and historians of architecture. In this new edition of his memoir, he posthumously expands upon the first edition by 20,000 words, delving deeper into how his life’s experiences shaped his working life.
Born in Warsaw in 1926, Joseph Rykwert was one of the best-known critics and historians of architecture. One of very few writers to be awarded the RIBA’s highest honour, the Royal Gold Medal, in 2014, and author of countless books and essays, his influence over the past 60 years cannot be underestimated.
In this new edition of his memoir, he posthumously expands upon the first edition by 20,000 words, delving deeper into how his life’s experiences shaped his working life. He addresses the dualities between which he had to navigate: Jewish/Polish, Polish/British and later Practice/Scholarship. He spent most of his working life between the US and UK, and worked as a designer, teacher and a writer; as such, his groundbreaking ideas and work have had a major impact on the thinking of architects and designers since the 1960s, and continue to do so to this day.
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Part I
First Ruin. Grandpapa. Poles and Jews. Warsaw. Goody-goody. Mesalliance.
Grandmother. More contradictions. A change of circumstance. Politics. Anatol.
The new home. A rift. A profession. Politics in pre-war Poland. Menace.
School. Mornings. Lessons out-of-school. The Chrysalis. A Change of
direction. Abbazia. Mortality. War. Kaunas. Saltsjøbaden, Amsterdam,
Brighton. A very different school. My fathers decline and death.
Architecture. Cambridge. London - the Architectural Association. Student
Movement House. Girls. Architecture Again. In the world. Arup. On my own.
Friends. The Warburg Institute. Italy. Paris. CIAM. Milan. Going South. Paris
again - architects and artists. Ideas. Peace. Soho. The Idea of a Town.
Borshch. Anatole. Hampstead. The Idea of a Town - again. Notes.
Part II
Graduation and practice. First Marriage. Royal College. Wips. Sebastian.
Academia. Italy.
68. Finally - You. Religion. Your world. Wivenhoe.
Cambridge. The Mantuan Show. Penn Design. Ivan, Mexico and South America.
Manhattan and Venice.
Postscript
Joseph Rykwert CBE (19262024) was Paul Philippe Cret Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost architectural historians and critics of his generation. He spent most of his working life in the UK and US. Rykwert was the author of many influential works on architecture, including The Idea of a Town (1963), On Adams House in Paradise (1972), The First Moderns (1980), The Dancing Column (1996) and The Seduction of Place (2000). All of his books have been translated into several languages.
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