Mavericks

The history of architecture is a story of continual innovation, and yet at certain points within that story comes an architect whose vision completely defies convention. Mavericks: Breaking the Mould of British Architecture focuses on twelve such figures from the history of British architecture, including Sir John Soane, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Cedric Price and Zaha Hadid. From the stripped-back classicism of Soane's Dulwich Picture Gallery to Hadid's neofuturistic Olympic Aquatics Centre in London, their work is bold, frequently controversial, often radical; it is architecture that actively resists being pigeon-holed into a particular style or period. What connects this naturally disparate group of free creative spirits is the way each has charted their own course, often deliberately evading conventions of taste, fashion and ways of working. This book will offer a fresh take on their work, establishing new and sometimes surprising historical connections, while posing an intriguing alternative narrative to the history of British Architecture. AUTHOR: Owen Hopkins is a writer, historian and curator of architecture. He is Manager of the Architecture Programme at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and has written widely on architecture for publications such as the Burlington Magazine, Apollo, Dezeen, RA Magazine, C20 Magazine and the Architects' Journal. He is author of Reading Architecture: A Visual Lexicon (Laurence King, 2012) and Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide (Laurence King, 2014). SELLING POINTS: . Examines the work of 12 of the greatest innovators in architecture over the past 250 years . Includes Robert Smythson, Sir John Vanbrugh, James Wyatt, Sir John Soane, C. R. Cockerell, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Charles Holden, H. S. Goodhart-Rendel, James Stirling, Cedric Price, F.A.T. and Zaha Hadid 120 colour