In 2006 the Museum of Finnish Architecture awarded Curtis its Commemoration Medal of Foundation on the occasion of the Museum's 50th Anniversary.Ĭurtis currently lives in southwestern France. The third edition was awarded the architecture book prize of the American Institute of Architects in 1997. This book won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain in 1984. He has taught history and theory of architecture in the United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Australia.Ĭurtis's most important work is Modern Architecture Since 1900, first published in 1982, and now in its third edition (1996). Curtis seems particularly interested in broadening the 'canon' to include a wider range of architects working across the world.Ĭurtis was educated at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (First Class Honors, 1970), and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1975). Curtis is an architectural historian whose writings have focused on twentieth century architecture.

Seven chapters are entirely new, including expanded coverage of recent world architecture.ĭescribed by James Ackerman of Harvard University as 'immeasurably the finest work covering this field in existence', this book presents a penetrating analysis of the modern tradition and its origins, tracing the creative interaction between old and new that has generated such an astonishing richness of architectural forms across the world and throughout the century. Throughout the book the author's focus is on the individual architect, and on the qualities that give outstanding buildings their lasting value.įor the third edition, the text has been radically revised and expanded, incorporating much new material and a fresh appreciation of regional identity and variety.

Technical, economic, social and intellectual developments are brought together in a comprehensive narrative which provides a setting for the detailed examination of buildings. Worldwide in scope, it combines a clear historical outline with masterly analysis and interpretation.

Since its first publication in 1982, Modern Architecture Since 1900 has become established as a contemporary classic.

Modern architecture curtis