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The rationalist reader: architecture and rationalism in Western Europe 1920-1940 and 1960-1990

This book is the culmination of a longstanding theoretical and pedagogic interest in rationalism in twentieth century architecture. It was a subject touched on in the editors’ previous book Rationalist Traces (2007). The Reader is a comparative anthology of key texts from two periods: the 1920’s and 1930’s and the 1960’s and 1970’s, different in kind from conventional chronological surveys. It was informed by an investigative perspective that takes issue with received opinion about the status of rationalism in the architecture of both periods. Extensive collaborative research by the editors, drawing on specialist knowledge and advice in the European countries concerned, has been collected together and re-formulated in the editors’ introduction and the books thematic sections, exploiting available sources in English, but also less well-known and un-translated material. The editors were directly involved in selecting, translating and editing the texts that form the two documentary sections of the Reader. They also liaised with specialist translators, publishers, archives, the Dutch architect/critic Henk Engel and German architectural historian, professor Thilo Hilpert, who provide introductions to the two periods. Professor Nicholas Bullock from Cambridge University contributes a linking piece focused on the French post-war experience. These are set in a wider historical frame with reference to nineteenth century architectural theory. They are retrospectively updated in a postscript by protagonists like Leon Krier and Hans van der Heijden. Now that the historical experience of many young architects and students is confined to ‘masters’ and ‘iconic buildings’ located somewhere in the flux of modernity, the Reader demonstrates that, while the architectural culture of different periods is distinct, concepts such as Rationalism (or its significant ‘other’ Functionalism) undergo parallel transformations. The Reader was co-edited by Peckham and Torsten Schmiedeknecht, who co-authored the introduction.