Architectural historian Joseph Rykwert, a recipient of the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal, has passed away at the age of 98.
Rykwert, also a well-known critic and writer known for seminal books such as The Idea of a Town, died on 18 October 2024.
Born in Warsaw in 1926, Rykwert began his career as an architect, educated at the Bartlett, the University of Cambridge and later at the Architectural Association.
On completing his studies he worked under architects including Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew and Richard Sheppard, as well as engineer Ove Arup.
However, his focus gradually turned to teaching and writing, leading him to take up academic posts at institutions including Hammersmith School of Arts & Crafts and the Royal College of Art.
He then went on to teach at some of the world's most prestigious architecture schools, including the Cooper Union, Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Sydney and the Institut d'Urbanisme. Rykwert's works explored our sense of place
As a writer, Rykwert published several influential titles, with one of his best-known being The Idea of a Town, published in 1963.
The Idea of a Town explores the anthropology of ancient towns and how this relates to modern urban design.
It reflects a common theme throughout his work ? the concept of creating a sense of place, which often drew on his own experiences of displacement at the age of 13, when he and his parents escaped from Warsaw to London on the eve of the second world war.

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