Kenneth Frampton, New York, 2010. Photo by Oscar Tenreiro
Modern Architecture (Fifth Edition)
By Kenneth Frampton (Thames & Hudson, 2020)
Modern Architecture and the Lifeworld: Essays in Honor of Kenneth Frampton
Edited by Karla Cavarra Britton and Robert McCarter (Thames & Hudson, 2020)
For several generations of architects worldwide, the figure of architectural critic and historian Kenneth Frampton looms large. According to architecture professor Mary McLeod, he is ?arguably the most influential architectural historian since Sigfried Gideon.? Frampton has been a respected scholar, teacher, and practitioner for five decades; his book Modern Architecture: A Critical History has been translated into thirteen languages and his 1983 essay ?Towards a Critical Regionalism? into many more. His wide-ranging interests and generosity towards both architects and colleagues are encapsulated in an oft-quoted quip among architectural researchers?that the definition of a ?rare architectural book? is one that doesn?t bear a preface by Frampton. Frampton?s legacy comes to the fore in a new festschrift, or book of celebratory essays, marking his 90th birthday in 2020. The volume, titled Modern Architecture and the Lifeworld: Essays in Honor of Kenneth Frampton, is edited by architectural professor Karla Cavarra Britton and architect and writer Robert McCarter. Its publication coincides with the release of the fifth edition of Modern Architecture.

Taken together, the two volumes de...