William J. R. Curtis

William J. R. Curtis (born March 21, 1948, in Birchington, Kent, England) is an important architectural historian whose writings have focused on twentieth century architecture. Curtis seems particularly interested in broadening the "canon" to include a wider range of architects working across the world.

Curtis was educated at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (First Class Honors, 1970), and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1975). He has taught history and theory of architecture in the United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Curtis's most important work is "Modern Architecture Since 1900", first published in 1982, and now in its third edition (1996). This book won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain in 1984. The third edition was awarded the architecture book prize of the American Institute of Architects in 1997.

Curtis lives in southwest France.

Writings

* Curtis, William J. R., "Balikrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India", Rizzoli, New York 1988, ISBN 0847809374

* Curtis, William J. R., "Denys Lasdun: Architecture, City, Landscape", Phaidon Press, London 1994, ISBN 0714828718

* Curtis, William J. R., and Sekler, Eduard F., "Le Corbusier at Work: The Genesis of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts", Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 1978, ISBN 0674520599

* Curtis, William J. R., "Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms", Phaidon, Oxford 1986, ISBN 0714823872, Rizzoli, New York 1986, ISBN 0847807266

* Curtis, William J. R., "Modern Architecture Since 1900" Phaidon Press, Oxford 1982; Prentice-Hall, Englewood NJ 1982; second edition 1987, third edition Phaidon, Oxford 1996, ISBN 0714835242