Richard Seifert, Denys Lasdun & the Power of the Press: Critical Responses to the Architects' Building & Their Reputational Impact

This thesis focuses on critical reactions to the work of post-war British brutalist architects Richard Seifert and Denys Lasdun within the media, particularly architectural journals and national newspapers. The impact of such commentary upon the architects’ reputations is considered in detail, with reference to how this has affected their legacies and assessments of their work within the context of heritage conservation.

While the two architects had much in common, including the experimental use of concrete within expressive forms, attitudes to their buildings remain radically different. The research examines how media commentary helped to define perceptions of their work and played an important role in shaping Seifert’s and Lasdun’s reputations, while taking into account potential influences upon journalists, including questions of perspective, taste, prejudice and bias.

The thesis argues that there is an implicit link between the way that architects are treated by the press and wider perceptions of their work. This has particular relevance to decision-making processes related to questions of listing, adaptive reuse or replacement, with prejudicial press coverage playing an important part in shaping consensus around the architectural value of Seifert’s and Lasdun’s buildings. The methodology adopted throughout offers a way of considering the importance and variability of media commentary over time as a form of ‘evidence’ in making such value judgments, while offering an alternative analytical approach where chronology is a key consideration. As well as providing significant adjustments to readings of the work of the two architects and assessments of their critical reputations, the thesis contributes to current re-evaluations of British brutalist architecture and explores its importance within a diverse urban landscape.

Critical commentaries in historical newspaper archives and the architectural press are central to the research, which concentrates primarily upon eight case-study buildings in London. Other key sources include the Lasdun Archive (RIBA/V&A), audio interviews with the architects themselves (British Library), planning documents in the London Archives and original interviews with critics, conservationists and architects, as well as site visits.