Beatty Memorial Lecture 2013: “Architecture and the Passage of History” by Witold Rybczynski
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“Architects have always looked back in order to move forward,” observed the great British architect, James Stirling.
In “Architecture and the Passage of History,” the well-known writer and architecture critic, Witold Rybczynski, BArch’66, MArch’72, DSc’02, explores the intimate but unusual relationship between architects and the past. He shows how – and especially why – architecture since the Renaissance has been characterized by recurring historic revivals. Using examples of work by contemporary Canadian architects, he demonstrates how even modernist architects cannot avoid connecting with the past, and why this is a good thing.
A two-time McGill graduate, Rybczynski is the author of such celebrated books as Home, The Most Beautiful House in the World, and a biography of Frederick Law Olmsted, A Clearing in the Distance, for which he was awarded the J. Anthony Lukas Prize. In 2007, he received the Vincent J. Scully Prize from the National Building Museum. He lives in Philadelphia, where he is professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania.
Please join us for the 2013 Beatty Memorial Lecture, held in collaboration with McGill Homecoming, the School of Architecture, and the School of Urban Planning. After hearing Prof. Rybczynski, you will never see your city in the same way again.
Seating is first-come, first-served. For more information, please contact Lorraine Torpy at lorraine [dot] torpy [at] mcgill [dot] ca or 514-398-3992. RSVP by October 4 at: www.mcgill.ca/research/beatty2013-rsvp
Please note: if you registered for the Beatty Lecture via McGill Homecoming, you do not have to register again.