Soane Medal Lecture 2018: Denise Scott Brown

The pioneering architect, planner, theorist and educator, Denise Scott Brown is the second recipient of the Soane Medal, which is awarded annually in recognition of architects who have made a major contribution to their field, through their built work, through education, history and theory.

This publication is a transcript of the lecture pre-recorded by Denise Scott Brown at her home in Philadelphia and delivered on 17 October 2018 at the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, which she designed with Robert Venturi. The lecture and publication were accompanied by over 100 of he rarely-seen photographs.

About Denise Scott Brown

Denise Scott Brown’s ideas and work as architect, planner, urbanist, theorist, writer and educator have had a global influence, transforming thinking about architecture and cities. She was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia in 1931. She attended the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and the Architectural Association, London, before receiving a master’s degree in architecture and city planning from the University of Pennsylvania, beginning a long association with the university and the city of Philadelphia, where she now lives.

As an academic and educator, Scott Brown has led countless research projects, notably Learning from Las Vegas, which became a seminal book (1972; revised edition 1977, with Robert Venturi and Steven Izenour). Both the ideas and the techniques employed in this and other studies have proved highly influential on the subsequent direction of architectural research. Scott Brown’s other books include The View from the Campidoglio (1984 with Robert Venturi), Architecture as Signs and Systems for a Mannerist Time (2004 with Robert Venturi) and Having Words (2009).

As principal of Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Scott Brown has been responsible for numerous urban plans and masterplans, and been instrumental in the design of buildings such as the Département de la Haute-Garonne provincial capitol building in Toulouse, France (1999); the Mielparque resort in Kirifuri National Park, Japan (1997); and the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, London (1991), recently awarded Grade 1 listing.

Specifications

• Paperback Edition
• Page Count: 118
• Dimensions: 130 x 215mm
• Language: English