Spotlight: Peter Cook

As one of the founding members of Archigram, the avant-garde futurist architecture group of the 1960s, the British architect, professor, and writer Sir Peter Cook (born 22 October 1936) has been a pivotal figure within the global architectural world for over half a century; one of his most significant works from his time with Archigram, The Plug-In City, still invokes debates on technology and society, challenging standards of architectural discourse today. With a love for the slithering, the swarming and the spooky, Cook continues to teach at the University College London’s Bartlett School of Architecture and lecture around the world.

Though Cook gained significant international recognition for his unbuilt works with Archigram, he has now also been recognized for his built works around the world. His recent works, including the construction of his Art Museum in Graz, Austria (Kunsthaus) has brought his radical ideas to a wider public audience. He currently practices with Gavin Robotham as part of CRAB Studio (Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau).

BIX Communicative Display Skin for the Kunsthaus Graz, 2003; View from Schlossberg. Image © Harry Schiffer / realities:united

In his own words, his architecture is “lyrical technical mechanical, even slightly gothic.“

Abedian School of Architecture / CRAB Studio. Image © Peter Bennetts

In 2004, Cook and other members of Archigram were awarded the Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 2010 he curated the London Eight, and has curated the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Cook is currently a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art, London. His professorships include those of the Royal Academy, University College London and the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste (Staedelschule) in Frankfurt-Main, Germany.