Frederick Gibberd

With Frederick Gibberd, Christine Hui Lan Manley has written a comprehensive account of the works of the architect and planner Frederick Gibberd (1908–84), a pioneer of modern architecture in Britain. At the beginning of his career, Gibberd designed Pullman Court, one of the first international style buildings in the country. His publications and association with the Modern Architectural Research Group put him at the forefront of the establishment of modern architecture in Britain. During the 1940s, however, Gibberd’s diaries reveal a belief that archictects should consider the visual rather than the functional qualities of materials used. After World War II, his plans for Harlow New Town conveyed his growing interest in visual planning. His late-career projects, including Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and Regent’s Park Mosque, also reflected his aesthetic approach, prompting many to question his role as a key figure in the history of modern British architecture. With more than one hundred illustrations including many in color, Manley reassesses Gibberd’s work and demonstrates that, with his visual approach to the design of buildings, spaces, and landscapes, Gibberd was at the forefront of the development of a softer, distinctly English form of modern architecture.