The National Civic Art Society, together with ICAA-Mid-Atlantic, co-sponsored this lecture by James Stevens Curl on his new book Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism. Curl tells the story of the advent of architectural Modernism in the aftermath of World War I, its protagonists, and its astonishing global acceptance after 1945. He explains how the triumph of architectural Modernism in the second half of the 20th century led to massive destruction, the creation of alien urban landscapes, and a huge waste of resources. The coming of Modernism, however, was not inevitable.

Curl is Professor at the School of Architecture and Design, Ulster University; Professor Emeritus at De Montfort University, Leicester; and has been a Visiting Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was awarded the President's Medal of the British Academy "for his contribution to the study of the History of Architecture in Britain and Ireland." Curl is the author of numerous books, including Victorian Architecture and Georgian Architecture, and he is co-author of The Oxford Dictionary Of Architecture.

Introductions by Justin Shubow and Stefan Hurray

Date: May 10, 2019
Location: Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.