Peter and Alison Smithson

(Peter b. Stockton-on-Tees, England 1928; Allison b. Sheffield, England 1928.)

Peter Smithson was born in Stockton-on-Tees, England in 1923. Allison Smithson was born in Sheffield, England in 1928. Both studied at the University of Durham. They worked with the London County Council Architects Department before they established a partnership in 1950.

Borrowing from the bare bones aesthetic dictated by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the team generated a revolutionary architectural style based on technological minimalism. While the idea of place acts as the central focus of all their designs, the minimalism directing their designs - both in terms of form and material - has often placed their work within the realms of Brutalist architecture.

While their buildings exhibited some key architectural ideas, the Smithsons gained most of their recognition through their involvement with Team 10 and its overthrow of old CIAM philosophies. In 1956, as members of the Independent Group, the Smithsons contributed to the This is Tomorrow exhibition which was revised in 1990 for an ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) travelling exhibition on their work.

References
Dennis Sharp. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-8230-2539-X. NA40.I45. p143.

Randall J. Van Vynckt. International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture: Volume 1- Architects. London: St. James Press, 1993. ISBN 1-55862-087-7. NA40.I48 1993. p759-761.

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