SIR PETER COOK. Born 1936 Southend on Sea, studied architecture at Bournemouth College of Art and the AA. Co-founded the Archigram and the group itself in 1961 with David Greene while working at James Cubitt and Partners. The dynamo of the Archigram group, director of ICA, (1970-72) and Art Net (1972-1980), his most famous projects with Archigram include Plug-In Cities, Instant Cities.
He has been a hugely influential writer and educator, teaching internationally but especially at the AA; and then as Professor and Chair of The Bartlett School of Architecture (1990-2005). He was the joint winner of the RIBA Annie Spink Award for Education with David Greene in 2002.
Went on to found new practices including partnership with Christine Hawley, Spacelab with Colin Fournier, designing Kunsthaus Graz, (shortlisted for 2003 Stirling Prize) and Crab Studios with Gavin Robotham, and also works in collaboration with HOK. Knighted 2007.
The most talkative and “public“ member of the group. Enjoys inventing situations and very much enjoys forming analogies between the quirks and experiences of individual people and possibilities for the environment that are ambiguous and unexpected. Preoccupied by the idea of “Metamorphosis“. Enjoys drawing illustrations of these analogies and metamorphoses rather than writing about them.
Archigram, Edited by Peter Cook, Warren Chalk, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron & Mike Webb, 1972 [reprinted New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999].
