Why look at Aldo van Eyck again?

Model of "House of Four Towers" 1960 (unbuilt) by Aldo van Eyck, model by Philp Boyle

A talk by Philip Boyle

Monday 27th April 2026, 19.00-21.00

The Alan Baxter Gallery, 77 Cowcross St, London, EC1M 6EL

Docomomo members go free. To book a member’s ticket please see here. To become a member see here.

Tickets for attendance in person and online are available here. Tickets will also be available on the door for £15.

For online attendance, please book your ticket before 18.00 on the day of the event. A link to watch the talk online will be sent to attendees before it begins.

The Dutch Architect Aldo van Eyck (1918-1999) is perhaps remembered in the UK for his put down of British PoMo architecture in his 1981 RIBA Annual Discourse.

Was not this event, usually a celebration of architectural achievement, not in fact a vociferous piece of criticism? He went on to praise Owen Williams’ Boots factory (1932) and also a then-recent competition entry by Evans and Shalev for the Taoiseach’s residence and state house in Dublin.

His arguments and plea for understanding of what he described as ‘the great gang of Modernists in different occupations’ who influenced him and who in turn brought about Modernism in architecture, might now be a basis for looking again at his own architecture.

This talk will be about the depth of his knowledge and commitment to Modernism from his early life in England, through Switzerland and Holland, through ‘CIAM’ in 1947, and onwards through his efforts in ‘Team 10’. In particular, it will include an analysis by model of a project by Aldo van Eyck from 1958 – 1960 for a ‘Four Tower House’, which unfortunately remained unrealised/unbuilt.

Phillip Boyle was an architect, is a lecturer on the modern movement, and was Coordinator of Docomomo UK for many years.