Amery, Colin 1944-

PERSONAL:

Born 1944.

ADDRESSES:

Office—The Lutyens Trust, Goddards, Abinger Common, Dorking, Surrey RHS 6JH, England.

CAREER:

Writer and architectural consultant. Financial Times, London, England, architectural correspondent; World Monuments Fund, director; Lutyens Trust, founding trustee and chair, 1984—.

WRITINGS:

Period Houses and Their Details, Architectural Press (London, England), 1974.

(Editor, with Richard Reid) Nicholson's Guide to Great Britain, Robert Nicholson Publications (London, England), 1974.

(With Dan Cruickshank) The Rape of Britain, foreword by John Betjeman, P. Elek (London, England), 1975.

New Atlantis: The Secret of the Sphinx, Regency Press (London, England), 1976.

(Editor) The National Theatre: The Architectural Review Guide, Architectural Press (London, England), 1977.

(Editor) Three Centuries of Architectural Craftsmanship, Nichols Publishing (New York, NY), 1977.

(With Gavin Stamp) Victorian Buildings of London, 1837-1887: An Illustrated Guide, Architectural Press (London, England), 1980.

(Contributor) Lutyens, the Work of the English Architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944): Hayward Gallery London SE1, 18 November 1981–31 January 1982, Arts Council of Great Britain (London, England), 1981.

Four London Architects, 1985-1988: Chipperfield, Mather, Parry, Stanton Williams, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 1987.

Wren's London, Lennard (Luton, England), 1988.

A Celebration of Art and Architecture: The National Gallery Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery (London, England), 1991.

Pioneers of Modern Furniture: An Exhibition at Fischer Fine Art, London, 24 April–31 May 1991, Fischer Fine Art (London, England), 1991.

Architecture, Industry, and Innovation: The Early Work of Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners,Phaidon Press (London, England), 1995.

(With Martha Thorne and others) The Pritzker Architecture Prize: The First Twenty Years, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Brian Curran) Vanishing Histories: 100 Endangered Sites from the World Monuments Watch, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Brian Curran) The Lost World of Pompeii,photographs by Chris Caldicott, J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA), 2002.

Contributor to Building the New Museum, edited by Suzanne Stephens, Princeton Architectural Press (Princeton, NJ), 1986.

SIDELIGHTS:

Colin Amery has written and edited many volumes on British architects and their work. After twenty years as a correspondent for the Financial Times, he became the director of World Monuments Watch, an international organization dedicated to preserving original and historic architectural and cultural monuments. With Brian Curran, Amery wrote Vanishing Histories: 100 Endangered Sites from the World Monuments Watch. The book, which features the sites chosen for the organization's biennial watch list, is dedicated to all the great buildings that have been destroyed in the name of progress or as a result of war, in particular the two Afghan Buddhas of Bamiyan that were blown up by the Taliban in 2001. A Contemporary Review contributor felt that if just one powerful person will recognize "the need to act, [the book] will have done its work well."

The more than 200 photographs include views of Prague's historic district, Cambodia's Angkor archaeological district, St. Petersburg's Alexander Palace, Brancusi's Endless Column in Romania, the Vat Sisaket in Laos, mausoleums in Pakistan, Mexico's Mader cave dwellings, Peru's Machu Picchu, Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park, and other churches, monasteries, temples, synagogues, palaces, and archaeological sites. Donna Seaman, writing inBooklist, called the volume "as notable for the beauty of its photographs as for the urgency of its message." Judith H. Dobrzynski, writing in the New York Times Book Review, called the book "beautiful," and said that what the authors write "is plain and simple. But together with the pictures, their words deliver an eloquent message that is hard to ignore."

Amery and Curran also collaborated in writing The Lost World of Pompeii. When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., Pompeii was buried in ash and rock, preserving it until excavation began in 1748, when archaeologists exposed artifacts that helped them better understand life in the Roman Empire. This was possible because whole rooms, with walls and objects intact, were uncovered, and the reconstructed buildings have proven relevant to contemporary design. The ash perfectly preserved mosaics and frescoes, presenting a picture of everyday life in a provincial Roman city. The volume contains images by Royal Geographic Society photographer Chris Caldicott. In their book, Amery and Curran trace the history of the city from its beginnings to its end and discuss modern renovation and conservation efforts.Choice reviewer R. Brilliant called the text "clear" and "informative." Apollo contributor Jas' Elsner called the authors "enthusiasts with great knowledge of historic buildings in general and a clear passion for Pompeii. Their backgrounds in architectural criticism and the preservation of buildings lead to a genuinely refreshing angle on Pompeii."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Apollo, July, 2003, Jas' Elsner, review of The Lost World of Pompeii, p. 54.

Booklist, November 15, 2001, Donna Seaman, review ofVanishing Histories: 100 Endangered Sites from the World Monuments Watch,p. 526.

Books & Bookmen, November, 1977, Colin Wilson, review ofNew Atlantis: The Secret of the Sphinx, pp. 35-37.

Bryn Mawr Classical Review, January 19, 2004, Katharina Lorenz, review of The Lost World of Pompeii, p. 192.

Choice, December, 1992, P. Kaufman, review of A Celebration of Art and Architecture: The National Gallery Sainsbury Wing, p. 608; June, 2002, S.R. Martin, review of Vanishing Histories, p. 1855; May, 2003, R. Brilliant, review of The Lost World of Pompeii, p. 1541.

Contemporary Review, November, 2001, review of Vanishing Histories, p. 315.

Library Journal, December, 2001, Melinda Stivers Leach, review of Vanishing Histories, p. 154; April 1, 2003, Nancy J. Mactague, review of The Lost World of Pompeii, p. 93.

New York Times Book Review, December 1, 1991, Martin Filler, review of A Celebration of Art and Architecture, p. 77; April 21, 2002, Judith H. Dobrzynski, review ofVanishing Histories, p. 29.

Publishers Weekly, June 4, 2001, Charles Hix, "Perishable Perspectives," a review of Vanishing Histories, p. 44.

Times Literary Supplement, March 18, 1977, Rank Kelsall, review of Three Centuries of Architectural Craftsmanship, p. 299; July 15, 1977, Philip Tabor, review of The National Theatre: The Architectural Review Guide, p. 852; November 10, 1995, Andrew Ballantyne, review of Architecture, Industry, and Innovation: The Early Work of Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, p. 14.