In 1955, Britain’s most prestigious architectural magazine, The Architectural Review, published a special issue featuring a single essay by Ian Nairn, a famously opinionated (and untrained) architectural critic. Based on observations made on a journey Nairn took across the UK in a Morris Minor, Outrage is a searing critique of urban sprawl, or ‘Subtopia’. In this manifesto, Nairn warns that ‘if what is called development is allowed to multiply at the present rate’, Britain’s natural – and urban – landscapes will lose their individuality and spirit. A call-to-arms against the ‘greying out’ of our towns and countryside before it’s too late, Outrage is widely considered to be Nairn’s masterpiece.
Acclaimed critic Ian Nairn's masterpiece, reissued for the first time since 1955.
