Pawley, Martin 1938-2008 (Charles Noble, Martin Edward Pawley, Rupert Space)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born March 21, 1938, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England; died March 9, 2008. Educator, architecture critic, columnist, editor, and author. Pawley was trained in architecture but, instead of working as a practicing architect, he spent his career writing and teaching about the work of others. Pawley worked as a news editor for the Architects' Journal briefly in the 1960s; he was a weekly columnist for the periodical for several decades thereafter. He edited a tabloid called Ghost Dance Times and, later, edited World Architecture and Building Design. He was also a critic for the Guardian and Observer newspapers. Pawley's writings were controversial, either because of his audacity or due to rumors that his material might sometimes consist of fabrications. His views were often provocative, and he reportedly enjoyed playing "devil's advocate" by deliberately taking and defending positions contrary to accepted doctrine or critical opinion. He was an early proponent of the recycling and re-use of construction materials, long before the concept became fashionable, and he did not hesitate to expound upon his view that the value of home ownership was overrated in the face of virtually perpetual mortgage commitments. His books include Architecture versus Housing (1971), Garbage Housing (1975), Theory and Design in the Second Machine Age (1990), Future Systems: The Story of Tomorrow (1993), and The Strange Death of Architectural Criticism (2008). Some of his books on specific architects appeared under the pseudonyms Charles Noble or Rupert Space. Pawley visited the United States on several occasions as a visiting lecturer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of California at Los Angeles, and other institutions.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Times (London, England), March 28, 2008, p. 71.