Manplan

In September 1969, The Architectural Review launched Manplan: a humanist manifesto with the aim of re-evaluating, from the ground up, the needs of the public and the ways in which architecture might provide. The title served as a reminder, ‘to the editorial staff as well as the reader, that this enquiry is angled at achieving within the resources available what our society needs most rather than what will pay best’. What followed were eight issues that are unique in the history of architectural publishing for their bold propositional arguments, inventive graphic design and unflinching photojournalism.

A monochrome photograph of a grid of classroom windows, students in silhouette

Manplan gets its moment

A new exhibition at the RIBA highlights photographs from The Architectural Review’s Manplan series, but its written archive is worth a revisit too

Manplan_Education_Index

Manplan 4, Education: Introduction

The shadow of Squeers still hangs over an educational system that ought by now to be in the image of Henry Morris

 

Manplan religion intro index

Manplan 5, Religion: Introduction

Every human has a personal religion, and every human community has a collective religion

 

More about Manplan

Since 1896, The Architectural Review has scoured the globe for architecture that challenges and inspires. Buildings old and new are chosen as prisms through which arguments and broader narratives are constructed. In their fearless storytelling, independent critical voices explore the forces that shape the homes, cities and places we inhabit.

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