Brief Note on the Career of Professor James Stevens Curl

Born in Ireland, where he received his early education, Professor Emeritus James Stevens Curl has held Chairs in Architectural History in two British Universities. Having graduated in Architecture at Oxford, he went on to study Town Planning, and wrote his Dissertation under the direction of the German architect, Arthur Korn. He later read for his Doctorate at University College London, and has twice been Visiting Fellow at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Societies of Antiquaries of London and of Scotland, an Architect Accredited in Building Conservation, a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, an Associate of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, a Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. He worked for a number of years as an architect, with an especial interest in historic buildings and conservation, until he became a full-time academic in 1978, having already published perceptive articles and books which began to establish his reputation for impeccable scholarship, a fine prose-style, and penetrating insights.

His forays into relatively unexplored fields of research still blaze trails inevitably followed by others of a more timid disposition. He is the author of many influential and acclaimed books and papers, including, among others, Victorian Architecture: Diversity & Invention (2007); The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (2006 - described by Professor Stamp as ‘a magnificent achievement …by far the best in the field’); The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West (2005 - which, following two earlier publications on the Revival [1982] and Egyptomania [1994], gained him international renown for shedding new light on aspects of Neo-Classicism); the hugely successful and influential The Victorian Celebration of Death (2000 & 2004); Georgian Architecture (2003); The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry: An Introductory Study (1991 & 2002 - which won the Sir Banister Fletcher Award as best Book of the Year in 1992); Kensal Green Cemetery (2001); The Honourable The Irish Society and The Plantation of Ulster, 1608-2000: The City of London and the Colonisation of County Londonderry in the Province of Ulster in Ireland. A History and Critique (2000); Encyclopaedia of Architectural Terms (1993 & 1997); The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914. The History, Architecture, and Planning of the Estates of the City of London and its Livery Companies in Ulster (1986); and the important biography, The Life and Work of Henry Roberts (1803-76), Architect (1983), which revealed much about the movement to establish and develop philanthropic housing throughout Europe, especially through organisations in which the Evangelical Conscience was active.

He has established an international reputation for prodigious research which he imparts seemingly effortlessly in sustained and lively narrative, and has been the recipient of many awards, grants, and prizes. His books and papers have been widely praised, not only for their content, but for their lasting influence, and his advice on architectural matters has been sought in Baden-Württemberg, Oxford, London, and numerous other places. His fine drawings have been as much admired as his prose.

His pioneering work on the City of London and its Estates in Ulster has been respectfully received, and attracted substantial research awards from several bodies at the investigative stages. He was closely involved in European Architectural Heritage Year 1975, and in the early 1970s was Architectural Editor of The Survey of London, responsible for much of Volume 37 dealing with Northern Kensington, the first part of the Survey to be published (1973) that was entirely devoted to nineteenth-century developments.

He has lectured on aspects of his work all over the UK, in Ireland, and in many other places, including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the USA. He has been involved in the organisation of several exhibitions in Belgium, France, and Germany, contributing scholarly notes to the catalogues prepared for them. He taught at several Universities, including Bologna, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, London, Oxford, Sheffield, and Southampton, and has advised on the development of educational Courses at numerous establishments, including Canterbury.

Since his retirement from full-time academic employment, Professor Curl has worked on several books, the latest of which was published in 2007, and is about to commence his labours on a study of the Enlightenment and architecture for a New York publisher. He contributes regular review articles and learned papers to several refereed journals, and gives public lectures from time to time that have been very well received. He also acts as a consultant for sensitive sites, usually relating to historic buildings, especially in Oxford, where his book, The Erosion of Oxford (1977), has proved to be of lasting importance and influence: the thirtieth anniversary of its publication was celebrated with a one-day symposium at the University of Oxford in February 2007 at which he gave the keynote address.