National Year of Reading – Interview with Chris Williamson
Our next interview for the National Year of Reading is with the RIBA President and WW+P co-founder, Chris Williamson...
What was the first non-fiction book you remember reading, and what was its impact on you?
Mark Twain said that the two most important days in your life are the day that you are born and the day you find out why. I don’t remember the first but the second was picking up a book in the school library one wet windy Wednesday afternoon. It was called 'Your Architect' by Derek Senior and described everything I wanted to do. My Dad died when I was 3 and he had been a lay preacher. I think my Mum wanted me to follow in his footsteps and from the age of 6 to 16 I went to church three times every Sunday, singing in the choir. The book 'Your Architect' described a level of care to society and community that to me was similar to the clergy, but the physical, mental and spiritual well-being was achieved through architecture and design rather than religious belief. The local vicar was disappointed when I said I was going to study architecture rather than theology. My wonderful Mum was - as ever - hugely supportive.
What’s the latest art/design book you’ve read?
I’m currently writing a play www.legacydrama.com about the rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo and their different attitudes to their legacy. 500 years later we still cant decide who is the greater genius so the argument is largely irrelevant - apart from it being an encouragement to strive. So I read every book on their lives, their work and the amazing time of change, experimentation, exploration and learning in which they lived. The one I’m currently reading is 'The Garments of Court and Palace. Machiavelli and the World that he made' by Philip Bobbitt. Machiavelli commissioned Leonardo and Michelangelo to paint battle scenes on opposing walls of the Salone dei Cinquecento in Florence. Typically Machiavellian.
What is your favourite Lund Humphries book, and why?
The first Architecture book I bought with my Saturday job money was the Lund Humphries 'The Architecture of Yorke Rosenberg Mardall' and its appeal was not just the modern architecture but the photography and the layout of the book and its presentation. I still have it and it is still wonderful.
What is currently on your to-read list, and why does it appeal to you?
I belong to two book clubs one fiction one non fiction. I love reading as it presents an opportunity to experience worlds which are different and often unobtainable. My favourite novels are 'The Great Gatsby' and 'The Catcher in the Rye'. I read both every few years. I love going to book readings. William Boyd is a particular favourite and Robert Harris is always well-researched and entertaining. I love the way David Nicholls' writing has developed throughout his career and I can identify with many of his stories. Jay McInerny and Brett Easton Ellis are always inventive, captivating and visual. For me it’s like seeing a film. But I will read anything that friends recommend if only to find out more about their preferences. I have just started 'A Time to Keep Silence' by Patrick Leigh Fermor. I often fantasise about spending time in a monastery but know I’d last about 35 minutes before reaching for my headphones and KC and the Sunshine Band.
If you were starting a star-studded (art/architecture) book club, who, from any era, would you like to invite?
I would love to invite Van Gogh just how show him how influential and revered he is now and see his sadness melt away. The same with Marilyn Monroe. She was an avid reader too and more intelligent than she was portrayed. I am fascinated by religion and went to a wonderful debate between Philip Pullman and the Bishop of London and would like to invite both of them to continue that conversation. If I could invite Jesus and Mohammed too because I would love to ask them about how their teachings are being interpreted. I would have to include Norman Foster as the greatest living architect and a constant inspiration, and Ruby Waage-Townsend who I think is the most talented young artist of her generation. I would like to meet Carole King who was the only name on my pencil case when I was 15. She wrote about things I didn't even know I needed to learn. I would also invite Lauren Laverne to talk about music and hear about her guests on Desert Island discs, and also Jacinda Ardern to talk about world leaders. Alain de Botton always offers a new perspective on most things and I love his 'School of Life books'. 12 is a good number!
Chris Williamson is President of the RIBA. He qualified as an Architect in 1985, and has spent 30 years in transport projects attracting commuters out of cars onto safe, efficient well designed public transport including the design and masterplanning of stations, high speed rail, complex interchanges, underground, overground and light rail stations.
He was an RIBA council member 1999-2005 and 2013-2019 and former RIBA International Vice President, having served as RIBA Ambassador for Business Skills from 2015-2017. In Feb 2016, Chris was inducted as a Freeman of the City of London and a former Master of the Company of Architects in the City of London. Chris is visiting professor at University of East London where he holds an Honorary Doctorate.