About this talk

Running time: 31 minutes

Alistair McAlpine started working for the family building firm Sir Robert McAlpine at the age of sixteen. After his first job on Howard Robinson's Shell Centre on London's South Bank, he went on to work with many of the pre-eminent architects of the post war era: Denis Lasdun (see The Architecture Of Urban Landscape), Basil Spence and YRM. His close relationship with Cedric Price (see Technology Is The Answer But What Was The Question? and Ten Californian Architects) spanned many decades, until the latter's death in 2003.

In this talk, McAlpine recalls being summoned by Lasdun during building of the National Theatre and his attempt to match make Price with Richard Seifert. He discusses commissioning classical architect Quinlan Terry to design a series of follies for his personal estate, and his concerns about the current London building boom.

Recorded in London.