Embarking on the Australian Institute of Architects’ ninetieth year, one of my first tasks in January’s diverting calmness was to reach out to a longstanding member. I telephoned Vladimir Perm at his home town near Nice, France, on the morning of his ninetieth birthday, 11 January. Conversing with a member who has witnessed the rise of modernism, brutalism, critical regionalism, postmodernism and deconstructivism was fascinating.
This serendipity propelled me to see which other significant architects were born in 1931. As I discovered, they include: Italy’s first Pritzker Prize-winner and leading postmodernist, Aldo Rossi; his countryman Alessandro Mendini, influential two-time director of Domus; the UK’s early proponent of sustainability and social awareness, Edward (Ted) Cullinan; Finland’s Tuomo Suomalainen, who, with brother Timo, designed one of their homeland’s most visited sites, the…
