‘Architecture for All: The Photography of Paul Oliver’, an exhibition showcasing a selection of photographs from the Paul Oliver Vernacular Architecture Library collection, will open in the Long Gallery of the Pitt Rivers Museum on Saturday 16 May. The exhibition showcases a selection of photographs from the Paul Oliver Vernacular Architecture Library (POVAL), one of Oxford Brookes University’s Special Collections housed in the new Library.
Curated by Dr Marcel Vellinga in collaboration with a small team of dedicated student volunteers from the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes and the School of Anthropology at the University of Oxford, the exhibition aims to capture the inclusive and cross-cultural understanding of architecture propagated by Professor Oliver in his many influential publications.
Throughout a career that spanned more than five decades, Oliver propagated an approach that acknowledges the intricate relationship between architecture, society and culture, and that recognises all buildings, not just those of specific cultures or those made by architects, as cultural expressions worthy of admiration, study and conservation. ‘Architecture’, he wrote, ‘is not the prerogative of a few nor the privilege of an elite; it is for all, and by all’.
For further information visit the Oxford Brookes University website