Chris Abel

"I have always enjoyed the writings of Chris Abel. They are full of surprising insights and provocative connections between such diverse issues as history, technology and ecology"

Norman Foster, Founder, Foster + Partners

"Chris Abel is a nomad in the intellectual as well as the geographical sense. The result is always unconventional and challenging, and sometimes impressively prescient"

Colin Davies, The Architectural Review

"Abel does the work of a horde of architectural critics writing all at the same time from all over the globe’

Ken Yeang, Hamzah & Yeang

"For anyone interested in actually understanding the radical responses of architecture to the changing times, Abel offers a powerful perspective built over many years of reflection that is more relevant than ever"

Anthony Burke, University of Technology Sydney

"‘Having been taught by Chris I can testify to his passion and knowledge. VAST is amongst the very best in advanced tall building studios internationally"

Antony Wood, Executive Director, CTBUH

"This exhibition and book come at a crucial moment in the development of our cities…not because such approaches are the ultimate expression of the Modernist project or of a particular aesthetic, but because they can help to solve the problem of the growth of our cities"

Norman Foster, Founder, Foster + Partners

"It really makes me look at nearly everything I do with a critical eye; everything from the products I consume, to my design choices. It has added an entirely new dimension to the way I analyse architecture and lifestyles"

Student Andrews, on a climate change seminar, UNL

Extracts: all publications

Extracts are grouped by subject matter and listed in chronological order below according to when the first extract within each group was published. Thus the first extract under 'Self-organizing systems' is from a 1968 essay, while the extract under 'Cyberspace' is from a book published in 2004 (some essays, such as the one on cyberspace, were presented at conferences many years before publication).

Extracts under subject headings are likewise listed in chronological order. Titles, dates and page numbers refer to the first publication of the work, except in the case of the extract from 'Return to craft manufacture', 1988 (under 'Customized Automation') which is an edited version of a published 1986 conference paper, 'Ditching the dinosaur sanctuary: seventeen years on'. Where the essay has been republished the relevant source is also indicated in brackets.