RIBA Bookshops

Austin Williams

Austin Williams is director of the Future Cities Project.

An architect and project manager by profession, he was the technical editor at the Architects’ Journal; architecture critic on BBC London; and transport commentator with The Daily Telegraph. He is now the architectural producer at NBS Learning Channels.

He is the author of Enemies of Progress; author and illustrator of Shortcuts Books 1 & 2; founder of Manifesto Towards a New Humanism in Architecture and co-editor of The Future of Community. He is the co-author of The Macro World of Microcars; and contributor to Global Warming and other bollocks; Academic Questions (Winter 2009-10); and Carchitecture.

He is currently writing Better City: Better Life: The Challenges of an Urban World; Shortcut Book 3: Environment and Process and On Progress: the Struggle between Liberty and Authority.

He speaks on a range of topics internationally and has written for a wide variety of publications, from The Times Literary Supplement to Top Gear; from New Humanist to The Tablet.

He devised and chairs the Bookshop Barnies.

www.futurecities.org.uk

Azhar Azhar , MD - Integrated Sustainable Architecture

In a world, which creates 'smoke and mirrors' of complexity and jargon. Confusing everyone into stagnation. Austin's stratight talking, and clarifying books SHORTCUTS are refreshing....and simply extremely useful. Very valuable work!

Ruth Slavid, ex-deputy editor, The Architects Journal.

Austin put together the Shortcuts series which demonstrated his deep understanding of the technology of architecture and his ability to communicate this knowledge in an easily digestible format. Not to mention his previously hidden talent - the man can draw!

Iain Borden, Head, Bartlett School of Architecture

The two Shortcuts books are really great publications. They are essential reading for our students at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, providing a wealth of detail and information in a clear and accessible format. Highly recommended.

Simon Allford

Shortcuts is very much like its author: swiftly getting to the core of the matter in a precise and concise style. Importantly it also sees through much of the bureaucracy.