Sir James Maude Richards, FRIBA, MA, (13 August 1907 – 27 April 1992), was a leading British architectural writer.

Richards was born at Epsom

Epsom

Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

. Educated at Gresham's School

Gresham's School

Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...

, Holt

Holt, Norfolk

Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...

, and Cambridge University, he trained as an architect at the Architectural Association, but his main career was as a writer on architecture. As well as publishing many books, he served as editor of the Architectural Review

Architectural Review

The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....

from 1937 to 1971, the longest period in office of any of its editors. He died in Fulham

Fulham

Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Major publications

By J. M. Richards -

• High Street (1938)
• An Introduction to Modern Architecture (Penguin Books, 1940, revised 1953 and 1963) ISBN 0140200614
• The Castles on the Ground (Architectural Press, 1946), 2nd edn with subtitle The Anatomy of Suburbia (John Murray, 1973) ISBN 0719529085
• Functional Tradition in Early Industrial Buildings (Architectural Press, 1958) ISBN 0851392261
• Miniature History of the English House (Architectural Press, 1960) ISBN 0851393896
• Guide to Finnish Architecture (1966)
• The Anti-rationalists (University of Toronto Press, 1973) (ed. with Nikolaus Pevsner) ISBN 0851390056
• The Professions: Architecture (David & Charles, 1974) ISBN 0715364227
• Provision for the Arts in the Republic of Ireland (Gulbenkian Foundation, 1976) ISBN 0903319055
• Who's Who in Architecture from 1400 to the Present Day (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977) ISBN 029777283X
• Eight Hundred Years of Finnish Architecture (David & Charles, 1978) ISBN 0715375121
• Memoirs of an Unjust Fella (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980) ISBN 029777767X
• National Trust Book of English Architecture (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1981) ISBN 029777901X
• Marcel Breuer: 1902-81 (Architectural Review, 1981)
• Carl Ludwig Engel, Finland's Neo-Classical Master (Architectural Review , 1982)
• Peter Reyner Banham (Architectural Review, 1988)