Keith Critchlow
Encyclopedia
Keith Barry Critchlow is an artist, lecturer, author, and professor of architecture
in England, and a co-founder of the Temenos Academy
.
He was educated at the Summerhill School
and the Royal College of Art
. He performed national service
in the Royal Air Force
from 1951 to 1953.
Having been originally trained as a classical painter, he has authored many books on geometry, including Order in Space, Islamic Pattern as a Cosmological Art, and Time Stands Still. He has also contributed the forewords to English editions of works by Titus Burckhardt
, Frithjof Schuon
, and others.
Critchlow was formerly a lecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture
in London for twelve years, and had been a professor of Islamic Art at the Royal College of Art
in London from 1975 for many years. He founded Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts (VITA) school in 1984 , which moved from the Royal College of Art to The Prince's Institute of Architecture in 1992-3, where he was director of research. The institute later evolved into The Prince's Foundation, within which Prince's School of Traditional Arts
was housed. He is a professor emeritus at VITA and serves as director for research. He also taught at the The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment in London.
He is a leading expert in sacred architecture and sacred geometry
and founded Kairos
, a society which investigates, studies, and promotes traditional values of art and science. He served there as director of studies.
Critchlow's architectural work includes the Krishnamurti
Study Centre in England, the Lindisfarne Chapel in Crestone
, Colorado in the United States with a special design for the vaulting of the dome, and The Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Puttaparthi, India
. Isaac Tigrett
, who had founded the Hard Rock Cafe
enterprise, secured Critchlow’s aid to design a hospital in the Prasanthi Nilayam ashram
in Puttuparthi. Critchlow's use of sacred geometry played a major role in these architectural designs and projects.
He is president of the Temenos Academy
.
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
in England, and a co-founder of the Temenos Academy
Temenos Academy
Temenos Academy is a teaching organisation in London dedicated to creative spirituality.Its origin was in 1980, when the Temenos Review was launched by Kathleen Raine, Keith Critchlow, Brian Keeble and Philip Sherrard to publish creative work which acknowledged spirituality as a prime need for...
.
He was educated at the Summerhill School
Summerhill School
Summerhill School is an independent British boarding school that was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around...
and the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. He performed national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
from 1951 to 1953.
Having been originally trained as a classical painter, he has authored many books on geometry, including Order in Space, Islamic Pattern as a Cosmological Art, and Time Stands Still. He has also contributed the forewords to English editions of works by Titus Burckhardt
Titus Burckhardt
Titus Burckhardt , a German Swiss, was born in Florence, Italy in 1908 and died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984. He devoted all his life to the study and exposition of the different aspects of Wisdom and Tradition.He was an eminent member of the "traditionalist school" of twentieth-century authors...
, Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
, and others.
Critchlow was formerly a lecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture
Architectural Association School of Architecture
The Architectural Association School of Architecture, more usually known as the AA, is an architectural school in London, United Kingdom...
in London for twelve years, and had been a professor of Islamic Art at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in London from 1975 for many years. He founded Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts (VITA) school in 1984 , which moved from the Royal College of Art to The Prince's Institute of Architecture in 1992-3, where he was director of research. The institute later evolved into The Prince's Foundation, within which Prince's School of Traditional Arts
The Prince's School of Traditional Arts
The Prince's School of Traditional Arts is a school in London which teaches students at the postgraduate degree level, and short open courses and in the community....
was housed. He is a professor emeritus at VITA and serves as director for research. He also taught at the The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment in London.
He is a leading expert in sacred architecture and sacred geometry
Sacred geometry
Sacred geometry is the geometry used in the planning and construction of religious structures such as churches, temples, mosques, religious monuments, altars, tabernacles; as well as for sacred spaces such as temenoi, sacred groves, village greens and holy wells, and the creation of religious art...
and founded Kairos
Kairos
Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment . The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special...
, a society which investigates, studies, and promotes traditional values of art and science. He served there as director of studies.
Critchlow's architectural work includes the Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti or J. Krishnamurti or , was a renowned writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects. His subject matter included: psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society...
Study Centre in England, the Lindisfarne Chapel in Crestone
Crestone, Colorado
Crestone is a statutory town in Saguache County in Southwestern Colorado, United States. The population was 73 at the 2000 census. It is a small village at the foot of the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range, in the northern part of the San Luis Valley. Crestone was a small mining town, but...
, Colorado in the United States with a special design for the vaulting of the dome, and The Sri Sathya Sai
Sathya Sai Baba
Śri Sathya Sai Baba , born as Sathyanarayana Raju was an Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, philanthropist, and educator. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, a spiritual saint and miracle worker who died in 1918 and whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and...
Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Puttaparthi, India
Puttaparthi
Puttaparthi is a town situated in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It was also the residence of the notable spiritual teacher Sathya Sai Baba....
. Isaac Tigrett
Isaac Tigrett
Isaac Tigrett of Jackson, Tennessee is a businessman best known as founder of Hard Rock Café and House of Blues.Tigrett belonged to a well-to-do business family. He was raised in Tennessee until the age of fifteen...
, who had founded the Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
enterprise, secured Critchlow’s aid to design a hospital in the Prasanthi Nilayam ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
in Puttuparthi. Critchlow's use of sacred geometry played a major role in these architectural designs and projects.
He is president of the Temenos Academy
Temenos Academy
Temenos Academy is a teaching organisation in London dedicated to creative spirituality.Its origin was in 1980, when the Temenos Review was launched by Kathleen Raine, Keith Critchlow, Brian Keeble and Philip Sherrard to publish creative work which acknowledged spirituality as a prime need for...
.
Selected works
Books
- Order in Space (A design source book), 1969
- Into the Hidden Environment: The Oceans, illustrations by David Nockels, 1973 (Viking StudioViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
) - Islamic Patterns, 1976
- Earth Mysteries : A Study in Patterns, 1978
- Time Stands Still: New Light on Megalithic Science, 1979
- Soul As Sphere and Androgyne, 1980
- Research : Principles, Policy and Practice, London : Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, 1993
- The Whole Question of Health: Enquiry into Architectural First Principles in the Designing of Health Care Buildings, 1995
- Islamic Art and Architecture: System of Geometric Design, 1999
- Drawing Geometry: A Primer of Basic Forms for Artists, Designers and Architects: A Primer of Basic Forms for Artists, Designers and Architects, 2007.
Articles
- "The Platonic Tradition on the Nature of Proportion", in Bamford, Christopher, Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science, 1994.
- "What is Sacred Architecture?", in Bamford, Christopher, Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science, 1994.
- "Twelve Criteria for Sacred Architecture", in Bamford, Christopher, Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science, 1994.
External links
- KAIROS Foundation - Workshop courses taught by Dr. Critchlow
- "Profile of Dr. Keith Critchlow" - World Wisdom Press
- Profile: Keith Critchlow - Steiner Books