Between Stirling and Olivetti: Ted Cullinan’s Workplaces Design in the UK

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper is well written. The subject is necessary as not enough has been written about Ted Cullinan's work. The comparisons and parallels are made evident and the analysis between the different architects' work is clear. The author is specific and clear in his descriptions of the buildings. His admiration for Cullinan's work is evident. The breakdown of styles in the client's stages of development is insightful and the author's rationale is believable. I hope the author's passion for the subject develops into a publication of a book expanding the Olivetti architectural universe which hopefully would include The Olivetti Showroom in Venice by Carlo Scarpa! Well done!

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

First of all, thanks for the review and kind words.
The theme of "Olivetti" architecture is certainly fascinating, thanks to the figure of Adriano Olivetti, in the first instance, and to that of the great architects who supported him.
I made some small corrections, which reinforce the concept of an architecture "heir" of the ideas that Olivetti describes in "The City of Man". I also emphasized with greater emphasis the idea of ​​Cullinan as a precursor of ideas of sustainability that we take for granted today, but which at the beginning of the 1970s were considered pioneering.
Existing literature, for example the text by Astarita, focuses a lot on the architects of the first phase, also investigating aspects that are not always relevant, in my opinion.
I, therefore, agree on the need to systematize and reread Olivetti's architectures in a complex way, with a broad vision and perspective, linked to the relationship between the products and the buildings, and between the idea - as I tried to describe in the article - of architecture as the founding concept of a community.
Thank you again.
M.S.

Reviewer 2 Report

An interesting paper that can be improved in three areas:

1. more images of the buildings discussed are needed, particularly plans. It is sometimes difficult to follow the reasoning without the necessary visual aid;
2. Olivetti wrote a lot about the city and his idea of community; this should be referenced;
3. Conclusion feels a bit thin. It is needed a more rounded reasoning on the role of Cullinan as precursor of the sustainability and its balance with the idea of community.

If these three points are addressed, I would have no problem to publish the paper.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

First of all, thanks for the review and kind words. The comments are valuable and  I greatly appreciated your inputs and suggestions.

In detail:

more images of the buildings discussed are needed particularly plans. It is sometimes difficult to follow the reasoning without the necessary visual aid;

The author added the plans for the four buildings designed by Cullinan, courtesy of Architects' Journal and originally published in 1973. Furthermore, I added one of the original diagrams by Edward Cullinan, to better describe the building process. The image is courtesy of Cullinan Studio.

Olivetti wrote a lot about the city and his idea of community; this should be referenced;

Thank you for pointing out this topic, the author added an entire part analysing Olivett’s books “La Citta dell’Uomo” and “L’Ordine Politico Delle Comunita’”: more than a literal reading of the books in Cullinan’s work (I have no evidence that Cullinan had the chance to read Olivetti’s work), I underlined the echo of Olivetti’s idea of community that can be found in Cullinan’s work and on his own practice. The changes have been implemented between Line 449 - 480

Conclusion feels a bit thin. It is needed a more rounded reasoning on the role of Cullinan as precursor of the sustainability and its balance with the idea of community.

I agree with the reviewer’s comment. This point too has been addressed between Line 481 and 501, quoting a Book Section written by Cullinan in 2000 and called “A personal vision of sustainable housing”.

FInally, as a final consideration, I want to thank the reviewer for their comment, I truly believe that an architectural history of sustainability pioneers is still to be written, and giving credit to Cullinan as one of these pioneers is certainly an improvement of my article.

Thank you again,
The author