One of the most boldly dissenting voices of our time, architectural and urban theorist Léon Krier (born 7 April 1946) has throughout his career rejected the commonly accepted practices of Modernist Urbanism, and helped to shape the ideals of the New Urbanism movement. Through his publications and city designs, Krier has changed the discourse of what makes a city successful and returned importance to the concept of community.

Town of Poundbury, England. Image © Andy Spain

One of the most boldly dissenting voices of our time, architectural and urban theorist Léon Krier (born 7 April 1946) has throughout his career rejected the commonly accepted practices of Modernist Urbanism, and helped to shape the ideals of the New Urbanism movement. Through his publications and city designs, Krier has changed the discourse of what makes a city successful and returned importance to the concept of community.
via Screenshot from video by The Berlage

Leon Krier was born and raised in Luxembourg where, along with his brother Rob, he took an interest in the progressive images and visions of Modernist architects and planners such as Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. Upon entering architecture school at the University of Stuttgart, however, Krier began to critically evaluate his beliefs, poking holes in Modernist theory and ultimately finding the majority of its ideals to be ?shallowly based.?[1] Instead, Krier started looking toward Cl...