Peter Salter

Career in practice

In the early 1980s, Peter Salter worked for Alison and Peter Smithson, founding members of Team X, the successor group to CIAM.

In the 1980s, Salter collaborated with Christopher Macdonald (former Director of the University of British Columbia School of Architecture) under the name Macdonald and Salter. They produced a series of speculative projects that remain unbuilt. The projects are well known for their highly developed and evocative drawings, which are concerned with qualities of construction and spatial atmosphere. In 1990, Macdonald and Salter designed a temporary building, a folly, for the International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka. Other contributors to the Exposition included Peter Cook and Christine Hawley, Architektburo Bolles-Wilson, Morphosis, Coop Himmelb(l)au, and Zaha Hadid, among others.

Salter periodically engages in practice and is currently working a series of bespoke houses for developer Crispin Kelly of Baylight Properties. Kelly was a former student of Salter.

Academic career

In the 1980s and 1990s Salter taught at the Architectural Association, where he also earned his Diploma. While at the AA, he often served as Unit Master with Christopher Macdonald, which led them to the design collaboration under the name Macdonald and Salter.

In 1995 Salter took over from Ron Herron (a member of the design partnership Archigram) as the professor and Head of School at the University of East London. Salter has since taught at the University of Bath and is now Professor of Architectural design at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University. In 2004 Salter won the Royal Institute of British Architects Annie Spink award for his outstanding contribution to architectural education. This prize was awarded jointly with Wolf Prix.

Notable students of Salter include Peter St. John of Caruso St. John, Louisa Hutton of Sauerbruch Hutton, and Margrét Hardardóttir of Studio Granda.

Publications

Buildings