peter reyner banham was an english architectural critic and writer. he was born in norwich, england in 1922. he studied at the courtauld institute of art in london and gained a degree in engineering from bristol aircraft during the second world war. he was known for his theoretical treatise theory and design in the first machine age (1960) and for his 1971 book los angeles: the architecture of four ecologies. he was also an editor of architectural review (1952) and wrote for the local paper in norwich. he died in london in 1988.