Examination of Boris Johnson's 'built legacy' to Repeater

Repeater is to publish Nincompoopolis: The Follies of Boris Johnson, a new book by writer and architect Douglas Murphy examining the built legacy of Boris Johnson's tenure as Mayor of London.

The publisher holds world rights to the title which considers the buildings and projects commissioned under Johnson's tenure from the "ill-fated" Zhongrong Crystal Palace development and the Garden Bridge, to the controversial new Routemaster and Emirates cable car. It also examines the "folly" of Johnson’s policies on housing, transport and social equality, during a period of hyper gentrification and increasing inequality for London.

According to the publisher, "in a world where the built environment seems ever more shaped by invisible market forces, where modern architecture can seem to dissolve into a generic void, sometimes it takes a very special person to make a difference".

The publisher said: "Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was Mayor of London from 2008 until 2016, during which time he took a remarkably keen interest in the built environment, commissioning, guiding, and shaping all manner of different projects. With his achievements he showed us all that massive privilege, leaping ambition, no concern for detail and a wasp’s attention span needn’t hold you back when it comes to creating terrible architecture.

"Nincompoopolis examines the built legacy of Johnson’s tenure, from his embarrassing follies to the folly of his policies, and wonders if there’s anything that can be learned from letting someone like him have a go at one the world’s great cities. Covering both successful and failed projects including Olympic park and Anish Kapoor designed ArcelorMittal Orbit, the Emirates Cable Car, the new Routemaster, the Zhongrong Crystal Palace project, and the Garden Bridge, Nincompoopolis is a witty yet uncompromising account of Johnson’s tenure and London’s recent development."

Murphy is a writer and architect based in London. He is the author of the books Last Futures (Verso, 2016), a cultural history of the radical architecture of the 1960s and 70s, and The Architecture of Failure (Zero, 2012), which told the story of 19th century iron & glass architecture and its long influence on modernist culture.

Nincompoopolis be published on 21st September.