Researching Roger Connah

Connah studied architecture at Bristol University and Jesus College, Cambridge. In 1974, he moved to Helsinki, Finland, to study the work of architect Reima Pietilä, and worked in the office of Reima and Raili Pietilä until 1985. Connah has specialised in Finnish architecture and society, and has written numerous books on the subject, in particular on the life and works of architects Reima and Raili Pietilä and Alvar Aalto, as well as film director Aki Kaurismäki. Among his many publications is the book on Pietilä, Writing Architecture – Fantomas, Fragments, Fictions (An Architectural Journey through the Twentieth Century) (1989) which was awarded First Prize in the International Book Award in Architectural Theory and Criticism 1987–90 by CICA, the International Committee of Architectural Critics. Connah has also held and curated exhibitions, including 'KHAM' (Delhi, 1986) and 'Seven Famous Raincoats and a Moygashel' (1984). His films include 'Involuntary Architecture' (2005, with John Maruszczak).

In October 2008, Connah, together with John Maruszczak (and assisted by Ryan Manning), won first prize in the White House Redux competition; the competition invited people to design a new residence for the President of the USA. In the competition, the best ideas, designs, descriptions, images, and videos for a new White House were selected by some of the world's most distinguished designers and critics and, during October 2008, were on display at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, which, in association with Control Group, sponsored the contest. Connah and Maruszczak beat more than 500 other participants to win the competition. They stated that their submission was "an architectural folk-tale for the future, a hybrid representation using unusual poetics and a provocatively dislocated new media."