Cedric Price, one of Britain's most provocative and inspirational architectural thinkers of the past half century, has died aged 70.
A vociferous opponent of statement architecture, Price pioneered flexible, transient, expedient buildings. To this end, he was keen to exploit advanced technology in the form of lightweight, prefabricated and demountable components.

Educated at Cambridge University and the Architectural Association in London, Price began his own tiny practice in London in 1960. Over nearly four decades, it completed no more than a handful of buildings, including the aviary at London Zoo in 1961, designed with Lord Snowdon and engineer Frank Newby.

More influential were his unbuilt projects, many of them concepts that stretched the boundaries of architecture. His Fun Palace project of 1961 in east London for Joan Littlewood had a direct influence on Piano & Rogers' 1971 design for the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

The Potteries Thinkbelt project of 1964, a mobile university of converted railway carriages, influenced last year's Royal Gold Medallists Archigram's Walking City idea.

Price's former assistants include immediate RIBA past president Paul Hyett and Will Alsop, whose blobby forms overturn architectural conventions in the manner of his mentor.