AN OXFORD professor has used his own illustrations of popular landmarks in the city for a new guide book.

Ian Davis trained as an architect and has had a varied career in architectural practice and education.

In 1971, he moved to Oxford to lecture in the School of Architecture at Oxford Polytechnic, later to become Oxford Brookes University.

He has written, co-authored or edited over 20 books on disaster planning and in 1996 he was awarded the United Nations Sasakawa Award for his contribution to International Disaster Prevention.

He is now Visiting Professor in Kyoto, Lund, and Oxford Brookes Universities, and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Europe.

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Prof Davis said: “The book takes a rather different slant from other guides to Oxford as it is probably the first to celebrate ways in which the city and university can be experienced using our varied senses, memories, emotions and spirits.

Oxford Mail:

“The book includes over a hundred of my drawings and watercolours that span the 49 years I have lived and taught in Oxford and many of my photographs of Oxford’s buildings and landscapes.

“One chapter describes reactions to Oxford by past and present writers.

“Other chapters include examples of ways to experience buildings, squares, streets, sculptures, stained glass and Oxford’s open spaces. Twelve sensory walks and climbs are provided.”

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The book brings together the professor’s lectures, walking tours, drawings and paintings resulting from work spanning almost 50 years.

Regarding the illustrations, Prof Davis wrote in the preface: “The drawings, paintings and landscapes seek to communicate the theme of the book.

“Some paintings were completed on the spot - others, set in some awkward viewpoint where it proved impossible to set up the paraphernalia of paints, brushes etc, were completed off site with the support of sketches and photographs. Many were painted specifically for this book while others were past commissions, created for use in teaching or personal pleasure.

“I hope the book will result in an active, rather than passive response.

“Therefore through the various chapters I have suggested some walks, and a few climbs to gain direct experience of the city.”

Fellow authors have paid tribute to Prof Davis’s efforts.

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Christina Hardyment, author of Writing the Thames, said: “Experiencing Oxford is without doubt the most stimulating book about the city I have come across, a wonderful left-field contribution to the plethora of Oxford guides.

“Davis has lived in Oxford for most of his life, used it as a tool to inspire generations of architecture students, painted and photographed it, and reflected deeply on its extraordinary sensory appeal.

"He knits ancient and modern into a multi-layered collage, rich in historical, literary and visual reference that is guaranteed to shake up your thinking. It is a wonderful book and the paintings are glorious.”

Experiencing Oxford by Ian Davis is published by Aveton Press, price £25,