 Throughout the 1930s, he promoted modernism, with the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" commenting that he "saw the logic of this as a bright new future for society", although he later campaigned for 'new monumentalism' and 'new empiricism', before going on to favour the "picturesque" in town planning, in reaction to the more rigid axial-planning which was fashionable at the time amongst architectural circles; this led to his promotion of the notion of "township" and his criticism of poor planning in British architecture.A special publication of the "Review" which highlighted his criticisms was produced and influenced the creation of the Civic Trust.In recognition of his service to architecture in Britain, he became the first architectural editor to receive the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects; their citation described him as a "leading campaigner in drawing attention to many of the most crucial and controversial issues that have concerned the architectural profession in this century."