The course provides a general introduction to the architecture of London from the 17th century to the present day. It examines the transformation of the city from a medieval to a recognisably modern metropolis; a change accelerated by the Great Fire of 1666. Special notice is given to the social and political changes in the periods studied and their impact on architectural developments. The course is based predominantly on field trips to relevant districts and buildings in London, and combines classroom lectures with field study activities.
Attendance policy:
Attendance is mandatory. The course is a mixture of lectures, and study visits as detailed below. All students are required to attend all classes and study trips, punctually. Students will automatically be downgraded for unexcused non-attendance. Students who are often late for class can also lose marks. Students are required to attend the one-off Friday study visit to Hampstead and to make their own trips to recommended sites. There are two research assignments in this course. First, students will be required to study, research and write a report about a specific London building during the semester which will utilise archival and library sources; and second, to undertake a research essay on a broader based architectural theme.
Learning outcomes:
Students who complete the course will:
Have developed a good understanding of the historical and architectural development of London from 1600 to the present day and understand the role of architecture in shaping the urban environment.
Be able to identify and explain significant developments in the architectural history of London and be able to discuss the main figures and influences in English architecture from the 17th century to the present.
Be able to identify and demonstrate familiarity with some of the important architectural landmarks of London.
Be able to describe and analyse architectural works with appropriate terminology.
Method of presentation:
Lectures (including PowerPoint projections and video sequences), seminar sessions, guided visits and tours to relevant museums and specific buildings throughout London (dating from c.1600 to the 21st century). Informal group discussions are encouraged during field trips and when visiting buildings.
Required work and form of assessment:
Class participation (10%)
Written mid-term exam (20%)
Research report of 1500 words on a specific London building (30%)
Research essay of 2500 words (40%)
Attendance is mandatory. The course is a mixture of lectures, and study visits as detailed below. All students are required to attend all classes and study trips, punctually. Students will automatically be downgraded for unexcused non-attendance. Students who are often late for class can also lose marks. Students are required to attend the one-off Friday study visit to Hampstead and to make their own trips to recommended sites. There are two research assignments in this course. First, students will be required to study, research and write a report about a specific London building during the semester which will utilise archival and library sources; and second, to undertake a research essay on a broader based architectural theme.
content:
Week 1: Introduction to London’s Architecture Lecture/seminar session: Overview of course; sources for London history and architecture; issues of planning, conservation, preservation and heritage. Administrative and exam arrangements; students to introduce themselves. Short visit to Bloomsbury and the British Museum including the new architecture of the Great Court and the Elgin Marbles.
Week 2: From Huguenot Houses to 21st Century Towers Visit to the Museum of London to explore the growth of London, followed by a walk to see buildings and developments on the edge of the City of London, including the Barbican, Broadgate developments, and the historic architecture of 17th century Spitalfields.
Week 3: Seventeenth Century London Lecture session looking at London in the 17th century and the works of two important architects - Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren. A short walk through Lincoln’s Inn Fields to Covent Garden including a visit to the church St Paul’s Covent Garden.
Week 4: Royal Magnificence in Greenwich Visit to Greenwich on the south bank of the Thames, including the interior of Inigo Jones’s Queen’s House and Christopher Wren’s former Royal Hospital for Seamen, followed by a short walk in Greenwich Park and town centre.
Week 5: The Historic and Financial Heart of the City of London A visit to the City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor; the City markets and exchanges; and a look at the new modern architecture of the City institutions.
Week 6: The Development of London in the 18th and 19th Centuries Lecture session looking at the growth of London in the Georgian and Victorian periods. A walk through selected West End squares to the magnificent 19th century All Saints Church in Margaret Street.
Week 7: Old and New Lecture session and video about London in the 20th century followed by: Option 1 - an architectural tour of Benjamin Franklin’s House (c.1730) - a well preserved and unaltered 18th century Grade I listed building. Franklin is considered the father of electricity and was a writer, experimenter, printer and founder of the United States; or Option 2 - a visit to Dr. Samuel Johnson’s House built in 1700 and restored to its original condition, with panelled rooms, a pine staircase, and a collection of period furniture, prints and portraits. It was a home and workplace for Samuel Johnson (1748-1759), and it was here that he compiled the first comprehensive English Dictionary.
Week 8: An Inner London Suburb A visit to Islington and Clerkenwell looking at the growth of an inner London suburb from the 17th to 20th century, including the provision of public housing in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Week 9: Pleasure and Leisure A visit to the Museum area of South Kensington including the architecture of two major museums – The Natural History Museum and the V & A, followed by a walking tour of Knightsbridge.
Week 10: The Heart of London’s government Visit to the public architecture of Westminster, including Westminster Cathedral, Whitehall, Houses of Parliament, and Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House. We will end at Trafalgar Square.
Week 11: Along the South Bank A linear walk from the London Eye to London Bridge looking at the varied architecture of the South Bank. Includes short visits to the National Theatre, Tate Modern, Borough Market and the oldest surviving coaching inn in London.
Week 12: The Regeneration and Transformation of Docklands Visit to London’s new financial district, located on the Isle of Dogs east of the City; formerly 19th century docks. The walking tour concludes with a visit to the Museum in Docklands, located in a surviving 19th century warehouse.
Students are advised that under certain circumstances, outside the control of the tutor, it may be necessary to cancel, reschedule or offer an alternative visit to any listed in the schedule. The exact properties visited each semester will differ depending on annual openings and restoration programmes connected with the properties.
Required readings:
Porter, Roy; London - A Social History, Penguin 2000, [ISBN 0-14-0242-38-4] An approachable general history.
Summerson, John; Architecture in Britain 1530-1830, Yale University Press 1993, [ISBN 0-300-05886-1] Not only about London, but an excellent background to the styles and significant designers of this period.
Recommended readings:
Allinson, Ken; London’s Contemporary Architecture - A Visitor’s Guide, 3rd edition, Architectural Press 2003, [ISBN 0-7506-5848-7] Useful for modern buildings.
Bold, John and Hinchcliffe, Tanis; Discovering London’s Buildings, Francis Lincoln Publishing, 2009, [ISBN 978-0-7112-2918-1] Based on a series of walks.
Dixon, Roger and Muthesius, Stefan; Victorian Architecture, Thames & Hudson 1987, [ISBN 0-500-20160-9] A reference book crammed with details but also a good survey of the period.
Foxell, Simon, Mapping London: Making sense of the City, Black Dog, 2007 [ISBN 0-978-906155-070] A great book to browse.
Inwood, Steven, A History of London, Macmillan 1998 [ISBN 0-333-67153-8] A general history similar to Roy Porter.
Jones, Edward and Woodward, Christopher, A guide to the Architecture of London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2009 [ISBN 0-978-0-297-85516-3] Entries for individual buildings – great for self-guided exploration.
McKellar, Elizabeth; The Birth of Modern London, Manchester University Press 1999, [ISBN 0-7190-4076-0] A specialist historical investigation of house building in the period 1660-1700.
Pevsner, Nikolaus and others; The Buildings of England series, Yale University Press. London is covered in five volumes. The most relevant to the course are No.1 (City of London) and No.6 (Westminster), although we go into the areas of the other four. Good general introductions and building-by-building facts and comments.
Sheppard, Francis; London - A History, Oxford University Press 2000, [ISBN 0-19-822922-4] Another good general history with excellent sections on the leasehold system and other architectural matters.
Summerson, John; The Classical Language of Architecture, Thames and Hudson, 1980, [ISBN 0-500-20177-3] The best short guide to the dominant style in London in the period we are studying.
Summerson, John; Georgian London, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies, 2003, [ISBN 10-0500201773] A great read for getting an overview of the period.
Sutcliffe, Anthony; London: an Architectural History, Yale New Haven Press, 2006, [ISBN 0300110065] A good general survey.
Other Resources:
ONLINE
English Heritage Survey of London. A series of detailed books begun in 1900 and still running. All but the most recent volumes are online at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/catalogue.aspx?gid=74[2]. You can browse or search. The early ones better for pictures than text, but after the 1960s, they become in-depth investigations with fascinating incidental information. Also available in hard copy in reference libraries.
Notes:
This course is offered during the regular semester and in the summer. For summer sections, the course schedule is condensed, but the content, learning outcomes, and contact hours are the same.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Alan Powers studied History of Art at Cambridge and wrote a doctoral thesis on the history of architectural education in Britain around 1900. He has mainly taught in schools of architecture, most recently at the University of Greenwich, while also writing articles and reviews on architecture and design, and a number of books on British architecture in the twentieth century, including Britain in the series ‘Modern Architectures in History’ for Reaktion Books, 2007, the only book so far to survey the whole period from 1900 to 2000. He has a long involvement with the conservation of twentieth century buildings through the Twentieth Century Society, and was the Chairman of the Society 2007-12. He has curated a number of exhibitions about art, architecture and design in his field, most recently Eros to the Ritz: 100 years of street architecture at the Royal Academy (to 27 January 2013).
Suzanne Waters has a background in both art and architectural history. She has a Master’s degree in the history of modern architecture, from University College. She has been teaching architectural history at Birkbeck College, University of London since 2000, and at IES Abroad London since 2006. She also has over 20 years experience in arts and heritage. She has worked at the Museum of London on a project charting London’s historic buildings and archaeological sites and at English Heritage as a historic records reviewer and as a researcher for the Survey of London contributing to their volumes on Clerkenwell (published 2008). She is currently working on a project at the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) cataloguing the drawings of the British architect Sir Denys Lasdun. She is a trustee of the Twentieth Century Society, one of the national amenity groups, which campaigns for the preservation of twentieth century British architecture. She recently contributed to the Hackney Society publication, Modern, Restored, Forgotten, Ignored: 40 Buildings to Mark 40 Years of the Hackney Society (2009).
The Architecture Of London: 1600-Present Day
The course provides a general introduction to the architecture of London from the 17th century to the present day. It examines the transformation of the city from a medieval to a recognisably modern metropolis; a change accelerated by the Great Fire of 1666. Special notice is given to the social and political changes in the periods studied and their impact on architectural developments. The course is based predominantly on field trips to relevant districts and buildings in London, and combines classroom lectures with field study activities.
Attendance is mandatory. The course is a mixture of lectures, and study visits as detailed below. All students are required to attend all classes and study trips, punctually. Students will automatically be downgraded for unexcused non-attendance. Students who are often late for class can also lose marks. Students are required to attend the one-off Friday study visit to Hampstead and to make their own trips to recommended sites. There are two research assignments in this course. First, students will be required to study, research and write a report about a specific London building during the semester which will utilise archival and library sources; and second, to undertake a research essay on a broader based architectural theme.
Students who complete the course will:
Lectures (including PowerPoint projections and video sequences), seminar sessions, guided visits and tours to relevant museums and specific buildings throughout London (dating from c.1600 to the 21st century). Informal group discussions are encouraged during field trips and when visiting buildings.
Attendance is mandatory. The course is a mixture of lectures, and study visits as detailed below. All students are required to attend all classes and study trips, punctually. Students will automatically be downgraded for unexcused non-attendance. Students who are often late for class can also lose marks. Students are required to attend the one-off Friday study visit to Hampstead and to make their own trips to recommended sites. There are two research assignments in this course. First, students will be required to study, research and write a report about a specific London building during the semester which will utilise archival and library sources; and second, to undertake a research essay on a broader based architectural theme.
Week 1: Introduction to London’s Architecture Lecture/seminar session: Overview of course; sources for London history and architecture; issues of planning, conservation, preservation and heritage. Administrative and exam arrangements; students to introduce themselves. Short visit to Bloomsbury and the British Museum including the new architecture of the Great Court and the Elgin Marbles.
Week 2: From Huguenot Houses to 21st Century Towers Visit to the Museum of London to explore the growth of London, followed by a walk to see buildings and developments on the edge of the City of London, including the Barbican, Broadgate developments, and the historic architecture of 17th century Spitalfields.
Week 3: Seventeenth Century London Lecture session looking at London in the 17th century and the works of two important architects - Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren. A short walk through Lincoln’s Inn Fields to Covent Garden including a visit to the church St Paul’s Covent Garden.
Week 4: Royal Magnificence in Greenwich Visit to Greenwich on the south bank of the Thames, including the interior of Inigo Jones’s Queen’s House and Christopher Wren’s former Royal Hospital for Seamen, followed by a short walk in Greenwich Park and town centre.
Week 5: The Historic and Financial Heart of the City of London A visit to the City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor; the City markets and exchanges; and a look at the new modern architecture of the City institutions.
Week 6: The Development of London in the 18th and 19th Centuries Lecture session looking at the growth of London in the Georgian and Victorian periods. A walk through selected West End squares to the magnificent 19th century All Saints Church in Margaret Street.
Week 7: Old and New Lecture session and video about London in the 20th century followed by: Option 1 - an architectural tour of Benjamin Franklin’s House (c.1730) - a well preserved and unaltered 18th century Grade I listed building. Franklin is considered the father of electricity and was a writer, experimenter, printer and founder of the United States; or Option 2 - a visit to Dr. Samuel Johnson’s House built in 1700 and restored to its original condition, with panelled rooms, a pine staircase, and a collection of period furniture, prints and portraits. It was a home and workplace for Samuel Johnson (1748-1759), and it was here that he compiled the first comprehensive English Dictionary.
Week 8: An Inner London Suburb A visit to Islington and Clerkenwell looking at the growth of an inner London suburb from the 17th to 20th century, including the provision of public housing in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Week 9: Pleasure and Leisure A visit to the Museum area of South Kensington including the architecture of two major museums – The Natural History Museum and the V & A, followed by a walking tour of Knightsbridge.
Week 10: The Heart of London’s government Visit to the public architecture of Westminster, including Westminster Cathedral, Whitehall, Houses of Parliament, and Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House. We will end at Trafalgar Square.
Week 11: Along the South Bank A linear walk from the London Eye to London Bridge looking at the varied architecture of the South Bank. Includes short visits to the National Theatre, Tate Modern, Borough Market and the oldest surviving coaching inn in London.
Week 12: The Regeneration and Transformation of Docklands Visit to London’s new financial district, located on the Isle of Dogs east of the City; formerly 19th century docks. The walking tour concludes with a visit to the Museum in Docklands, located in a surviving 19th century warehouse.
Students are advised that under certain circumstances, outside the control of the tutor, it may be necessary to cancel, reschedule or offer an alternative visit to any listed in the schedule. The exact properties visited each semester will differ depending on annual openings and restoration programmes connected with the properties.
ONLINE
This course is offered during the regular semester and in the summer. For summer sections, the course schedule is condensed, but the content, learning outcomes, and contact hours are the same.
Alan Powers studied History of Art at Cambridge and wrote a doctoral thesis on the history of architectural education in Britain around 1900. He has mainly taught in schools of architecture, most recently at the University of Greenwich, while also writing articles and reviews on architecture and design, and a number of books on British architecture in the twentieth century, including Britain in the series ‘Modern Architectures in History’ for Reaktion Books, 2007, the only book so far to survey the whole period from 1900 to 2000. He has a long involvement with the conservation of twentieth century buildings through the Twentieth Century Society, and was the Chairman of the Society 2007-12. He has curated a number of exhibitions about art, architecture and design in his field, most recently Eros to the Ritz: 100 years of street architecture at the Royal Academy (to 27 January 2013).
Suzanne Waters has a background in both art and architectural history. She has a Master’s degree in the history of modern architecture, from University College. She has been teaching architectural history at Birkbeck College, University of London since 2000, and at IES Abroad London since 2006. She also has over 20 years experience in arts and heritage. She has worked at the Museum of London on a project charting London’s historic buildings and archaeological sites and at English Heritage as a historic records reviewer and as a researcher for the Survey of London contributing to their volumes on Clerkenwell (published 2008). She is currently working on a project at the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) cataloguing the drawings of the British architect Sir Denys Lasdun. She is a trustee of the Twentieth Century Society, one of the national amenity groups, which campaigns for the preservation of twentieth century British architecture. She recently contributed to the Hackney Society publication, Modern, Restored, Forgotten, Ignored: 40 Buildings to Mark 40 Years of the Hackney Society (2009).