A Short History of British Architecture

Autorentext
Simon Jenkins is author of the bestselling A Short History of England, A Short History of Europe, Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations, England's Thousand Best Churches and England's Thousand Best Houses. He is a former Editor of the Evening Standard and The Times, and columnist for the Guardian.

Klappentext

'Provocative, elegant, intriguing - Jenkins is a bold, imaginative writer, brilliant at challenging old assumptions and encouraging you to look at British architecture in a new light' Rory Stewart'Clear and admirably concise...a brilliant, blistering polemic against the architectural depredations of the past century' The Times The architecture of Britain is an art gallery all around us. From our streets to squares, through our cities, suburbs and villages, we are surrounded by magnificent buildings of eclectic styles. A Short History of British Architecture is the gripping and untold story of why Britain looks the way it does, from prehistoric Stonehenge to the lofty towers of today. Bestselling historian Simon Jenkins traces the relentless battles over the European traditions of classicism and gothic. He guides us from the gothic cathedrals of Lincoln, Ely and Wells to the 'prodigy' houses of the Tudor renaissance, and visits the great estates of Georgian London, the docks of Liverpool, the mills of Yorkshire and the chapels of south Wales. The arrival of modernism in the twentieth century politicised public taste, upheaved communities and sought to reconstruct entire cities. It produced Coventry Cathedral and Lloyd's of London, but also the brutalist monoliths of Sheffield's Park Hill, Glasgow's Cumbernauld and London's South Bank. Only in the 1970s did the public at last give voice to what became the conservation revolution - a movement in which Jenkins played a leading role, both as deputy chairman of English Heritage and chairman of the National Trust, and in the saving of iconic buildings such as St Pancras International and Covent Garden. Jenkins shows that everyone is a consumer of architecture and makes the case for the importance of everyone learning to speak its language. A Short History of British Architecture is a celebration of our national treasures, a lament of our failures - and a call to arms.

Zusammenfassung

Architecture wields great power a beautiful building inspires awe, an ugly building can oppress and is an art form unique in being all around us, all the time. But despite its importance and its ubiquity, architecture is a mystery to all but the elite few. In this spectacular history, Simon Jenkins reveals why Britain looks the way it does.

Starting with the earliest neolithic structures that have survived to today, we chart the arrival of classical and gothic styles from Europe, and see how generations of visionary architects and controversial planners picked their side and argued vehemently, only to be pummelled by another, more dogmatic European ideology: modernism, which swept across post-war Britain, pouring concrete on our landscapes and scorn on the wishes of the British public at large.

These characters have flaming passions and narrow-minded flaws, and the personalities of the buildings they left behind are even more vibrant. From smart classical terraces such as The Circus in Bath, and our glorious gothic cathedrals like York and Lincoln, to iconic brutalist monoliths such as Park Hill estate in Sheffield, we meet this island's most confident and captivating buildings, and uncover hidden gems whose faraway influences can be seen on their walls: like Portmeirion, an enchanting baroque village nestled on the unlikely shores of North Wales, or Scotland's Caerlaverock Castle with its echoes of Constantinople.

More recently, we chart the rise of conservation movements and nimby locals who, depending on your point of view, either save our most important treasures or petulantly block innovation and see what could have become of Britain's cities had some of the more outlandish plans not been stopped. Understanding this chaotic history leads to a new appreciation for the wonderfully diverse buildings that surround us, bringing renewed joy even to familiar streets.