The Ornament of London’s Buildings
10 February 2027 - 10 March 2027
10.45 – 12.45 Wednesdays
£86.00 – £357.00
Description
There are many strange figures over our heads: gods, monsters, great bursts of elaborate foliage. This course will introduce the (usually) sculpted embellishments of the buildings of London, some great and celebrated, others obscure. We will attempt to understand both what is represented and why. The lectures are arranged roughly chronologically, but the ancient heritage of the designs and figures used will be a repeating feature, and Gothic will not appear until the third talk when its appearance as a revival takes place. These – doubtless expensive and carefully considered – ornaments pass mostly unseen by 21st century Londoners and the aim of the course is to encourage attendees to look up, admire and enjoy with greater understanding.
“A lively and engaging series which ranged widely over the built environment. It took me a while “to get” Richard, initially finding him incousciant – almost boasting of his casual preparation for the talks. Gradually, it became apparent that this was self-deprecating which hides astonishing knowledge and scholarship. I’m now a firm fan!”
Course Outline
10 Feb 2027 – The Renaissance and Beyond in London and its Precedents
The course begins with those buildings which sought to revive the architecture and its sculpture of antiquity. To fully understand this, we need to look at the role of sculpted elements in the Roman past, but we will be looking at great buildings, religious as well as secular to see how contemporary demands shaped the ways buildings presented themselves.
17 Feb 2027 – The Long 18th Century
The eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries presented new opportunities, and even new media such as Mrs Coade’s Stone. On the one hand a way of enlivening the uniform brick of London’s new housing, on the other there were great new institutions: the government offices and the British Museum.
24 Feb 2027 – The Victorian Era
This lecture and the next will cover the most exuberant period of architectural sculpture (and other media). The 19th century was, of course, the period of the Gothic revival, and before considering this, we will jump back to the Middle Ages to consider briefly the sculpture of London’s few surviving medieval churches. There were also, of course, major new government buildings, which needed appropriate dress to make a suitable impression.
03 Mar 2027 – The Later 19th Century and Early 20th Century
This was perhaps the age of greatest sculptural creativity, even if the results may now look to us somewhat strange. Mixing high seriousness, commemorating the dead of the first war for example, with the entirely frivolous, such as decorating music halls. The exteriors of new suburbs are populated by bearded ancients now often unseen even by their residents.
10 Mar 2027 – Architectural Sculpture and Ornament in the Modern World
The final lecture will look at the ornament of the era of ‘make it new’ or for some ‘ornament is a crime’. Abstract patterns proliferate, or in some cases self-consciously ‘artistic’ additions. We will end by briefly considering the types of decoration favoured by those who reacted against the ‘purity’ of Modernism.