What changes the accepted Styles of architecture in Britain?
This analysis sets out to examine through a time frame what changes the Styles of architecture in Britain.
The discussed Styles of architecture are listed in chronological order along with their durations.
The key events at the start and at the end of these style periods are then noted and conclusions drawn from the data.
Sources:
For the initial structure the Pevsner Architectural Guide Series as open to the public on the website ‘http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/index.html’
For the historical data general Internet links
Year: 0 – 43
Style:
Pre-Roman A Style of Architecture created in Western Europe.
Duration:
43 Years
Initial Event:
A land bridge between Europe, France and Britain.
The flooding over of the land bridge.
Human Occupation of the Islands of Britain.
Closing Event:
Roman Occupation
Year:
43 – 410
Style:
Roman. A Style of Architecture created in Mid Europe
Duration:
367 Years
Initial Event:
Roman Occupation
Closing Event:
Roman Retreat
Year:
410 – 600
Style:
Anglo Saxon. A Style of Architecture created in North Western Europe
Duration:
466 Years
Initial Event:
Roman Retreat
Closing Event:
Anglo Saxon Occupation
Immigration of Peoples from North Western Europe in to England
Year:
1066 – 1100
Style:
Saxon Norman
Duration:
34 Years
Initial Event:
Norman Invasion
Closing Event:
New Monarch Henry l
A Style of Architecture created in France
Year:
1066 – 1200
Style:
Norman
A Style of Architecture created in France.
Duration:
134 Years
Initial Event:
Norman Invasion
Closing Event:
King John gains parts of Anjou territory.
England and Angevin Empire joined together.
Year:
1160 – 1280
Style:
Early English.
A Style of Architecture created in France but changing to a
clear English State Form.
Duration:
120 Years
Initial Event:
England, Normandy, Anjou and Maine linked through Young Henry,
son of Henry ll King of England Edward l establishes Royal Power
over the state.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
Ongoing Wars and Rebellion with Wales and Scotland.
The English King paying Tribute to the King of France.
Year:
1160 – 1650
Style:
Gothic
A Style of Architecture created in France
Duration:
490 Years
Initial Event:
England, Normandy, Anjou and Maine linked through
Young Henry, son of Henry ll King of England
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The re-establishment of the Stuart Dynasty fails during the time of the
English Commonwealth.
The link to French rule ends again and Charles Stuart ll escapes back to France.
Year:
1240 – 1290
Style:
Geometric. A Style of Architecture created in France but changing to a
clear English State Form
Duration:
50 Years
Initial Event:
Henry lll invades Poitou, France to regain his lands.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
Edward l establishes Royal Power over the state.
Ongoing Wars and Rebellion with Wales and Scotland.
The English King paying Tribute to the King of France.
Year:
1290 – 1400
Style:
Decorated
A Style of Architecture created in France and the Netherlands but
changing to a clear English State in a European Mercantile Form.
Duration:
110 Years
Initial Event:
Edward l establishes Royal Power over the state.
Ongoing Wars and Rebellion with Wales and Scotland.
The English King paying Tribute to the King of France.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
John of Gaunt Dies
Ongoing Wars and Rebellions in all countries of Britain
Henry lV, King of England, Lord of Ireland takes over from his deposed first cousin
Richard l and begins to create a new state.
Year:
1320 – 1650
Style:
Perpendicular
A style of Architecture created in France but enhanced to ultimate level
through the hammer beam roof, the fan vault form, the flying buttress,
open interiors and more perforated wall constructions of glass and
limited stone tracery.The hammer beam form may also have its origins
in garret forms of ship construction, siege towers allowing firing platforms
and stave church roof construction.
Duration:
330 Years
Initial Event:
The end of the rein of Edward ll
The more stable rein of Edward lll
Ongoing Wars and Rebellions with Scotland
A claim to the French throne by the English King.
One hundred Years of War between Plantagenet and Valois families for the
throne of France.
Military Engineering assisting construction techniques.
England losing its lands in France.
Britain limited to its island boundaries.
The onset of plague and internal rebellions in Britain.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The re-establishment of the Stuart Dynasty fails during the time of the
English Commonwealth. The failure again to link France and England.
Charles Stuart ll escapes to France.
Year:
1490 – 1610
Style:
Tudor
The ongoing use of brickwork in the perpendicular
The ongoing use of timber construction in the perpendicular
The development of Architecture into the domestic forms.
The first architecture in Britain linked to a mass communication media world
as the new printing press (1436) allows more information to be made
available to the public.
Duration:
120 Years
Initial Event:
The initial failed attempt by Henry VII to link France and England under one King.
The later successful attempt to become King of England and Lord of Ireland.
The linking of the royal houses of Lancaster and York.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The end of the Tudor dynasty with the death of Elizabeth l and the succession
of James l
Year:
1530 – 2014
Style:
Classical
A Renaissance, a rebirth, of the original classical orders in new arrangements.
Duration:
484
Initial Event:
Henry Vlll, King of England.
An Act of Royal Supremacy declares the Sovereign of England to be the head of
the Church of England. This breaks the ties with the Roman Catholic (Universal)
Church in Rome.
The construction of Hampton Court in the renaissance style with classical detailing.
This had links to Rome and European Influence. The building was replaced by a
Tudor, brick form relating back to the perpendicular English forms of architecture.
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain
in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing due to the style still being associated with authority, prestige,
aesthetic ideals, economic and political power.
Year:
1530 – 1660
Style:
Renaissance
A Renaissance, a rebirth, of the original classical orders in new arrangements.
Duration:
130 Years
Initial Event:
Henry Vlll, King of England.
An Act of Royal Supremacy declares the Sovereign of England to be the head of
the Church of England. This breaks the ties with the Roman Catholic (Universal)
Church in Rome.
The construction of Hampton Court in the renaissance style with classical detailing.
This renaissance form had links to Rome and European Influence.
The building was replaced by a Tudor, brick form relating back to the perpendicular and so more English forms of architecture.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The restoration of Charles Stuart ll as King of England.
Year:
1560 – 1610
Style:
Elizabethan
The style originates in the low countries and spreads into England.
The style incorporates existing elements from the Tudor period, remodels, adapts and embellishes them. Brick is used as infill. Timber as expressed structure.
The English buildings proclaim their independence from the European Styles
of the classical through the use of stone as classical overlay.
The internal uses of the main rooms alter.
Duration:
50 Years
Initial Event:
Elizabeth l, becomes Queen of England.
England becomes the embodiment of the Monarch.
English sea power, exploration, trade and colonization increases.
The end of the English Reformation of the Church.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The end of the Tudor dynasty with the death of Elizabeth l and the succession
of James l
Year:
1605 – 1630
Style:
Jacobean (Latin form of the name ‘James’)
The incorporation of classical ‘ renaissance’ motifs into the Tudor Architectural
A mannerist, decorative, form of the original classical orders and arrangement.
Duration:
25 Years
Initial Event:
The accession to the throne of England by James l
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The accession to the throne of England by Charles l
Year:
1615 – 1840
Style:
Palladian – From the Works of Andrea Palladio.
Duration:
225 Years
Initial Event:
Indigo Jones visits Italy and studies the works of Andrea Palladio.
He then becomes the general surveyor of James l bringing the Palladian
architectural style into use in England.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The accession to the throne of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by Victoria.
The establishment of Great Britain as the dominating world power.
Multiple forms of revivalist architectural Styles were used for numerous levels
of prestige purpose instead of the singular use of a revivalist classical or Palladian order.
Year:
1620 – 1700
Style:
Artisan Mannerism
With the advent of pattern books. Non-Architects could assemble buildings as a
series of elements in a multi-language form. Hence the term Artisan Mannerism
Duration:
80 Years
Initial Event:
The accession to the throne of England by James l
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The death of William lll
Year:
1660 – 1750
Style:
Baroque (‘rough or imperfect pearl’)
The extension of the Artisan Mannerism from renaissance Mannerist traditions
through pattern books to produce an exuberant, multi-language, form of Architecture.
The style comes out of a time of the Protectorate.
It is a time of expansion of learning, military might and Britain as a European power.
It is also a period of unrest, Civil wars, religious intolerance and political uncertainty.
The Restoration solves the entire crisis and places the three kingdoms of
England Ireland and Scotland, with Wales as a Principality, under the rule of
one sovereign and one parliament.
Duration:
90 Years
Initial Event:
The restoration of Charles ll.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
The style ends with the removal of a craft based, hand-made, culture in favour
of the Mechanized, utility of the Industrial Revolution.
The industrial revolution creates a change in the country to a consumerist economy more dependent on trade economics of import and export and debt to achieve investment and growth. It begins the era of mass use of fossil fuels and so creates the conditions of the depletion era of our own age. It is the ultimate expression of the Baroque flamboyance.
Year:
1650 – 2014
Style:
Gothic Revival
This is the counterpoint architectural style to the mannerist classicism of the Baroque.
Consequently it was considered to be a form that expressed a barbaric architecture
in late medieval form. It highlights the variation in political-religious belief in
Britain from the Republican Protestantism to Sovereign State Multiple Churches
to Democratised Sovereign State Multiple Churches including Anglicized Catholicism.
It is still in debate today as a philosophy of prestige or expression through architectural style even in a minimalist or parametric form.
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Duration:
304 Years
Initial Event:
The end of the reign of Charles l
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in
Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years
1715 – 1830
Style:
Georgian
Colen Campbell, Architect, writes ‘Vitruvius Britannicus’. A 3 volume
manuscript on Palladian Architects and Architects. It establishes an architecturally,
independent, form that uses the reduced classical detailing reminiscent of the early Tudor form of post dissolution England but includes the Palladian Classicism variations and so maintain its links to Europe.
It acknowledges the recent formation of the single Sovereign State of United
Kingdom of Great Britain from England, including the Principality of Wales, and
Scotland and also the same Sovereign over Ireland.
It is a unification and clarity of forms and meanings.
It is the change in the Sovereign from the House of Stuart to the House of Hanover.
From French influence to Germanic influence.
It is noticeably Western European in its simplicity of expression.
Duration:
115 Years
Initial Event:
The death of Queen Anne and the beginning of the reign of George l
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The end of the reign of George lV and the beginning of the reign of William lV
The style ends with the replacement of the Georgian Baroque attitude of
George lV with the utilitarian, constitutionally appointed, attitude of the
Sovereign William lV.
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Years
1730 – 1780
Style:
Rococo
A Style of architecture originating; like the Sovereign George ll; from
outside Britain in the Germanic and Northern central European countries and
particularly in France.
The French influence also re-appears in Britain through Scotland with the last of
the Jacobite Rebellion attempts to reinstate the House of Stuart.
The form of the style is applied decoration motifs over plain background. Not as
enhancement but as pure, asymmetric, decoration.
The Rococo may be a reaction to the Sovereigns preoccupation with leisure,
sport pursuits and fashion. A Sovereign thoroughly linked to the European
context of the time.
Duration:
50 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of George ll
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The reign of George lll
The European influence ends with the next Sovereign George lll being born in Britain.
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all. The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Years:
1740 – 1800
Style:
Chinoiserie (‘Chinese-Esque’, ‘Chinese-Like’)
The style comes out of the expansion of the imperial powers into the Middle East and Asia.
It is influenced by the ocean trade of the East India Companies through Holland
and England, by the porcelain trade, by the Delft porcelain manufacturing process.
It links to the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
It is an embellishment of rococo decoration over form through applied decoration.
A beautification for pleasure.
It relates to
The extension of the empire of Great Britain into America, Europe, India and Asia.
The age marks the development of what in our age, have been called ‘superpowers’.
In the context of the time the superpowers were Great Britain, Prussia, Portugal,
with allies against France, Spain, Austria, Russia, and Sweden with allies.
The victory of the Great Britain, Prussia, Portugal, with allies group allows those
countries to reestablish the map of Europe, and within their own countries.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
The style reduces after the union of the countries of Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
Duration:
60 Years
Initial Event:
The end of the reign of George ll. The reign of George lll.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The reign of George lV The extravagant, ‘fashion-driven’, art of the Regency era.
The architectural designs of John Nash.
Years:
1730 – 1840
Style:
Gothik, (Neo-Gothic)
The counterpoint architectural style to the mannerist classicism of the Baroque
taken to extreme expressionism with the assistance of the Rococo and the
Chinoiserie.
A Neo-form that expresses a barbarism, a gloom, a horror, the sublime, through
mannerist, interweaving, architectural, decoration and form.
It highlights the variation in political-religious belief in Britain from the Republican
Protestantism to Sovereign State Multiple Churches to Democratised Sovereign
State Multiple Churches including Anglicized Catholicism. It is still in debate
today as a philosophy of prestige or expression through architectural style
even in a minimalist or de-constructivist, parametric form.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal
of absolute monarchies.
Duration:
110 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of George ll
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The reign of Victoria.
Years:
1760 – 1850
Style:
Neo-Classical
The Neo-Classical takes the original forms of multiple architectural styles and
translates them into a mannerist recreation, of the unreal, the manufactured, the
false but admired, the ‘picturesque.’
It is a mannerist return to the re-examination of the arts, literature, traditions of the ancient world and Greek and Roman orders in the context of a new age.
It is influenced by the extension of Great Britain into a world trade and military Empire.
The reign of George lV
The extravagant, ‘fashion-driven’, art of the Regency era.
The architectural designs of John Nash.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the year 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Duration:
90 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of George lll
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
George lV dies. The reign of William IV
The style ends with the replacement of the extravagant attitude of George lV with the utilitarian, constitutionally appointed, attitude of the Sovereign
William lV.
Years:
1760 – 1820
Style:
Adam
The Adam style developed by Robert Adam from the styles of Indigo Jones related to Palladian Architecture as developed from the classical in the renaissance.
The style is fixed within the classical orders but develops them in accordance with the Palladian tradition.
Robert Adam was Architect of the King's Works from 1761 to 1769 during the reign of George lll.
It is still a mannerist return to the re-examination of the arts, literature, traditions of the ancient world and Greek and Roman orders in the context of a new age.
It is influenced by
The extension of Great Britain into a world trade and military Empire.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the year 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
The style ends with the replacement of the classical forms with the extravagant attitude of George lV
Duration:
60 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of George lll
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The reign of George lV
Years:
1760 – 1861
Style:
Greek Revival
The style is a mannerist response to the new leisure activity of ‘tourism’
The style is the creation of James Stuart and Nicholas Revett through their 1762
book ‘The Antiquities of Athens’
The style also refers to Julien-David Le Roy's ‘Ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grèce from 1758.
The style is supplemented by early archeological surveys of the ancient sites.
The Greek revival style attempts to implant the achievements of the ancient cultures of Greece into a new context to create immediate prestige for a client, patron.
It is influenced by
The extension of Great Britain into a world trade and military Empire.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Duration:
101 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of George ll
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The style ends with the replacement of the classical forms with the extravagant
attitude of George lV
The end of the Greek revolutionary wars to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire mark the end of the idea of a classical form of Greece still existing.
Into the reign of Queen Victoria the style is influenced by the death of the Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the widowhood of Queen Victoria and the placing of the country into a state of mourning.
Years:
1770 – 1920
Style:
Picturesque
The ‘Picturesque’ takes the original forms of multiple architectural styles and
translates them into a mannerist recreation, of the unreal, the manufactured,
the false but admired, the ‘picture-like.’
It is influenced by
The extension of Great Britain into a world trade and military Empire.
The reign of George lV
The extravagant, ‘fashion-driven’, art of the Regency era.
The architectural designs of John Nash.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The removal of absolute monarchies.
Duration:
150 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of George ll
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in
1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The style ends with the beginning of the reign of George V.
This era includes the removal of the potential faking of reality through the advent
of mass photography and movies.
It marks the beginning of the age of Socialism with the Russian Revolution and the growing Socialist consciousness in Great Britain.
It marks the economic struggle after World War l culminating in the World Economic Depression of 1929.
The State, Arts and the Self are gradually exposed and then broken down into
components that are examined and defined.
It is the end of the age of the self- deception and ‘picturesque’ illusions.
Need and Utility replace the Picturesque.
The revolutions around the year 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Years:
1800 – 1840
Style:
Regency
The reign of George lll marks the Act of Union forming the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland.
The style is a set of fashionable, mannerist, neo-classicism forms with
minimal decorative ironwork.
The use of a complete architectural form to induce the notion of ‘elegance’.
It is influenced by
The extension of Great Britain into a world trade and military Empire.
The reign of George lV
The extravagant, ‘fashion-driven’, art of the Regency era.
The architectural designs of John Nash.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the year 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Duration:
40 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of George lll
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
Closing Event:
The reign of Victoria. Her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
The subsequent extension of a British, then pan-European interrelated dynasty
and culture through her children.
Years:
1830 – 1890
Style:
Italianate
The Italianate form was first attributed to the architectural designs of John Nash.
Palladianism, Neo-Classicism and Renaissance order are combined in a
‘picturesque’ mannerist form.
It incorporates
The Enlightenment Movement in Great Britain.
The Philosophy of Liberalism founded on the revolutionary aspirations of Liberty
and Equality for all.
The prevention of the Sovereign from interfering in Parliament
The revolutions around the Year: 1848 in Europe leading to the removal of absolute monarchies.
Duration:
60 Years
Initial Event:
George lV dies.
The beginning of the reign of William lV.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The reign of Victoria. Her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
The subsequent extension of a British, then pan-European interrelated dynasty
and culture through her children.
Years:
1865 – 1900
Style:
Aesthetic
This is the antithesis of the scientific method. It is a style founded on the principles
of peculiarity, oddity and symbolism against the rational.
The seeking out of the methods and materials to create ‘beauty’ rather than
‘manufactured product’.
It forces the re-emergence of a wealthy artisan class and the identification
of the term ‘designer’.
It incorporates the Arts and Crafts Movement.
It responds as a reaction against the Industrial revolution and industrial Great Britain as exemplified in the Great Exhibition.
It seeks happiness for the worker through aesthetics and is therefore ineffective.
Duration:
35 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of Victoria
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The end of the reign of Victoria
Years:
1865 – 1940
Style:
Arts and Crafts
This is the antithesis of the scientific method. It is a style founded on the principles
of peculiarity, oddity and symbolism against the rational. The seeking out of the
methods and materials to create ‘beauty’ rather than ‘manufactured product’.
It forces the re-emergence of a wealthy artisan class and the identification of
the term ‘designer’.
It attempts to establish a new interpretation of the medieval period as an era of
socialism rather than feudalism, serfdom and absolute monarchy.
It incorporates the Aesthetic Movement.
It responds as a reaction against the Industrial revolution and industrial Great Britain
as exemplified in the Great Exhibition.
It seeks happiness for the worker through aesthetics and is therefore ineffective.
Duration:
75 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of Victoria
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in
1909,1919,1925,1932,1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
It ends with the outbreak of the Second World War and the re-establishment of a need then utility style.
Years:
1890 – 1920
Style:
Art Nouveau
A style that utilizes natural forms as influences over the structural and decorative
elements of Architecture. The earliest examples in Britain are developed from the Arts and Crafts Movement.
It is European in origin in Belgium, France and Spain.
It also appears in domestic architecture in Scotland.
Duration:
30 Years
Initial Event:
The end of the reign of Victoria
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The style ends with the reign of George V.
The style ends in an era that embraces the removal of the potential faking of reality through the advent of mass photography and movies.
It marks the beginning of the age of Socialism with the Russian Revolution and the growing Socialist consciousness in Great Britain.
It marks the economic struggle after World War l culminating in the World Economic Depression of 1929.
The State, Arts and the Self are gradually exposed and then broken down into
components that are examined and defined.
It is the end of the age of the self- deception and ‘picturesque revivalist’ illusions.
Years:
1865 – 1900
Style:
Neo-Queen Anne
A mannerist style that grew out of the Arts and Crafts Movement but utilizing
elements of the last part of the Stuart era.
Duration:
35 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of Victoria
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The style ends with the reign of George V.
The style ends in an era that embraces the removal of the potential faking of reality through the advent of mass photography and movies.
It marks the beginning of the age of Socialism with the Russian Revolution and the growing Socialist consciousness in Great Britain.
It marks the economic struggle after World War l culminating in the World Economic Depression of 1929.
The State, Arts and the Self are gradually exposed and then broken down into
components that are examined and defined.
It is the end of the age of the self- deception and ‘picturesque revivalist’ illusions.
Years:
1860 – 1930
Style:
Old English
A mannerist style utilizing elements of the Tudor and the last part of the Stuart era.
It is the beginning of the commercialized 'mining' of the historic forms of British
Architecture to produce acceptable, comfortable, prestige, forms for the suburban mass housing market.
Duration:
70 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of Victoria
The beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The style ends with the beginning of the Great World Economic Depression.
The style ends in an era that embraces the removal of the potential faking of reality through the advent of mass photography and movies.
It marks the beginning of the age of Socialism with the Russian Revolution and the growing Socialist consciousness in Great Britain.
It marks the economic struggle after World War l culminating in the World Economic Depression of 1929.
The State, Arts and the Self are gradually exposed and then broken down into
components that are examined and defined.
It is the end of the age of the self- deception and ‘picturesque revivalist’ illusions.
Years:
1890 – 1940
Style:
Beaux Arts
A mannerist style utilizing mannerist, symbolic, classical orders.
Duration:
50 Years
Initial Event:
The end of the reign of Victoria
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The style ends with the beginning of the Second World War.
This era includes the removal of the potential faking of reality through the advent of mass photography and movies.
It marks the beginning of the age of Socialism with the Russian Revolution and the growing Socialist consciousness in Great Britain.
It marks the economic struggle after World War l culminating in the World Economic Depression of 1929.
The State, Arts and the Self are gradually exposed and then broken down into
components that are examined and defined.
It is the end of the age of the self- deception and ‘picturesque revivalist’ illusions.
Years:
1890 – 1930
Style:
Neo Baroque
A mannerist style utilizing mannerist, symbolic, Neo-Classical, Palladian orders.
Duration:
40 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of Victoria
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
The style ends with the Great World Depression.
This era includes the removal of the potential faking of reality through the advent of mass photography and movies.
It marks the beginning of the age of Socialism with the Russian Revolution and the growing Socialist consciousness in Great Britain.
It marks the economic struggle after World War l culminating in the World Economic Depression of 1929.
The State, Arts and the Self are gradually exposed and then broken down into
components that are examined and defined.
It is the end of the age of the self- deception and ‘picturesque revivalist’ illusions.
Years:
1890 – 2014
Style:
Neo Georgian
A mannerist style that utilizes minimal Neo-Classical elements.
The style is ongoing.
The style has been incorporated into the commercial house building sector as an 'instant form of architecture' that provides the purchaser with instant social prestige but only to a pre-determined level in the hierarchy of society.
Duration:
124 Years
Initial Event:
The reign of Victoria
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing.
Years:
1900 – 2014
Style:
Modernism
More than a style. A movement away from the accepted styles into a continuous examination of need, context and functional requirements before form.
Then form only through the true nature of the site and materials being proposed.
The movement is an ongoing response rather than a ‘style:’.
It is generating many new architectural responses.
The movement has also changed the nature of architecture into a virtual functional art, a generative functional art, a predictive functional algorithmic art, a discussion of the nature of all human existence as interconnected architectures.
Duration:
114 Years
Initial Event:
The end of the reign of Victoria.
The World Exhibition in Paris.(1889)
The construction of the Eiffel Tower.
The increased use of the motor vehicle and other forms of mass transport.
mass communications.
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in
1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing.
Years:
1917 – 2014
Style:
Constructivist – Modernism.
Duration:
97 Years
Initial Event:
The Russian Revolution. The emigration of refugees from the Revolution into Britain.
The development of a ‘Modernist’ movement in Britain from Europe.
The remnant of the ‘Vorticist’ Movement in Britain.
The growth of Socialism.
Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes is held in Paris,
including constructivist architecture.
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in
1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing.
Years:
1925 – 2014
Style:
Art Deco
A link between the Arts and Crafts Movement and Modernism.
The remnant of the Vorticist Movement in Britain.
It is the enhancement of form to express the functions of movement.
It is an economic form of expressionism.
It is re-used as an architectural response to economic depressions.
Duration:
89 Years
Initial Event:
The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes is held in Paris, giving a name to the style of ‘Art Deco’.
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in
1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing.
Years:
1955 – 2014
Style:
Brutalism - Post Modern
From the Swedish term ‘NyBrutalism’
A way of using a single, ‘plastic’ mass construction, material to build large
structures, commercial buildings, mass housing quickly and inexpensively to
assist in the post second world war reconstruction.
The form of the architecture is utilitarian and with modernism ethics.
The finish is inherent in the material and the methods of construction.
The result is a ‘true to itself’, ‘honest’ form.
It totally rejects all previous ‘styles’ orders and detailing.
It appears primitive because of this rejection and yet is an elegant response.
It is less popular as a response as the economic depression after World War ll
diminishes and the consumer era begins.
Duration:
59 Years
Initial Event:
The beginning of the reign of Elizabeth ll (1952-ongoing)
The rebuilding of Britain after World War ll.
The Festival of Britain (1951) has continuing influences.
A 1966 quote from Sir Nikolaus Pevsner in a BBC radio talk, ‘The Anti-Pioneers’.
There was a new spirit abroad, said Pevsner; ‘ an overpowering brutality’
“…a new style, successor to my International Modern of the 1930s, a post-modern
style I would be tempted to call it, but the legitimate style of the 1950s and 1960s.
‘to be ancient and modern was no longer a contradiction.’
There is also the influence of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in
1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
1960 – 2014
Style:
De-constructivism
The theory of "Deconstruction", is a form of semiotic language analysis.
As Architecture it uses ideas of fragmentation, manipulation of surface or skin,
forming space through non-rectilinear envelope shapes, distortion and
dislocation of the elements
and orders of architecture to express the inherent unpredictability and controlled
chaos.
Form is exposed as order and non-sequential order as chaos.
It is a part of the growing rejection of the ‘styles’ and the reaffirmation of the
modernism thoughts. It tries to return architecture to modernism through interaction
with philosophy.
Duration:
54 Years
Initial Event:
If architecture involves the state and people through a modernism movement then this period in British Architecture; albeit not built until well beyond the 1960’s; must be considered to exist since it involves the random breakup of the old cultural constraints by the British Counterculture and also the deliberate decolonization and independence of the former colonies and dependencies to continue the breaking up of the British Commonwealth and Empire. Deconstructivist theory is exemplified in the‘wind of change’ speech.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
1961 – 2014
Style:
Neo Futurism – ‘Archigram’ – Architecture + Telegram
The statement of the ‘Archigram’ group explaining what their own generation saw
as the possible functional contextual architecture in Britain in the 1960’s rather
than strict ‘modernism’ that had been in discussion since 1900.
Duration:
53 Years
Initial Event:
The period after the education of the participants in Archigram.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
1965 – 2014
Style:
Hi-Tec, Late Modernism, Structural Expressionism.
The term for the Movement comes from the published book.
‘High Tech: The Industrial style and Source Book for The Home’,
Joan Kron and Suzanne Slesin published by Clarkson N. Potter, New York.
It involves industrial, pre-fabricated, elements and new technology, incorporated
into architectural form but only in correct functionality and context.
Duration:
49 Years
Initial Event:
The Snowdon Aviary designed by Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon,
Cedric Price and Frank Newby, is constructed in 1964
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing.
Years:
1965 – 2014
Style:
Eco / Green
Incorporating renewable, sustainable, post-depletion, post fossil fuel designs solutions
into architectural form.
Duration:
49 Years
Initial Event:
Consumerism.
The reliance on external fossil fuel energy sources such as oil causing economic
control to be taken out of the hands of the British Government and to become
dependent on foreign policy.
The closure of deep coal mines in Britain.
Oil embargos being used to assist foreign policy.
The 1965 First Amendment Building Regulations restricting the amount of energy that could be lost through the fabric of a building.
The 1967 Oil Crisis precipitated by the ‘Six Day War’ between Israel and an
Arab Coalition.
The 1970 Peak oil production crisis in European nations.
The 1973 Oil embargo crisis between the western nations and the middle east
countries.
The 1979 Oil and energy crisis during the Iranian Revolution.
The 1980’s oil price fluctuations due to over storage of oil.
The 1990’s oil price fluctuations due to the Invasion of Kuwait.
The continued breakup of the old cultural constraints by the British Counterculture.
The decolonization and independence of the former colonies and dependencies
to continue the breaking up of the British Commonwealth and Empire.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
1970 – 2014
Style:
Neo Vernacular. Non-traditional.
An expressionist form using vernacular elements sometimes in large monolithic
forms.
A counter-response to Brutalism as more materials became available to the consumer
society of Britain.
Duration:
44 Years
Initial Event:
Consumerism. The search for self-identity in an age of continual technological change.
The decades of the individual.
The Self.
The move from nationalization to private enterprise.
The removal of Government control on private businesses.
The age of debt being seen as investment and wealth.
The continued breakup of the old cultural constraints by the British Counterculture.
The decolonization and independence of the former colonies and dependencies to continue the breaking up of the Great British Commonwealth and Empire.
The reliance on external fossil fuel energy sources such as oil causing economic
control to be taken out of the hands of the British Government and to become dependent on foreign policy.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
1981 – 2014
Style:
Minimalism
Duration:
44 Years
Initial Event:
Consumerism.
The search for self-identity in an age of continual technological change.
The decades of the individual.
The Self.
The move from nationalization to private enterprise.
The removal of Government control on private businesses.
The age of debt being seen as investment and wealth.
The continued breakup of the old cultural constraints by the British Counterculture.
The decolonization and independence of the former colonies and dependencies to continue the breaking up of the Great British Commonwealth and Empire.
The reliance on external fossil fuel energy sources such as oil causing economic
control to be taken out of the hands of the British Government and to become
dependent on foreign policy.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
1982 – 2014
Style:
Computational, Algorithmic. Fractal, Topographic Parametricism.
The use of CAD - Computer Aided Design.
The use of computers to generate design
Duration:
44 Years
Initial Event:
Consumerism.
The search for optimized product architecture.
Increasingly complex design constraints requiring parametric, multi-modal
interaction and real time analysis.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
1997 – 2014
Style:
Bio-Mimicry, Bio-Phillia, BioMimetics. (Bios – Life and Mimesis – To imitate)
Architecture using nature as a guide to solve design problems.
‘Biomimicry’ Janine Benyus 1997 ‘Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature ‘
Duration:
17 Years
Initial Event:
The age of Ecology.
The end of the Years of Consumerism.
The search for alternative methods of living to reduce reliance on fossil fuel energy sources.
The designing for a low then zero carbon architecture and society.
The age of fossil fuel, resource, energy, environment depletion.
The age of climate change.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Years:
2005 – 2014
Style:
Blobitecture – multi-curving, organic, building envelopes and facades.
Duration:
44 Years
Initial Event:
Originally a term in William Safire's "The way we live now: 12:01:02 On language: Defenestration” article in the New York Times Magazine.
Future Systems' blobitecture design for the 2003 Selfridges Building, Birmingham.
There are also the influences of the beginning of the Planning Controls in Britain in 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and the ongoing Planning Acts.
There are also the effects of Building Regulations on the form of the architecture.
There are the effects of listing architecture for preservation since 1882.
Closing Event:
Ongoing
Conclusions
Number
There are in total around 50 Styles within 2014 Years.
This indicates an overall slow rate of change from one style to another.
Duration:
The style with the longest Duration:; 1160 – 1650; is Gothic lasting 490 Years.
The style confirms the extensive influence of Europe on Britain's architecture.
Initial and Closing Influences
The influences; in sequence; over architecture are environment, sovereign,
religion, state, movements, individuals, information, methods, skills, technology
and materials.
They are activated by will.
Each influence constrains the others through signs.
Architecture occurs as layers of interconnected signs are sensed.
The confirmation of the influences and their sequence can be described as follows.
Environment
This is the parent influence of architecture.
The environment influence is a slow changing natural constraint that humans have evolved into a completely adaptable, false, manufactured, product and resource.
They have changed its natural processes exponentially.
The current human process interference has created a paradox.
For humans to survive they have to alter their influence on the environment by reducing their ability to survive in the environment.
This is the great unsolved problem awaiting a response in 2014.
Sovereign
The sovereign once generated the influence of form for the architecture as the embodiment of the country and then the state and the people.
The sovereigns influence on architecture has reduced from dictator of ‘Style:’ to one of state restrained commentators.
Where the Sovereigns ideas on architecture are put into practice they are placed under the same state scrutiny and legislation as any other citizen of Britain.
Religion
The religious orders were once the second largest owners of land after the sovereign and so controlled the environmental influence over architecture through will embodied in the style of their own architecture.
The variety of religious architecture was reduced down by the sovereign using deliberate intolerance.
This was enforced during the Tudor period where the lands occupied by the church were taken over by the sovereign as the state.
The Tudor period also acted as the re-establisher of a Church of the State through a more tolerant religious attitude.
This caused the number of architectural styles to increase.
The end of the Tudor period also causes the environmental influence to be separated once again from sovereign and religion.
State
The state enacts influence on the form of the architecture by imposed will.
The early state; as influence; was formed of a sovereign and religious orders. These two influences were amalgamated and then formed; through conquest; a unified kingdom of Britain.
The single kingdom became a sovereign parliamentary state, then a republic, then it returned to a sovereign parliamentary state, and in our century it became; through the allowance of a vote for the public to elect members of parliament; a democratic parliamentary state.
The state in our own age is therefore made up of assigned members of the public.
These people influence the future development over five Year: periods of time ahead of the present date.
The controls on future developments are made through debated and approved Acts of Parliament assigned by the will of the sovereign.
There are Planning Controls in Britain from 1909, 1919, 1925, 1932, 1947 and up to the current time.
The 1947 Act is particularly important in that it stated that ownership of land no longer guaranteed that development could be carried out without state approval and so re-established the influence of the state upon a post World War ll architectural style.
The Building Regulations influence on the form of the architecture are noticeable from 1189.
There is a major change in 1965 incorporating modern construction methods and necessities such as sound and thermal insulation. There further contextual changes up to the present time.
The acts covering building preservation have also influenced architecture since 1882.
The statutory consultation preservation role of the state has also been sub-contracted out through quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization since 1983.
Preservation and Conservation has allowed architecture to be retained, conserved, adapted and converted into new uses. It has protected the nations historic creations.
Inversely the same acts have created an expanding, faked, state authorized, theatre set of architecture for the population to exist in.
The state influence therefore creates a state approved evolving landscape.
Therefore it is correct to describe the state as having a fundamental role in influencing the form of architecture in Britain.
Movements
These are a temporary contextual influence on architectural style.
They are deliberately reactionary influences created by groups of the population sharing motives for their own prestige.
Individuals
These are a temporary non-contextual influences on architectural style.
These are deliberately selfish influences created by individual members of the population for their own prestige.
Information
Information; architecture as communication; as an influence only occurs after the previous influences have been activated by will. After the information is produced it becomes influential as fact, then as de-contextualized information, then as history, then as artefact, then as irrelevant influence.
The movement of the information influence is variable by all of the participants to justify their own prestige.
The speed and density of the information is increasing,
The speed of its de-contextualization is increasing.
The speed of its irrelevance is increasing.
Methods, skills and technology
These are the influences on architecture through the human senses and their technology.
The methods of communicating have evolved from somatosensory input into phonetic, haptic, computational, algorithmic, fractal, topographic and parametric sensory input.
Currently human beings influence over the final form of the architecture has reduced to assembly supervisors of algorithms.
Materials.
These are the natural influences on the form of the architecture that link its process of evolution back to the environment and so allow it to be reconsidered within the same set of influences.
Architecture in Britain is an ongoing response to all these influences.
Ian K Whittaker
My websites:
https://sites.google.com/site/architecturearticles
Email: iankwhittaker@gmail.com
16/09/2014
14/10/2020
8806 words over 28 page