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‘In his bold flights of irregular fancy, his powerful mind rises superior to common conceptions, and entitles him to the high distinctive appellation of the Shakespeare of Architects.’ Such was the opinion of John Soane of the works of Sir John Vanbrugh. This was praise indeed, for – as the current exhibition at Sir John Soane’s […] More
It is both the glory and the tragedy of architecture that it requires a client – with means – to make it a reality. Without money, and a commission, an architectural design must remain on paper. As such, of course, it can be both beautiful and inspiring – Piranesi, J.M. Gandy, Sant’Elia – but for […] More
Every man to-day realizes his need of sun,’ insisted Le Corbusier in Towards a New Architecture, ‘of warmth, of pure air and clean floors…’ The modern movement in architecture was obsessed with health and hygiene. New methods of construction could raise buildings up above the dirty damp ground into clean fresh air; wide glass windows […] More
Jean Nouvel helicoptered in to Sao Paulo last week to attend the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone of Rosewood Tower, a new hotel and residential complex . The site is in the grounds of the long abandoned Matarazzo hospital (an oasis of green in central São Paulo), whose neoclassical buildings – the […] More
Recalling the effect of reading Pugin in his youth, George Gilbert Scott (1811–78) recounted that ‘every aspiration of my heart had become medieval’. Paradoxically, however, for the architect renowned as the most prolific progenitor of the 19th-century Gothic Revival, Scott insisted, ‘I am no medievalist. I do not advocate the styles of the middle ages […] More
Zaha Hadid, who has died aged 65, was the most successful female architect of her generation. Regardless of gender, she was one of the most important British architects of the past 100 years. She had won every significant international honour architecture can offer – including the Pritzker, the RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal, the Praemium Imperiale […] More
From the February issue of Apollo: preview and subscribe here In 1903, unveiling the first commemorative ‘blue plaque’ to be installed on a house by the London County Council, the Earl of Rosebery, the former prime minister, observed that, ‘great cities gratefully remember those who have honoured them by living in their midst’. It requires […] More
It’s a rich paradox that it was due to lobbying by Mayor Ken Livingstone that the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the London mayor were empowered to take decisions covering strategic planning applications into their own hands. Nowadays, they can supersede the borough (or boroughs) and give final approval or disapproval. Under the GLA Act […] More
