Shaping the Surface: Materiality and the History of British Architecture 1840-2000

Author:   Professor Stephen Kite (Cardiff University, UK)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:  

9781350320659


Pages:   352
Publication Date:   15 December 2022
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Our Price $54.99 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Shaping the Surface: Materiality and the History of British Architecture 1840-2000


Add your own review!

Overview

Shaping the Surface explores the history of modern British architecture through the lens of surface, materiality and decoration. Picking up on a trait that art historian Nikolaus Pevsner first identified as a ‘national mania for beautiful surface quality’, this book makes a new contribution to architectural history and visual culture in its detailed examination of the surfaces of British architecture from the middle of the 19th century up to the turn of the 21st century. Tracing this continuing sensibility to surface all the way through to the modern era, it explores how and why surface and materiality have featured so heavily in recent architectural tradition, examining the history of British architecture through a selection of key cultural moments and movements from Romanticism and the Arts and Crafts, to Brutalism, High-Tech, Post-Modernism, Neo-Vernacular, and the New Materiality. Embedded within the narrative is the question of whether such national characters can exist in architecture at all – and indeed the extent to which it is possible to identify a British architectural consciousness in an architectural tradition characterised by its continuous importation of theories, ideas, materials and people from around the globe. Shaping the Surface provides a deep critique and meditation on the importance of surface and materiality for architects, designers, and historians everywhere - in Britain and beyond - while it also serves as a thematic introduction to modern British architectural history, with in-depth readings of the works of many key British architects, artists, and critics from Ruskin and William Morris to Alison and Peter Smithson, Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Rogers and Caruso St John.

Full Product Details

Author:   Professor Stephen Kite (Cardiff University, UK)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781350320659


ISBN 10:   135032065
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   15 December 2022
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1: Reading the wall-surface: John Ruskin, William Butterfield, and George Edmund Street Chapter 2: 'Think first of the walls': Surfaces of Romance - Morris, Webb, and the Arts and Crafts Domestic Interior Chapter 3: Smooth and Rough: George Frederick Bodley and Edward Schroeder Prior Chapter 4: Carving the Surface: Edwardian and Inter-War Architecture and Sculpture Chapter 5: Surfaces and Sharawaggi: Aspects of the Picturesque c 1925-1955 Chapter 6: As-Found: Surfaces of Brutalism Chapter 7: Pattern, Abstraction, Post-Modernism: Lubetkin - Pasmore - Stirling Chapter 8: High-Tech, Neo-Vernacular, New Materiality: Richard Rogers - Ralph Erskine - Caruso St John Bibliography Index

Reviews

Author Information

Stephen Kite is Emeritus Professor at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Wales, UK. His previous books include Shadow-Makers: A Cultural History of Shadows in Architecture (Bloomsbury, 2017).

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

lgn

al

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List