LONDON ARCHITECTURE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XXTH CENTURY
new buildings in in the Victorian and early Georgian era
by Jemima Levy
It is not often that I find myself feeling intrigued by the cover of a book and can’t wait to have a look inside: Flats, Urban Houses and Cottage Homes – A companion volume to “The British home of today” with its cord and canvas bound hard cover is one of these and even the title says it all!
Published way back in 1906 by Hodder and Staughton and edited by W. Shaw-Sparrow, (what a wonderful name!), this little marvel takes you back into Georgian times with charming colour prints and black & white photos of flats and mansions in London and cottages and country houses in the English countryside, all designed by the up and coming architects of the time.
Underneath each print or photo there is a detailed description of the building, listing its address, materials used for the construction and, of course, the architects name. The volume also has the architect’s projects and floor plans for most of the buildings listed.
I found myself wandering around Georgian London in my imagination, trying to place these mansions that, probably, so often in contemporary times I have walked past, taken for granted, and that now I would probably find hard to recognize from these photos with the modern urban surroundings. My next visit to London will have a particular purpose in order to find out!
I believe this work of art is culturally important and I hope that BARNUM readers will appreciate and enjoy these photos as much as I have.
