Places of Worship (Architecture 3s) Sir Christopher Wren, Joze Plecnik, Tadao Ando
by Vaughan Hart
from Phaidon Press
City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren
by Paul Jeffery
from Hambledon & London
Much has been written about Wren's rebuilding of St. Paul's, far less about the other City churches, the principal subject of this book: this is indeed the first modern book to examine them as a whole. Paul Jeffery describes how and when the churches were built, exploring the respective contributions of Wren and of his two principal assistants, Robert Hooke and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Working from the surviving drawings and records and from the evidence of the churches, he explains the principal features common to the churches and their individual features. The result of the work was a unique set of contemporary churches. While not all are of the standard of Wren's masterpieces, such as St. Stephen Walbrook and St Bride's, none is without architectural merit and interest. The second part of the book is a gazetteer of all the churches, including those that no longer exist. The book is heavily illustrated and provides a visual record of all the churches.
Since they were built the Wren churches have suffered steady losses. St. Christopher-le-Stocks was demolished in 1782 to make way for the Bank of England. Others, such as St Dionis Backchurch and St. Antholin Budge Row, were lost to Victorian parish rationalisation. Many were destroyed or badly damaged in the Second World War. Only twenty-three of the original fifty-one remain. These are now under threat again, with the Templeman Report's proposal that only four of the existing churches (none by Wren) should be retained as parish churches. They provide a test case of conservation, sitting as they do in the middle of the City of London. The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren presents a clear case both for their importance and for their preservation.
His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren
by Adrian Tinniswood
from Oxford University Press, USA
"If you seek his monument, look around," commands Adrian Tinniswood in his scholarly but elegantly entertaining biography of Christopher Wren (1632-1723). "As an architect, he changed the face of England and the course of architectural history." Tinniswood describes with appreciation and discernment Wren's greatest buildings: "the bubble of unexampled lightness that is St. Stephen Walbrook" church, the additions to Hampton Court, and of course London's majestic St. Paul's Cathedral, a symbol of British faith and courage throughout the centuries. These structures were political as well as architectural achievements, and Tinniswood nicely captures the discretion, ruthlessness, and carefully cultivated connections that enabled Wren to survive the Civil War, get himself named Royal Surveyor, hang on to the job under five monarchs, and get designs approved and money wheedled out of a reluctant parliament. Tinniswood pays equally intelligent attention to Wren's early career as an esteemed Oxford astronomy professor and charter member of the Royal Society (and its president from 1681-3). He writes wittily about the quirks of Wren and such peers as Newton and Bernini, capturing the intensely personal nature of 17th-century public culture, and he (sparingly) offers his opinions in a way that enhances our understanding of the period. "I want my heroes to be people, not ideas," Tinniswood writes, after describing a squabble at the Royal Society. This sparkling biography reveals Wren as a human being without detracting from the heroic nature of his accomplishments. --Wendy Smith
In His Invention So Fertile, Adrian Tinniswood offers the first biography of Christopher Wren in a generation. It is a book that reveals the full depth of Wren's multifaceted genius, not only as one of the greatest architects who ever lived--the designer of St. Paul's Cathedral--but as an influential seventeenth-century scientist.
Tinniswood writes with insight and flair as he follows Wren from Wadham College, Oxford, through the turmoil of the English Civil War, to his role in helping to found the Royal Society--the intellectual and scientific heart of seventeenth-century England. The reader discovers that the great architect was initially an astronomer who was also deeply interested in medicine, physics, and mathematics. Family connections pulled him into architecture, with a commission to restore the chapel at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Tinniswood deftly follows Wren's rise as architect, capturing the atmosphere of Restoration London, as old Royalists scrambled for sinecures from Charles II and Wren learned the art of political infighting at court, finally becoming Surveyor of the Royal Works-the King's engineer. Most important, the author recounts the intriguing story of the building of St. Paul's. The Great Fire of 1666--vividly recreated in Tinniswood's narrative--left London a smoldering husk. Wren played a central role in reshaping the city, culminating with St. Paul's, his masterpiece--though he had to steer between King and cathedral authorities to get his radical, domed design built. As the Enlightenment dawned in England, Wren's magnificent dome rose above London, soon to become an icon of London and world architecture.
One of the most influential architects in history, Christopher Wren comes vividly to life in this fittingly grand biography.
The Architecture of Wren
Wren's 'Tracts' on Architecture and Other Writings
by Lydia M. Soo
from Cambridge University Press
Wren's "Tracts" on Architecture and Other Writings is the first scholarly examination of the theoretical work of one of the most important architects of early modern Europe. From his study of ancient buildings, he posited a new version of the origins and development of the Classical style, thereby becoming one of the first to challenge theoretical principles of architecture that had been upheld since the Renaissance. Rejecting the idea of beauty as absolute and innate, Wren formulated an empirical definition, based on visual perception and custom.
Wren's "Tracts" on Architecture and Other Writings is the first scholarly examination of the theoretical work of one of the most important architects of early modern Europe. From his study of ancient buildings, he posited a new version of the origins and development of the Classical style, thereby becoming one of the first to challenge theoretical principles of architecture that had been upheld since the Renaissance. Rejecting the idea of beauty as absolute and innate, Wren formulated an empirical definition, based on visual perception and custom.
Wren (World of Art)
by Margaret Whinney
from Thames & Hudson
The Making of the Wren Library: Trinity College, Cambridge
by David McKitterick
from Cambridge University Press
The Library at Trinity College, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and completed in 1695, is known all over the world for its books, its architecture and its sculpture. Each of these aspects is authoritatively examined in this volume, as David McKitterick, Howard Colvin and Malcolm Baker explore the ways in which seventeenth-century ideas were modified and extended until by the early nineteenth century the Library had achieved the coherent appearance that it has today. Their discussion is accompanied by numerous illustrations, including reproductions of all of Wren's surviving drawings.
The Library at Trinity College, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and completed in 1695, is known all over the world for its books, its architecture and its sculpture. Each of these aspects is authoritatively examined in this volume, as David McKitterick, Howard Colvin and Malcolm Baker explore the ways in which seventeenth-century ideas were modified and extended until by the early nineteenth century the Library had achieved the coherent appearance which it has today. Their discussion is accompanied by numerous illustrations, including reproductions of all of Wren's surviving drawings.
St Paul's Cathedral: Sir Christopher Wren (Architecture in Detail)
by Vaughan Hart
from Phaidon Press
"Thermal windows": Roman lunette & screen motifs from Serlio, Palladio, Inigo Jones, Wren, & Robert Adam also Ledoux, CleÌrisseau, Neufforge,Peyre, & ... IX at Jefferson's University of Virginia
The cross & the dome
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