G. A. Bremner – författare

Throughout today''s postcolonial world, buildings, monuments, parks, streets, avenues, entire cities even, remain as witness to Britain''s once impressive if troubled imperial past. These structures are a conspicuous and near inescapable reminder of that past, and therefore, the built heritage of Britain''s former colonial empire is a fundamental part of how we negotiate our postcolonial identities, often lying at the heart of social tension and debate over how thatidentity is best represented.This volume provides an overview of the architectural and urban transformations that took place across the British Empire between the seventeenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Although much research has been carried out on architecture and urban planning in Britain''s empire in recent decades, no single, comprehensive reference source exists. The essays compiled here remedy this deficiency. With its extensive chronological and regional coverage by leading scholars in the field, this volume willquickly become a seminal text for those who study, teach, and research the relationship between empire and the built environment in the British context. It provides an up-to-date account of past and current historiographical approaches toward the study of British imperial and colonial architecture andurbanism, and will prove equally useful to those who study architecture and urbanism in other European imperial and transnational contexts.The volume is divided in two main sections. The first section deals with overarching thematic issues, including building typologies, major genres and periods of activity, networks of expertise and the transmission of ideas, the intersection between planning and politics, as well as the architectural impact of empire on Britain itself. The second section builds on the first by discussing these themes in relation to specific geographical regions, teasing out the variations and continuitiesobservable in context, both practical and theoretical.

Victorian Architecture presents a new and refreshing overview of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture in Britain and the wider British world.The Victorian period witnessed the beginnings of what today would be described as the global architectural practice. Architects inhabiting this world, or designing for it, were creating new and hybrid forms of Victorian architecture, continuously, in multiple locations. New efficiencies brought by technological advancements such as steam-powered locomotion enabled the Victorian building industry to revolutionise in terms of scale, precision, and variety. As many of the buildings examined here reveal, at the foundation of this revolution was a significant transformation in the supply and conversion of energy. Materials used in construction often come from far away and were procured under increasingly mechanised conditions, entailing the consumption of fossil-fuels in huge, unprecedented quantities. Markets for these materials also multiplied during the period, with companies producing and exporting products as diverse as cast-iron, encaustic tiles, and stained glass in large quantities. Even whole buildings were packed and shipped abroad.Victorian Architecture presents a new and refreshing overview of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture in Britain and the wider British world. Thematically structured, it highlights concerns fundamental to how Victorians experienced their world, including urbanism, industry, government, faith, empire, modernity, social order, family, collecting, and consumerism. In emphasising important concepts in building design and culture, it thus connects the understanding of architecture to its wider social, political, and economic contexts. A key feature of the book is the way it situates British architecture in its extended global geographies, with the Victorian built environment seen as encompassing Britain's colonial expansion. As people and ideas were increasingly mobile during this period, themes such as speed and movement are brought to the fore. British architects were designing buildings not just in the British Isles, but much farther afield, in lands as far apart as Barbados and Bombay, Newfoundland and New South Wales. Concise and visually attractive, Victorian Architecture is aimed at a student and general-reader audience, as well as providing a useful reference point for professional scholars.

Victorian Architecture presents a new and refreshing overview of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture in Britain and the wider British world.The Victorian period witnessed the beginnings of what today would be described as the global architectural practice. Architects inhabiting this world, or designing for it, were creating new and hybrid forms of Victorian architecture, continuously, in multiple locations. New efficiencies brought by technological advancements such as steam-powered locomotion enabled the Victorian building industry to revolutionise in terms of scale, precision, and variety. As many of the buildings examined here reveal, at the foundation of this revolution was a significant transformation in the supply and conversion of energy. Materials used in construction often come from far away and were procured under increasingly mechanised conditions, entailing the consumption of fossil-fuels in huge, unprecedented quantities. Markets for these materials also multiplied during the period, with companies producing and exporting products as diverse as cast-iron, encaustic tiles, and stained glass in large quantities. Even whole buildings were packed and shipped abroad.Victorian Architecture presents a new and refreshing overview of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture in Britain and the wider British world. Thematically structured, it highlights concerns fundamental to how Victorians experienced their world, including urbanism, industry, government, faith, empire, modernity, social order, family, collecting, and consumerism. In emphasising important concepts in building design and culture, it thus connects the understanding of architecture to its wider social, political, and economic contexts. A key feature of the book is the way it situates British architecture in its extended global geographies, with the Victorian built environment seen as encompassing Britain's colonial expansion. As people and ideas were increasingly mobile during this period, themes such as speed and movement are brought to the fore. British architects were designing buildings not just in the British Isles, but much farther afield, in lands as far apart as Barbados and Bombay, Newfoundland and New South Wales. Concise and visually attractive, Victorian Architecture is aimed at a student and general-reader audience, as well as providing a useful reference point for professional scholars.

Throughout today's postcolonial world, buildings, monuments, parks, streets, avenues, entire cities even, remain as witness to Britain's once impressive if troubled imperial past. These structures are a conspicuous and near inescapable reminder of that past, and therefore, the built heritage of Britain's former colonial empire is a fundamental part of how we negotiate our postcolonial identities, often lying at the heart of social tension and debate over how that identity is best represented.This volume provides an overview of the architectural and urban transformations that took place across the British Empire between the seventeenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Although much research has been carried out on architecture and urban planning in Britain's empire in recent decades, no single, comprehensive reference source exists. The essays compiled here remedy this deficiency. With its extensive chronological and regional coverage by leading scholars in the field, this volume will quickly become a seminal text for those who study, teach, and research the relationship between empire and the built environment in the British context. It provides an up-to-date account of past and current historiographical approaches toward the study of British imperial and colonial architecture and urbanism, and will prove equally useful to those who study architecture and urbanism in other European imperial and transnational contexts.The volume is divided in two main sections. The first section deals with overarching thematic issues, including building typologies, major genres and periods of activity, networks of expertise and the transmission of ideas, the intersection between planning and politics, as well as the architectural impact of empire on Britain itself. The second section builds on the first by discussing these themes in relation to specific geographical regions, teasing out the variations and continuities observable in context, both practical and theoretical.

Throughout today's postcolonial world, buildings, monuments, parks, streets, avenues, entire cities even, remain as witness to Britain's once impressive if troubled imperial past. These structures are a conspicuous and near inescapable reminder of that past, and therefore, the built heritage of Britain's former colonial empire is a fundamental part of how we negotiate our postcolonial identities, often lying at the heart of social tension and debate over how that identity is best represented.This volume provides an overview of the architectural and urban transformations that took place across the British Empire between the seventeenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Although much research has been carried out on architecture and urban planning in Britain's empire in recent decades, no single, comprehensive reference source exists. The essays compiled here remedy this deficiency. With its extensive chronological and regional coverage by leading scholars in the field, this volume will quickly become a seminal text for those who study, teach, and research the relationship between empire and the built environment in the British context. It provides an up-to-date account of past and current historiographical approaches toward the study of British imperial and colonial architecture and urbanism, and will prove equally useful to those who study architecture and urbanism in other European imperial and transnational contexts.The volume is divided in two main sections. The first section deals with overarching thematic issues, including building typologies, major genres and periods of activity, networks of expertise and the transmission of ideas, the intersection between planning and politics, as well as the architectural impact of empire on Britain itself. The second section builds on the first by discussing these themes in relation to specific geographical regions, teasing out the variations and continuities observable in context, both practical and theoretical.