Architecture of Wales – serie

Cardiff’s civic centre in Cathays Park, described as the finest civic centre in the British Isles, is an impressive planned group of public buildings, begun largely with wealth created by the coal industry in the south Wales coalfield. This book covers the Cardiff site’s earlier evolution as a private park in the nineteenth century by the fabulously rich Bute family, and the borough’s battles to obtain land for public buildings and the park’s development in the twentieth century, to become Britain’s finest civic centre. All the buildings, memorials and statues in the park are fully described and illustrated in this book which includes maps, plans and photographs. The History and Architecture of Cardiff Civic Centre is the first in the series Architecture of Wales, published in partnership with the Royal Society of Architects in Wales.

Architecture reflects not only a nation’s history, but also how its people lived, worked, prayed and fought over the centuries. Since the publication of John B. Hilling’s The Historic Architecture of Wales in 1976, there has been no other attempt at addressing the architecture of Wales as a whole, and this revised publication meets a long-felt need for a general survey of architecture in Wales. It covers two thousand years of architectural history, reflecting the nation’s life from Roman times to the present century – less a revision of the original than a complete re-writing, taking into account recent research and recent buildings. The book is illustrated with 268 colour and black-and-white photographs, drawings, plans and maps.

Architecture reflects not only a nation’s history, but also how its people lived, worked, prayed and fought over the centuries. Since the publication of John B. Hilling’s The Historic Architecture of Wales in 1976, there has been no other attempt at addressing the architecture of Wales as a whole, and this revised publication meets a long-felt need for a general survey of architecture in Wales. It covers two thousand years of architectural history, reflecting the nation’s life from Roman times to the present century – less a revision of the original than a complete re-writing, taking into account recent research and recent buildings. The book is illustrated with 268 colour and black-and-white photographs, drawings, plans and maps.

The story of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life is no less astounding than his greatest architectural works. He enmeshed himself eagerly in myth and hearsay, and revelled in the extravagance of his creative persona. Throughout his long career, Wright strongly resisted the suggestion that his accomplishments owed anything to earthly influences. As much as he wanted his achievements to be recognised, he wanted them to be unaccountable – but they are not. This book reveals for the first time how his unbreakable self-belief and startling creative defiance both originated in the liberal religious and philosophical attitudes woven into his personality during his childhood – deliberately so by his mother and by his many aunts and uncles, to honour the fierce Welsh radicalism of their ancestors.

The story of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life is no less astounding than his greatest architectural works. He enmeshed himself eagerly in myth and hearsay, and revelled in the extravagance of his creative persona. Throughout his long career, Wright strongly resisted the suggestion that his accomplishments owed anything to earthly influences. As much as he wanted his achievements to be recognised, he wanted them to be unaccountable – but they are not. This book reveals for the first time how his unbreakable self-belief and startling creative defiance both originated in the liberal religious and philosophical attitudes woven into his personality during his childhood – deliberately so by his mother and by his many aunts and uncles, to honour the fierce Welsh radicalism of their ancestors.

The story of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life is no less astounding than his greatest architectural works. He enmeshed himself eagerly in myth and hearsay, and revelled in the extravagance of his creative persona. Throughout his long career, Wright strongly resisted the suggestion that his accomplishments owed anything to earthly influences. As much as he wanted his achievements to be recognised, he wanted them to be unaccountable – but they are not. This book reveals for the first time how his unbreakable self-belief and startling creative defiance both originated in the liberal religious and philosophical attitudes woven into his personality during his childhood – deliberately so by his mother and by his many aunts and uncles, to honour the fierce Welsh radicalism of their ancestors.

Sir Percy Thomas was the most important twentieth-century architect in Wales, renowned for interwar civic buildings such as Swansea Guildhall and the Temple of Peace in Cardiff. His architectural practice, Sir Percy Thomas & Son, designed much of the post-1945 welfare state and industry in Wales and beyond. In the late twentieth century, the Percy Thomas Partnership specialised in complex healthcare, industrial and public buildings, becoming an international practice.This comprehensive, meticulously-researched history examines the architecture of Percy Thomas in depth for the first time, and explores its wider social and political significance. Arguing that the practice sustained an ethical approach to architecture as a ‘national service’ for the benefit of society, this book gives new insights into the role of the architect and the changing relationships between the built environment and the state throughout the century. Its unique perspective from Wales promises to reshape our understanding of modern architecture.

Sir Percy Thomas was the most important twentieth-century architect in Wales, renowned for interwar civic buildings such as Swansea Guildhall and the Temple of Peace in Cardiff. His architectural practice, Sir Percy Thomas & Son, designed much of the post-1945 welfare state and industry in Wales and beyond. In the late twentieth century, the Percy Thomas Partnership specialised in complex healthcare, industrial and public buildings, becoming an international practice.This comprehensive, meticulously-researched history examines the architecture of Percy Thomas in depth for the first time, and explores its wider social and political significance. Arguing that the practice sustained an ethical approach to architecture as a ‘national service’ for the benefit of society, this book gives new insights into the role of the architect and the changing relationships between the built environment and the state throughout the century. Its unique perspective from Wales promises to reshape our understanding of modern architecture.

Sir Percy Thomas was the most important twentieth-century architect in Wales, renowned for interwar civic buildings such as Swansea Guildhall and the Temple of Peace in Cardiff. His architectural practice, Sir Percy Thomas & Son, designed much of the post-1945 welfare state and industry in Wales and beyond. In the late twentieth century, the Percy Thomas Partnership specialised in complex healthcare, industrial and public buildings, becoming an international practice.This comprehensive, meticulously-researched history examines the architecture of Percy Thomas in depth for the first time, and explores its wider social and political significance. Arguing that the practice sustained an ethical approach to architecture as a ‘national service’ for the benefit of society, this book gives new insights into the role of the architect and the changing relationships between the built environment and the state throughout the century. Its unique perspective from Wales promises to reshape our understanding of modern architecture.

This is the first study of the work of architect Sidney Colwyn Foulkes (1884–1971), one of Britain’s most significant regional architects. His design work included schools, shops, churches and church halls, town halls, hospitals, cinemas, private houses and public housing schemes. Foulkes made a major contribution to buildings in his hometown of Colwyn Bay and its surrounds, and his influence extended across Wales and beyond. The present study explores Foulkes’s projects broadly by type, illustrating many of them with original photographs, suggesting that his greatest achievements were post-war housing schemes and his involvement in the early field of industrial landscaping in sensitive areas of natural beauty. The book traces how, far removed from the metropolis like so many regional architects, Foulkes had to fight to produce good, ordinary architecture at a time of intense cultural and political change to define an architecture for the modern age.

This is the first study of the work of architect Sidney Colwyn Foulkes (1884–1971), one of Britain’s most significant regional architects. His design work included schools, shops, churches and church halls, town halls, hospitals, cinemas, private houses and public housing schemes. Foulkes made a major contribution to buildings in his hometown of Colwyn Bay and its surrounds, and his influence extended across Wales and beyond. The present study explores Foulkes’s projects broadly by type, illustrating many of them with original photographs, suggesting that his greatest achievements were post-war housing schemes and his involvement in the early field of industrial landscaping in sensitive areas of natural beauty. The book traces how, far removed from the metropolis like so many regional architects, Foulkes had to fight to produce good, ordinary architecture at a time of intense cultural and political change to define an architecture for the modern age.