The Society Of Architectural Historians of Great Britain

 

 

Saturday 22 May 2010
09.00 - 18.00

The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art,
16 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA 

Analyses of seventeenth-century British architecture have both illuminated and circumscribed our understanding of architecture in Britain during the 1600s: the emphasis on Court patronage, for example, has created a focus on the metropolis of London, and the primacy of Classicism has led to an emphasis on Italy’s influence to the exclusion of other countries with which Britain interacted politically and culturally. Furthermore, the use of ‘Britain’ as a synonym for ‘England’ has paradoxically often served to exclude Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, while the architectures of Britain’s Atlantic and South Asian colonies have traced their own careers in the literature. These tendencies in the historiography of seventeenth-century British architecture misrepresent the complexity of Britain’s geography in the 1600s, and are also indicative of the agendas and political interpretations of successive generations of architectural historians. This symposium seeks to broaden our current understanding of Britain’s architecture in the 1600s by exploring the geographical horizons of what constituted seventeenth century ‘British’ architecture.

A Theatre of Empire: British Architectural Interventions in Menorca 1708-1802 [Dr Ann-Marie Akehurst, University of York]

First Lines of Defence: The Seventeenth-Century Forts of Bermuda [Emily Mann, Ph.D. student, Courtauld Institute]

The Conway Estate as an Example of Seventeenth-Century ‘English’ Building Styles in Ulster [Brenda Collins, independent scholar]

The British in the Levant: social networks and the study of architecture [Dr Lydia M. Soo, University of Michigan]

The Architecture of Welsh Nonconformity [Dr Kathryn Wilkinson, Cardiff University]

Dutch Architectural Influence on Charles II’sWinchester Palace [Dr Sandra Steele, independent scholar]

Historiography and the Origins of the Gentleman’s House in the British Atlantic World [Stephen Hague, D.Phil. student, Oxford University]

Pavilion or Pediment: the development of Scottish country house architecture in the post-Restoration
Period [Dr Charles Wemyss, independent scholar]

‘To build in brick’: The importance of the Act for the Rebuilding of London on British colonial structures, c. 1670-1700 [Dr Diane Shafer Domnick, Allegheny College, Philadelphia]

The World Rewritten: Colonial and Home Geography in Mid-Seventeenth-Century England [Dr Kimberley Skelton, Tufts University]

Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton: King’s Master of Works 1607-1634 [Dr Aonghus MacKechnie, Historic Scotland]

Romance, Identity and the Scottish Longhouse: fixing a seventeenth-century dwelling type in history [Dr Daniel Maudlin, University of Plymouth]

Plantation and private architecture in seventeenth century Ireland: English, Scottish and Irish themes [Professor Rolf Loeber, University of Pittsburgh]

The fee is £45 (£15 for registered students), inclusive of lunch and refreshments. To reserve a place or places, please fill in the booking slip on the PDF form below and return it with payment.

Registration will be from 9:00 am. The symposium will begin at 9:30 am and will close at 6:00 pm.

Full Details and Booking Form [PDF]

Student Bursaries

As a result of surplus funds raised from recent overseas Study Tours arranged and led by Professor Alistair Rowan, up to three Symposium Prize Bursaries will be awarded annually to cover costs (to include travel in the UK) of attending the Society’s Annual Symposium.. These are available to students undertaking a postgraduate degree. Applications for bursaries should be sent via email to Dr Julian Holder (education@sahgb.org.uk) by Friday 16 April. The applicant should state how he/she would benefit from attending the symposium and each application should be accompanied by a letter of support from the applicant’s tutor/supervisor.