
Architects and Intellectual Culture in Post-Restoration England
Matthew Walker(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 26. October 2017
Book
Hardback
242 pages
978-0-19-874635-5 (ISBN)
Description
Architects, Builders, and Intellectual Culture in Restoration England charts the moment when well-educated, well-resourced, English intellectuals first became interested in classical architecture in substantial numbers. This occurred after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 and involved people such as John Evelyn, Robert Hooke, Sir Christopher Wren, and Roger North. Matthew Walker explores how these figures treated architecture as a subject of intellectual enquiry, either as writers, as designers of buildings, or as both. In four substantial chapters it looks at how the architect was defined as a major intellectual figure, how architects acquired material that allowed them to define themselves as intellectually competent architects, how intellectual writers in the period handled knowledge of ancient architecture in their writing, and how the design process in architecture was conceived of in theoretical writing at the time. In all, Walker shows that the key to understanding English architectural culture at the time is to understand how architecture was handled as knowledge, and how architects were conceived of as collectors and producers of such knowledge. He also makes the claim that architecture was treated as an extremely serious and important area of intellectual enquiry, the result of which was that by the turn of the eighteenth century, architects and architectural writers could count themselves amongst England's intellectual and cultural elite.
Reviews / Votes
Walker has produced an absorbing, thoroughly researched account. The text coheres and interlocks and presents some hitherto less regarded material * John Bold, Burlington Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
30 black and white images
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
635 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-874635-5 (9780198746355)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2017
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€56.49
Available for download

E-Book
10/2017
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€56.49
Available for download
Person
Matthew Walker is a historian of British architecture and intellectual culture, particularly that of the late seventeenth century. He studied at Oxford and York Universities and taught at Edinburgh University from 2010 to 2011, before returning to Oxford in 2012. He held an Andrew J. Mellon Research fellowship from 2012 to 2014 and became a departmental lecturer in the History of Art Department in 2014. Since 2015 he has been one of the editors of the journal Architectural History.
Author
Departmental Lecturer in the History of ArtDepartmental Lecturer in the History of Art, University of Oxford
Content
Introduction
1: Practicing Architecture
2: Collecting Architecture
3: Discovering Architecture
4: Inventing Architecture
Conclusion: Architecture, Learning, and Invention
1: Practicing Architecture
2: Collecting Architecture
3: Discovering Architecture
4: Inventing Architecture
Conclusion: Architecture, Learning, and Invention