Empire Builders 1750-1950

Interesting exhibtion at the V&A looking at the work of British architects working aboard up until the end of the Second World War. There is a sister exhibition at the RIBA bringing this up to date which I hope to make it to this week.

It was themed by type of building but might have been better themed chronologically or by country. I found theming my type of building made is a little bitty and lost a sense of story and progression. I also found the commentaries quite wordy and dense.

There were some fascinating things though. I loved Gibbs book of designs including St Martin’s in the Field led to the reproduction of those buildings all over the world alongside pictures of some of those buildings.

I responded most to the designs for housing from bungalows to blocks of flats. There was a lovely Lutyens design for a house on the Hudson River which was never built.

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