Book review — architecture

Hawksmoor’s plan for a baptistery at St Paul’s Cathedral

Nicholas Hawksmoor: a genius in his own right

13 February 2016 9:00 am

In the conclusion to his very substantial study of England’s least known and most misunderstood Baroque architect, Owen Hopkins discusses…

‘Second Empire Renaissance’ (from Pillar to Post). ‘Its most notable feature was the mansard roof. However suitable this device may be on top of the Louvre, it altogether fails to produce an effect of inevitable rightness amid the less exalted surroundings of Victoria Station.’

Osbert Lancaster: a national treasure rediscovered

12 December 2015 9:00 am

True to his saw that ours is ‘a land of rugged individualists’, Osbert Lancaster, in his self-appointed role of popular…

The Tower of Babel by Lucas van Valckenborch, 1591

The buildings we treasure most are often the ones we’ve never seen

14 November 2015 9:00 am

Here are two books which have almost nothing in common: form, function, source material, methodology, all utterly different. The surprise…