Buildings of London - From the Great Fire to the Present Day

Overview

This is an extremely dynamic period in London's history: nearly the entire city was destroyed and rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666, the city then saw huge increases in its population in the eighteenth century, and massive technological and social change in the nineteenth. The twentieth century brought yet more destruction and rebuilding after the Blitz, alongside political and economic upheaval, all of which led to radical changes in the appearance of London's buildings. This century has seen huge new investment in the City, and the rise of gentrification in the suburbs. 

Throughout the Buildings of London - From the Great Fire to the Present Day  module from Queen Mary University of London , we will tell this story by visiting and considering many different types of buildings, from churches, hospitals, and palaces, to railway stations and housing estates. Along the way, we will explore questions of architectural style, the implications of social and cultural change for architecture, and urban and architectural history and theory more generally. 

Course aims

• To provide students with a grounding in the architecture and urban development of London from the late seventeenth century to the present day. 

• To make students aware of key themes in urban and architectural history relating to the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries  

• To encourage students to make use of primary sources relating to London history, and to use those sources to construct coherent arguments relating to key themes in the history of the city. 

• To train students in architectural, material, and visual analysis, and to further develop their skills in writing and constructing arguments focused on historical themes.