|
Travel Is Awesome In the United Kingdom!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
St Paul's Cathedral - "Architecture aims at
eternity." - Sir Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren was a Fellow of All Souls College, the Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College in London, a Professor at Oxford, and helped found The Royal Society of London for the Promotion of Natural Knowledge (The Royal Society) which was considered London's premier scientific body. His work within that body included being President of the Society and the study of astronomy, optics, finding longitude at sea, cosmology, mechanics, microscopy, surveying, medicine and meteorology. Throughout his life he was an avid inventor and even created a machine that could knit nine pairs of socks at one time. Then he got interested in architecture. Many buildings "built by Wren" only had his partial involvement and as the red brick and stone he occasionally used became more and more popular other buildings not his own were often attributed to him. Over the course of his time as an architect Wren worked on over eighty projects. (See list at the end of this page.)
Christopher Wren and St Paul's
Repairs had been attempted on the remains of St Paul's but structural damage was so great that by 1668 Wren was asked to create a design for a whole new building. The destruction of St Paul's remains started immediately. After complaints about the noise, gunpowder was given up as the method of choice and replaced with that good old stand by, battering rams. Wren's first plans to
rebuild St Paul's was considered too risqué and was completely rejected by
the commission created to oversee the rebuilding of London and it's public
buildings. It was not until 1673 that Wren's second plan was accepted at
least as a guide and rebuilding was actually started. At least for a
while. The cost of design, which could not be tackled in pieces, was too
In 1675, at long last and rather against his will, Wren created the Warrant Design (at right), that was accepted. When King Charles made the mistake of allowing Wren "to make some variations, rather ornamental, than essential, as from time to time he should see proper", Wren was fast to take advantage. Wren used scaffolding to hide as much of the work as possible and made changes in stages that moved the building back closer to the design he'd wanted in the first place.
A Tribute to Sir Christopher Wren
Watercolour: C.R. Cockerell (1838) Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Drawings & Archives Collection Sir Christopher Wren (1632 -1723) remains Britain’s best-known architect. Like the mighty dome of St Paul’s Cathedral (1666 -1709), his finest building, he has had an enduring influence on British architecture. A scientist by training, his architectural career ranges from his early Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford (1663-9), the remarkable variety of the City churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, to the striking Fountain Court of Hampton Court Palace (1690-96). Characterising all is an understanding of function, structural innovation, and a striving for originality. A Tribute to Sir Christopher Wren, exhibited at the Royal Academy (1838), collects all the buildings then believed to be designed by Wren, centred on St Paul’s Cathedral. Its artist, Charles Robert Cockerell, (1786-1863), was a leading architect who had a then unfashionable admiration for Wren. It began a revival of interest in Wren’s work. Perceived as a uniquely British architect, Wren’s buildings came to be regarded as suitable models for a revival style that reached its zenith between 1890-1914. Most of Wren’s work was constructed in silvery-grey Portland stone, but the combination of red brick and stone dressings shown in many buildings here became the hallmark of late seventeenth-century English Baroque architecture. The result was that many buildings not by Wren were attributed to him. Can you spot any? Image title: 2029.—A Parallel of some of the principal Towers and Steeples built by Sir Christopher Wren Source: Knight, Charles: “Old England: A Pictorial Museum” (1845)
|
|
|
|
|
All articles and photographs
on this website are copyrighted material.
|
|
Christopher
Wren (1632-1723), although best known today as Britain's most loved
architect, was a remarkable man in many areas of study. As an astronomer,
natural scientist, and mathematician Wren lead the great thinkers of his
time; Sir Isaac Newton called Wren one of the world's top three
geometricians. 
Only
nine days after the Fire of London had run it's course Wren started on
plans to rebuild the city. He wanted to create a city celebrating the
beauty of it's main buildings and his plan connected them with wide
boulevards and avenues. His plan would have gotten rid of the winding
alleyways, narrow roads, and close set buildings that contributed so much
to the fire's spread. Unfortunately, long before his plan could be
implemented people simply began to rebuild their new homes and shops on
the foundations of the old; the city just grew back from it's own roots.
(The dark area of Wren's plan shows the extent of the Great Fire.)
much
to take on all at once, and many priests fought an unending battle against
the untraditional design. In spite of years of hassles, meetings,
arguments and attempts to find a middle ground, St Paul's was as far as
ever from being rebuilt. Wren's irritation grew.