Architecture

Holy Trinity Church, Kingston upon Hull in 2015. Photo: Andrew Paterson/Alamy Stock Photo

‘Hull can boast buildings of national significance’

The UK’s City of Culture is home to a selection of great public buildings – from a late gothic masterpiece, to a state of the art ‘subquarium’

27 Feb 2017
Vaux-le-Vicomte, designed for Nicolas Fouquet by the architect Louis Le Vau and the garden designer André Le Nôtre in the mid 17th century.

‘A Baroque tamed to suit a northern taste’

The chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte is rare among historic houses in France – for both the quality of its conservation and as a privately run property

30 Jan 2017
The Meštrovic family mausoleum in the Dalmatian village of Otavice, built by the architect in 1926–31. Photo: Roger Bowdle

‘It seems extraordinary that this great artist is so little known’

Gertrude Stein hailed him as the ‘new Michelangelo’ and he was consulted by statemen about Balkan politics, but Meštrović’s name has fallen into obscurity

16 Jan 2017

How life goes on in a ruined Roman palace

The ruins of Diocletian’s Palace in Split are still inhabited – and they don’t look that different from how they did to Robert Adam in the 1750s

22 Dec 2016
Ceiling of the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs, Westminster Cathedral, designed by Tom Phillips and dedicated in 2016.

Westminster Cathedral’s ceilings like the sky

The influence of glittering Byzantine churches can be found in the impressive mosaics of Westminster Cathedral – including a new work by Tom Phillips

19 Dec 2016

‘Post-Fire London was a magnificent, beautiful compromise’

London was rebuilt according to its inhabitants’ needs after the Great Fire of 1666 – and is so much the better for it.

31 Oct 2016

Georgian Gothic is no longer the eccentric style it used to be

Scholars have started to treat Georgian Gothic architecture and design much more seriously

28 Oct 2016

What do architects look like?

Most architects look unremarkable – and this has always been the case

26 Sep 2016

‘There is no other site like this in Europe’

The ideal community of Le Familistère was the result of one man’s unique vision. The vision failed, but its extraordinary architecture survives

15 Sep 2016
St Mary-at-Hill photographed on 12 May 1988, two days after a fire had destroyed most of the roof. Apollo magazine.

The unhappy fate of Christopher Wren’s city churches

They rose out of the ashes of the Great Fire of London and transformed the city, but several of Wren’s city churches have met with disaster themselves

2 Sep 2016

Move over Merrie England… Shakespeare and architecture

Taking Shakespearean architecture seriously means looking beyond ‘Olden Time’ Tudor revival buildings

20 Jul 2016

The tragedy and triumph of a British architect in New Delhi

Arthur Gordon Shoosmith showed great promise but built very little – though he did design a magnificent church in New Delhi

31 May 2016
The De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill-on-Sea, opened in 1935 and successfully restored in 2003–05.

‘Why risk skin cancer when there’s architecture to enjoy?’

Large, long windows and a flat roof for sunbathing: is it any wonder that Britain’s early experiments with modernist architecture were by the sea?

27 Apr 2016

Jean Nouvel’s oasis of calm in São Paulo

The architect’s first project in São Paulo restores and adds to one of the city’s historical landmarks

15 Apr 2016

George Gilbert Scott – not such a ‘dead dog’ after all

John Betjeman called him ‘dull’ and William Morris dismissed his work, but Scott’s reputation is bouncing back

Zaha Hadid’s death leaves British architecture immeasurably poorer

The UK was slow to appreciate Zaha Hadid’s uncompromising attitude to architecture, but she was one of the most important British architects of the past 100 years

31 Mar 2016

‘London is lucky to have the blue plaque scheme’

In praise of an London institution that was founded 150 years ago

4 Feb 2016

Boris Johnson and the GLA are the true vandals of London

The mayor’s expansionist ambitions are ruining the city’s historic character

22 Jan 2016

Reconstructing Syria’s heritage is a hopeful but distant dream

Replicas, digital records and long-term monitoring projects are all important in the race to preserve cultural history

8 Jan 2016

Sir John Soane’s private apartments are a public treasure

The restoration at the Soane Museum is a masterpiece of forensic work

6 Jan 2016

Finally, a reminder that post-war architecture deserves our praise

Elain Harwood’s magisterial Space, Hope, and Brutalism is a triumph

22 Dec 2015

Was there no Celtic Revival to vie with the Gothic?

‘The Celtic Revival in architecture depended upon ancient shrines, castles, and vernacular buildings’

21 Dec 2015

Ruins and reconstruction at the Neues Museum

The building is simultaneously remnant and monument, a showcase for historical artefacts which itself embodies Europe’s disastrous history

30 Nov 2015

‘Without a palace of glass, life is a burdensome task.’ Paul Scheerbart’s utopian fantasies

‘Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!! A Paul Scheerbart Reader’ reviewed

28 Nov 2015