C O N T E X T 1 1 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 1 35 Butterfield was not the only architect with his foibles. The genius of Edwin Lutyens was such that he was known not just for his strong ideas but also for overriding the wishes of his patrons. Such arrogance can perhaps be forgiven in a genius but nonetheless must have been galling for his clients at the time. One client, John Hemingway, was railroaded at his villa in Ilkley, which was being designed and built for him by Lutyens. In correspondence Lutyens remarked high-handedly that Hemingway ‘could not spend his money until he met me’2. The story is told that Hemingway had said to Lutyens ‘I don’t want a black marble staircase, I want an oak staircase’, to which Lutyens responded: ‘what a pity’. Sometime later when Hemingway returned and was viewing his villa he saw that, contrary to his express wishes, a black marble staircase had been installed. He exclaimed: ‘I told you I didn’t want a black marble staircase!’ Lutyens replied: ‘I know, and I said: “what a pity”’.3 The foibles of architects and designers can either affect only small parts of a building or, at the other end of the scale, whole townscapes. Once identified and understood, the traits and tendencies of the architect become fascinating, especially when studied in depth and across sites. They can even act as a form of unintended architectural signature, pointing to a single designer. In terms of a whole townscape, the city of Bath provides evidence of how the interests and obsessions of an architect can not just influence, but actually direct and control the design. John Wood the Elder, who is largely responsible for the style and layout of Bath today, developed three inter-related obsessions which dominated his architectural thinking and also his town-planning. The first was a passion for neo-Palladianism, which was not at all unusual for the time. The second was an interest in Celtic prehistory. The third obsession was related to freemasonry and the belief that all classical architecture was derived from ancient Jewish architecture such as the First Temple belonging to King Solomon4. Bath is the culmination of Wood’s attempts to restore the myth of an ancient British city. In order to achieve this however he manipulated historic facts, altered the anthropologies of the Gods, and adapted the geometry and proportions of monuments such as Stonehenge, all to suit his obsessions. The result was to revolutionise the idea of city streetscapes and also of town planning as a whole. Understanding the obsessions and foibles of architects of the past, instead of looking purely at the spatial form and response of a historic building to its situation, can shed a great deal of light on the final design of the building and why it is the way it is. Carole Fry, a director of AHC Consultants 1 John Summerson, Architecture in Britain 1530-1830, p272 2 Chrstopher Hussey, The Life of Sir Edwin Lutyens, London 1950, p27 3 John Brandon-Jones et al, ‘Reminiscences of Sir Edwin Lutyens’, Architectural Association Journal, lxxiv, March 1959, p227 4 Timothy Mowl and Brian Earnshaw, Architect of Obsession, Millstream Books, 1988 ACANTHUS ARCHITECTS CONSERVATION HISTORIC BUILDINGS CONSERVATION LED REGENERATION NEW BUILDINGS IN HISTORIC ENVIRONMENTS Blackburn House, West Lothian – Angus Bremner www.acanthus.co.uk BANBURY Acanthus Clews Architects 01295 702600 CHISWICK Acanthus LW Architects 020 8994 2288 EDINBURGH Simpson & Brown Architects 0131 555 4678 HUNTLY Acanthus Architects DF 01466 793400 LEEDS Acanthus WSM Architects 0113 239 3414 PEMBROKE Acanthus Holden Architects 01646 685472 TUNBRIDGE WELLS Stuart Page Architects 01892 862548 ART CONSERVATORS&HISTORIC BUILDING CONSULTANTS Conservation of painted and applied decoration on plaster, stone, canvas, wood and metal substrates Cleaning and stabilisation of interior and exterior building surfaces Historic paint research and recreation of historic decorative schemes Survey, specification and analysis services available Laughton, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 0HE Telephone: 01529 497449 Fax: 01529 497518 Email [email protected] Website www.hirst-conservation.com
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