Great Britain is a country that stores a huge number of buildings built in different eras and decorated in perfect different styles. Among the buildings in the UK, you can find representatives of the Baroque, Gothic, Classicism, Palladianism, Neo-Gothic, Modernism, Hi-Tech, Postmodernism and many others. Let's consider them in more detail.

prehistoric times

It is worth mentioning the buildings of ancient times. The most famous of them is Stonehenge. Scientists attribute this building to the Neolithic period. This building is more than two thousand years old, however, no one can say for sure what it was intended for. In addition, many tombs over two and a half thousand years old have been preserved in the UK.

ancient roman colonization

In the first millennium BC, the Celts settled in the British Isles. Finds from their time are scarce due to the small number of materials at their disposal. Researchers attribute them to the "animal style" in art.

In the middle of the first century AD, the Romans landed on the islands and began their expansion. However, they meet fierce resistance, because of which they were forced to protect the occupied lands with stone and brick walls. Some of them have survived to this day, however, most of them will be dismantled for the construction of Catholic churches. Also, the Roman contribution to British architecture includes:

• imperial rampart;
• the remains of the Roman baths in London and Bath;
• cemeteries;
• villas of influential Romans.

Early Middle Ages

In the fifth - sixth centuries of our era, Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and so on) arrive in Britain. Gradually they mix with the indigenous population - the Celts. However, their influence on English architecture is minimal due to the lack of knowledge about the construction of large structures. And yet, with them, a hall appears, an oblong-shaped structure where all working members of the family could gather.

Remark 1

In addition, Christianization begins with them, characterized by the construction of simple small churches. Along with this, the decoration of building facades is also developing, which will be developed in British Gothic a little later.

English Gothic

Gothic culture arises at the end of the twelfth century and will last for four centuries. One of the obvious features of the Gothic is the very large sprawl of monasteries, the inclusion of fields and additional outbuildings in their territories. Cities were built densely. However, the houses retained the elongated and not very wide shape familiar to England. The facades of buildings are actively decorated with the use of small details that can be traced even at the present time.

Remark 2

There is also evidence that the French also contributed to the development of English Gothic. It was French architects who began to design English cathedrals in the Gothic style.

A little later, an unspoken race begins: who will draw the best ornament to place on the ceiling of the building. However, it did not last long, as the construction of cathedrals and monasteries began to fade, and commercial and industrial corporations, guild houses and small workshops began to be completed to the surrounding territories, which used to be occupied by fields and monastic outbuildings.

English Gothic is divided into three periods:

• early English (from the end of the 12th century to the middle of the 13th century);
• geometric curvilinear (from the middle of the 13th century to the middle of the 14th century);
• perpendicular (from the middle of the XIV century to the XVI century).

Half-timbered buildings

For an ordinary resident, wooden houses prevailed. Constant deforestation led to the fact that people were forced to turn to half-timbered houses. This is a construction method in which only the structure is made of wood, and everything else is made with brick, stone, or putty. The British even learned how to plaster such buildings.

At this time, Britain issued a law on the density of building houses, which forbade the placement of buildings too close to each other. It was created in order to prevent the spread of fire to other houses in the event of its occurrence. Because of this, we can observe wide streets between houses even in modern Britain.

During the Reformation era, persecuted Protestants arrive in the British Isles and resume red brick building. Together with them, the placement of two-story buildings begins.

Brief Baroque era

The original European Baroque style had an extremely limited period of existence in the UK. The list of architects who adhered to the idea of ​​​​introducing the Baroque was just as short:

• John Vanbrugh, architect;
• James Thornhill, painter;
• Nicholas Hawksmoor, architect and assistant to Vanbrugh;
• Inigo Jones;
• Christopher Wren.

The famous White Hall project, which, unfortunately, was never implemented, contributed to it. With this project, Britain entered the tacit competition of European monarchs to build the largest royal residences. So, for example, France had the world-famous Louvre, and the Spanish Empire had Escorial and Buen Retiro. A plot equal to 11 hectares of land between St. James Park and the Thames was taken under White Hall. Designed by Inigo Jones, the new residence had a rectangular plan with seven courtyards. Yard territories were surrounded by buildings of palaces, consisting of three-part blocks. The corners of the giant square were also crowned with rectangular three-story towers that towered over two-story buildings. The highlight was the courtyard with a circular gallery adorned with a parapet with vases. The project was the first example of a European-style ensemble in Britain.

Classicism of the 17th century

The position occupied by classicism in English architecture was far greater than that of the baroque. The main personality in the spread of this style is Inigo Jones. The representative of the new royal dynasty - Anna - appoints him chief architect. It was Inigo Jones who brought the teachings of the architect Palladio to the British Isles.

This architect wrote his book back in 1570. In it, he presents his architectural experience to the public and talks about the qualities and knowledge that an architect needs. In addition, he encloses drawings of ancient buildings and their reconstructions. This treatise is called "Four Books on Architecture".

Any style of architecture is a history imprinted in stone. British houses can tell at least three stories, three royal dynasties. The first one…

Tudor style

Tudor style in architecture

Main features:

• asymmetric plan and type of building;
• high gables;
• fachwerk (bearing base of beams and braces visible from the outside);
• steep, hip roofs;
• high, well-marked chimney;
• hinged windows in small binding;
• dormer windows (often round, like portholes);
• front entrance, trimmed with large stone.

The houses of this kind were preceded by medieval architecture, heavy and primitive. They didn’t think about beauty then, the main thing was that the building protected.

But then the Tudors reigned, the Renaissance began with its reforms, the flourishing of culture and the building boom. Buildings and their architectural appearance have a new function: to demonstrate the status of the owner, his nobility and power. The facades have become more elegant, and the inner chambers, thanks to the spread of glass, are much lighter.

The time of the Tudors lasted 118 years, and during this time the style was enriched with many details. Emigrants from Holland brought the custom of using red brick and artistic chimney masonry. Galleries appeared in wealthy houses ...

In the neo-Tudor style, houses are often erected today. To recreate a typical and colorful exterior, imitation half-timbered houses made of PVC or fiber cement are used, and the roofs are covered with tiles or artificial thatch.

Georgian architecture

Her signs:

• symmetrical layout in the form of a rectangle;
• high plinth;
• brick walls with discreet decor;
• identical, synchronously arranged windows;
• entrance with a portico and a decorative canopy;
• front door with panels and semi-columns;
• medium-pitched roof with a minimum overhang.

IVIII century, when the German Welf family took over the British crown, went down in history as the Georgian era. So it was called because the first four monarchs were Georges.

New tastes brought by the kings, new technologies born from the industrial revolution, and ideas and impressions from the colonies created a special type of architecture - Georgian.

He adopted a lot more ancient techniques than the Tudor style. Strict and majestic proportions, proportionate arrangement of windows, cornices and moldings, as well as the rejection of the pomp inherent in it, made it equally in demand both in the city and in country estates.

The culmination of Georgian architecture is the period of the reign of George IV, the former regent. English house-building, having fallen under the beneficial influence of French architecture, became more refined and refined. The windows stretched out in height, the balconies were decorated in the ancient Greek and Roman manner, the front door finally turned into an important architectural “person” (it was decorated with pilasters, glass inserts, platbands, stucco coats of arms), a high porch with twisted consoles, terraces with graceful balusters … No wonder this historical milestone deserved a separate name - the regency Georgian style.

victorian houses

They have:

• asymmetrical layout and complex shape of the building;
• steep, broken, multi-stage roof;
• a pediment-gable formed by the slopes of the roof on the main façade;
• balconies with columns;
• a veranda along one or two sides of the house;
• round or square tower;
• bay windows, large windows and decorative dormers.

The years during which Queen Victoria sat on the throne were marked by rapid industrialization and a stable social life. Britain, successfully fighting for the colonies, managed to remain a quiet corner of Europe. Ambitious urban planners from less prosperous countries came here, which turned the kingdom into a world architectural workshop.

The Victorian style is even more heterogeneous than its predecessors. It consists of a dozen movements, the most popular of which turned out to be Neo-Gothic. In the middle of the 19th century, spiers, lancet windows with stained glass, roofs with battlements and parapets, Gothic turrets suddenly returned. Moreover, not only public buildings were built in a similar vein - the Parliament with Big Ben, courts and train stations - but also private houses. Later, a new craze swept the country, this time with Italian romance, which brought Roman pediments, arches, colonnades and balustrades, wide, flat roofs. Then it was the turn of copying the style of the houses of the Bonapartist period - this is how attics, large, curved windows, rounded cornices appeared. At the end of the century, architects suddenly remembered the Romanesque tradition, and laconic, solid houses made of gray stone grew next to the listed buildings. In addition, the Indo-Saracenic exterior was popular, allowing moneybags to build residences stylized as Mughal palaces.

But perhaps the most widespread was the style of Queen Anne. As a rule, the facades of these buildings are rich in color, the roofs are steep, tiled, and the layout looks as if the house was built gradually, forming a complex, three-dimensional structure.

English house: modern look

As you can see, a British mansion can be different, with an emphasis on a particular historical period. However, there is something that unites all varieties of eclectic English style. This:

• natural stone or brick from which walls are built;
• a roof with a steep slope and dormer windows;
• low-lying windows with frequent binding.

A house of this kind is the classical English one. Inside it there is always a fireplace framed by pilasters and located opposite the front door, a hall and at least one guest room are required. Barns, pantries and garages are located separately, in autonomous annexes.

Today, typically English houses are being built using new, ultra-modern materials: brickwork is performed by thermal panels or vinyl siding, and decorative elements are made of polyurethane.

Do not forget also that an English mansion is not only walls and a roof. A real British house is also a lawn, neat shrubs, ivy, wild grapes and other details dear to the heart.

It is difficult to underestimate the influence of England both on the history of architecture and on modern building solutions. Being one of the most ancient European countries, it has made a significant contribution to the global architecture, and the number of historical cultural monuments on its territory is really impressive.

And thanks to the long history and the general attractiveness of buildings, in the field of suburban housing construction - an area where planners and designers are shackled only by the wishes of the customer - you can still often trace the motives of British architecture from different historical periods.

And since we are talking about historical periods, let's take a look at what stages generally existed in Foggy Albion and how they influenced modern housing construction.

Roman style

The very first direction that could be characterized precisely by style: with specific canons, features and rules of construction. In order to imagine the Romanesque style without unnecessary descriptions, remember how heavy stone castles looked in the pictures of ancient English battles. Gray, monolithic, impregnable, stern, with high towers for shooters - donjons - small windows and an alternation of cylindrical and square shapes.

And one could say that this direction has long sunk into oblivion, remaining only a historical monument, but no - the powerful silhouettes of Romanesque castles continue to inspire architects of both urban and suburban buildings to this day. This results both in miniature and cozy interpretations of castles, and in the borrowing of elements.

Gothic

A colorful and decorative style that swept Europe for a single century. It seems that the main canons of the Gothic style are known to everyone: an elongated silhouette, the use of repeating segments, a lot of decorative details that look severely weighty. Many temples made in the Gothic style have survived to our times, but how did this affect individual housing construction, you ask? After all, Gothic is a style too solemn and large-scale to directly implement it in a country cottage.

But no one does it directly. Modern Gothic country buildings are an eclecticism of elements of Gothic, classics, half-timbered houses. Sharp roofs, lancet windows, attentiveness to accessories are taken from the Gothic style. But many refuse scale and gloomy colors, after all, a country house is a place for comfort.

Tudor style

In fact, the Tudor style is late Gothic. It differs from the usual one in that it is the only platform on which the Italian Baroque more or less managed to realize itself in the UK: Tudor buildings and temples have an elongated and narrow silhouette, but a sharply characteristic artsy decor characteristic of the Baroque.

It is not worth talking about any implementation of this style in modern times, since it carried a mixed character.

Fachwerk

Unlike the rest, fachwerk is a style of erecting predominantly individual houses for housing. These are bright houses of Old Europe, the wooden frame of which is not hidden by plaster. It is he who, because of the comfort created and a solid niche in history, he occupies a considerable place in the modern construction of houses. And you can read more about it in the article "Fachwerk style: its history and design in the modern world", which discusses in detail its features and methods of implementation now.

Short baroque period

Unlike the same France, Rococo and Baroque never made it to England. Historically, this was due to the fact that half a century earlier, a split had occurred in the Christian church, Protestantism was born and Catholics were not very politely expelled from Britain. Subsequently, the English nobility invited Italian architects, but for the interior design of their homes, and not for the implementation of architectural projects. Therefore, the English Baroque is very few in number, severely, less decorated than the Italian, but did not degenerate into a separate style due to its non-proliferation.

Georgian style

A style that foreshadowed the predictable changes of the industrial revolution: the emergence of minimalism, modernity, art deco. By that time, English cities were growing by leaps and bounds, building was done quickly and cheaply. Why strict English pretentiousness threw off a lot of details. Houses became simple forms, symmetrical and squat. The decor faded into the background and was expressed mainly in the decoration of windows with doors: arches, frames and pilasters. At its core, the Georgian style is a simplified, sharp-edged classic.

But even in modern housing construction, although this style was mostly urban planning, it is present. Not in its pure form, but mixed with colonial motifs.

Victorian style

The reign of Queen Victoria brought to England a very interesting duality.

Summarizing

These are the main styles that were "cooked" in the conditions of England and firmly entered the architectural traditions, from which many still draw inspiration. In the following articles, we will tell you more about each of them.

/ State Committee for Civil Engineering and Architecture under the Gosstroy of the USSR, Research Institute of Theory, History and Perspective Problems of Soviet Architecture. - Leningrad; Moscow: Publishing house of literature on construction, 1966-1977.

• Volume 11: Architecture of the capitalist countries of the XX century. / Edited by A. V. Ikonnikov (executive editor), Yu. Yu. Savitsky, N. P. Bylinkin, S. O. Khan-Magomedov, Yu. S. Yaralov, N. F. Gulyanitsky. - 1973. - 887 p., ill.
  • Chapter I. Architecture of Great Britain / Yu. Yu. Savitsky. - S. 43-75.

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Chapter I

UK ARCHITECTURE

British architecture 1918-1945 After the end of the First World War, Great Britain was among the victorious powers. V. I. Lenin, in his report at the Second Congress of the Communist International, noted that as a result of the war, England, after the USA and Japan, won the most. But, despite this, for Britain, the period between the first and second world wars turned out to be a time of very serious political and economic difficulties.

The Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia had a strong revolutionary influence both on the exploited population of the British colonies and on the working class of the metropolis. The crisis of the British Empire deepened, the process of its gradual disintegration accelerated. A fierce strike struggle broke out in England. The British government, along with other measures to combat the strike movement, was forced to pursue a policy of partial concessions to the working class. The bourgeoisie in power appreciated the social danger posed by the acute shortage of housing for workers.

However, the specifics of the social system, and especially the disinterest of private firms in mass housing construction, systematically led to the disruption of the planned construction programs. Out of necessity, the role of municipal and cooperative organizations begins to grow. Their share in the total mass of housing construction reached 30.6%.

From the point of view of creative direction, the architecture of Great Britain in the interwar years is generally much more conservative than in the countries of the continent. However, new architectural ideas in the late 20s and early 30s began to spread in England. In 1931, the MAPC (Modern Architecture Research Society) group was organized - a society for research in the field of modern architecture (the English branch of the international architectural organization CIAM). The positions of the young English functionalists were noticeably strengthened after the emigration from fascistized Germany to England of a number of major German architects of the new direction, among whom were Gropius and Mendelssohn. Despite the resistance of the bulk of the customers, most architects of the old school and especially local authorities, by the end of the period, if it did not become the dominant creative direction, it nevertheless won the rights of citizenship in all areas of British architecture.

The most important of the problems facing British architects and builders immediately after the end of the First World War was the restoration of the destroyed housing stock and the construction of new residential buildings. Even before the war, the number of dwellings in England lagged far behind

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The needs of the population. During the war, the housing stock was seriously damaged by enemy bombardments and the lack of the most necessary current repairs. A huge number of slum dwellings became a real social danger.

The most significant and complete town-planning undertaking of the first post-war years was the construction of the city of Welwyn (in 32 km north of London; rice. one). The composition of Welvin (designed by Louis de Soissons) is based on the idea of ​​a garden city proposed by Howard and implemented for the first time in Letchworth. What's new about Welwyn is the treatment of it as a satellite city of London, closely connected to the capital but not a bedroom city.

The estimated population of the city is 40 thousand people with an area of ​​960 ha. The satellite city of Welvin was supposed to have its own industry, which could provide work for the bulk of the population, and a public and shopping center. The main compositional axis of the Welvin plan is a wide 60 m a park-type highway ending in a semicircular landscaped area designed to accommodate public tasks. On both sides of the main avenue, near the semicircular square, there is the shopping and business center of the city - shops, post office, banks, cafes, etc. Curvilinear outlines predominate in the tracing of streets. Feature Welvin - widespread use of dead-end buildings.

Large green areas in the northern part of the city have been turned into parks. The layout of the houses was designed in such a way as to preserve the existing trees and use them to revitalize the urban landscape. Together with the high lawn culture characteristic of England, all this greatly adorned the city and became its most attractive feature, justifying the term "garden city".

The overwhelming majority of developers in Welwyn belong to the bourgeoisie, highly paid employees, intellectuals, small entrepreneurs. The building is dominated by the traditional cottage type of residential building.

Welwyn's residential development also includes the dwellings of highly skilled workers, carried out mainly in the form of block houses. They sharply differ from the houses of wealthy citizens not only in the amount of living and auxiliary space, the quality of equipment and finishing of apartments, but also in the size of the land plots.

Of course, here, as in Letchworth, it was not possible to achieve the social harmony unattainable in a capitalist society, which Howard and the supporters of "municipal socialism" dreamed of. Despite the neighborhood of dwellings of representatives of different classes, the presence of common playgrounds for young people, etc., class contrasts in Welvin do not lose their sharpness.

Among the first attempts to create satellite cities in the period between the two world wars is also Wiesenshaw, with the aim of unloading Manchester - one of the most overcrowded industrial centers in England. The construction of the city began in 1929. The development of a

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The planning project was entrusted to Barry Parker, R. Enwin's co-author on the Letchworth layout project. The prospective population was set at 100,000 people. Around the city, it was planned to create an agricultural belt with a total area of ​​400 ha. The city is divided by park highways into four zones with an auxiliary shopping center and a school in each of them. In addition, industrial enterprises that are not dangerous from a sanitary point of view are located in the zones.

As conceived by the designers, the inhabitants of Visensho should be provided with work within the city itself. However, this was not achieved. A significant part of the population is forced to commute to work in Manchester, which actually turns Wiesenshaw more of a bedroom city than a satellite city.

Even less consistent with the idea of ​​a satellite city is the huge residential area of ​​Bikantri, located 16 km east of central London directly behind Ilford, built 1920-1934

The housing estates of the interwar years only increased the complexity of the structure of London's suburban areas. During this time, it was not possible to significantly change the overall picture of the development of other large cities in England - Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, etc.

Post-war housing construction in England faced great difficulties due to the lack of skilled labor and the high cost of traditional building materials such as brick. Therefore, in the first post-war years, the search for new methods for constructing residential buildings was widely launched - replacing brickwork with lightweight concrete, large blocks, the use of frame structures with light aggregate, etc. In the early 30s, the search for new design solutions went along the line of development of reinforced concrete structures (works by the architects of the Techton group, Owen, Connell and Ward, Lucas, etc.).

The main type of dwelling continued to be a cottage, traditional for England, with an apartment located on two floors. The desire to reduce the perimeter of external walls and foundations, the length of streets, water and sewer lines led to the widespread use of pairing cottages or connecting them into blocks of 4-6 or more houses. Individual plots of land for each family, where a garden or a small garden is arranged, are the main advantage of cottage development. The types of apartments and their layout, as well as the appearance of buildings, corresponded to the property and social status of the residents.

Cottages intended for workers with simple brick or plaster walls were most often very primitive. The composition of cottages belonging to the middle class (as the petty bourgeoisie and highly paid intelligentsia are usually called in England) was given great importance. Here, two main creative tendencies prevailed, which developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The first of them is associated with the work of the architect C. E. Voisey, an English master of the late 19th century, whose influence in the field of low-rise construction was felt not only in England, but also in other European countries. Asymmetric composition of volumes, steep tiled roofs, high chimneys - these are the features characteristic of this creative direction.

Despite the traditional tendency of the British to cottages with individual plots of land for each family, already in the 30s, the extensive development of this type began to arouse alarm in urban municipalities. In the practice of municipal construction in the 1930s, the construction of quarters built up with houses of 4-5 floors with a density of 600-700 people per 1 ha. Such a high density gave rise to crowded areas, lack of free space in apartments and created serious domestic inconveniences. Little attention was paid to the problems of insolation of apartments. In the overwhelming majority of cases, there were no buildings for communal and cultural services for the population in the new quarters.

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Here, mainly residential buildings of the gallery type were designed, in which the apartments were connected floor by floor with open balconies - galleries connected vertically by common stairwells. The apartments in these houses were located on one floor or had two-tiered rooms, traditional for England.

At the other pole of housing construction in England - rich mansions and villas, profitable houses with "luxury apartments" (luxury flats) of the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, the highly paid intelligentsia. Patrons of the rich often encouraged new "fashionable" architectural trends. The construction of villas and mansions, earlier than in other areas of housing construction, was influenced by new architectural ideas.

Among the first manifestations of functionalism in England is a residential building in Northampton, designed by P. Behrens in 1926 and known as "New Ways". This free-plan house is made of reinforced concrete with a flat roof. Horizontal windows, deep loggias in the center, smooth planes of the wall, the absence of a crowning cornice - all these features of the building contrasted sharply with the usual methods of English residential architecture.

A typical example of the use of new compositional and stylistic techniques is the mansion on Fronal Way, built in 1936 according to the design of Maxwell Frey, one of the pioneers of English functionalism.

In the mid-1930s, the influence of functionalism began to manifest itself in the architecture of multi-storey apartment buildings.

One example of a new type of dwelling is a multi-storey residential building in Highgate (the so-called Highpoint No. 1), designed by architects B. Lyubetkin and the Tekton group (1935, Fig. 2). This building is designed for tenants with a very high income. The plan of the building is in the form of a double cross. At the intersection of the branches of the cross there are stairs and stair halls, passenger and freight elevators. Each staircase leads to four apartments on each floor. In addition to the huge vestibule, as part of the common areas on the ground floor, there is also a tea room overlooking the garden, designed to meet the residents of the house and their friends. Each of the upper floors has four three-room and four

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Four-room apartments. The flat roof is used as an open terrace. The building is made of monolithic reinforced concrete.

The layout of the second building (Highpoint No. 2) is distinguished by the location of each of the apartments in two tiers (“maisonette” type). These apartments are presented in two options. In the central part of the building, the common living room stands out sharply in size, occupying both tiers in height. In apartments of the second type, located at the ends of the building, the authors, on assignment, sought to increase the number of rooms. Therefore, here the common living room fits into the height of only one tier, which made it possible to increase the number of rooms above.

In the composition of the facade of the second building, the leading role is played by the huge windows of the common two-story living rooms of the center, contrasting with the smaller window openings of ordinary single-story rooms. This technique, as well as a more subtle development of proportions, favorably distinguishes the appearance of the second building from the schematic composition of the facade of the first stage.

In order to reduce the cost of the house and the operating costs of maintaining elevators, many tenement houses were designed with internal corridors connecting apartments and sparsely spaced stairwells. This technique made it possible to increase the number of apartments served by an elevator on each floor to 6-8. The even more economical gallery type of house was widely used.

However, in the English housing construction of the interwar years, traditional methods of building construction and architectural eclecticism dominated. Functionalism, with its new understanding of creative tasks, the desire for the widespread use of new technology and new materials throughout the period, remained the most striking, but controversial and far from dominant trend in British residential architecture.

The architecture of public buildings in England was at this time much more conservative than in many other large European countries. Resistance to new trends was provided by the bulk of architects, customers and the general public.

The desire to reproduce pre-war samples manifested itself, for example, in the architecture of Volsleybuilding (later Barclay Bank), built according to the project of architect. K. Green in 1921-1922, the building of the London Insurance Company on King William Street (1924) by the same author and many other buildings.

The buildings of city governments were no less conservative. And here the preservation of traditional methods was, so to speak, programmatic. One typical example of this commitment to historical reminiscences is the Norwich City Hall (Fig. 3), completed in 1938 (architects James and Pierce). The original idea - to preserve the traditional type of the town hall building - is clearly visible both in the external appearance of the building and in its interiors.

The preservation of traditional tower compositions, the use of heritage and its “modernization” through a simplified interpretation of classical architectural elements also characterize the buildings of city governments built in the interwar years and in many other large cities in Great Britain (Swansea, Nottingham, Cardiff, etc.).

The same trends were evident in other areas of public building architecture. For example, large structures such as the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-on-Avon (architects Scott, Chesterton and Shepherd, 1932) and the building of the Royal Institute of British Architects (architect G. Wornum, 1934) belong to various manifestations unified architectural direction, modernizing the classics by simplifying architectural forms.

A much greater receptivity to new ideas was shown in the design of those buildings in which traditional methods of composition were in sharp conflict with functional requirements - in the buildings of department stores, warehouses, commercial exhibition halls, sports facilities, in such new types of buildings as airport terminals, cinemas, etc.

All these structures, associated with a number of complex technological requirements, needed the maximum release of space from intermediate supports, the best lighting. However, the transition to

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The new methods were not carried out immediately here either. So, for example, in the building of the Hill and Son trading company on Totenham Court Road in London (architects Smith and Brewer), the usual interpretation of the wall as a solid mass is replaced by a light filling of the frame, which still partially preserves the order development (simplified capitals and bases). Such a technique was encountered in the construction of commercial enterprises in the prewar years.

In the 1930s, the architectural evolution of this type of structure accelerated sharply. A striking example of a radical change in the architectural interpretation of the building in the direction of functionalism is the Jones department store in Sloane Square in London. It was built in 1936-1939. designed by W. Grubtree in collaboration with architects Slater, Moberly and Reilly.

Relatively early, new techniques also spread in the architecture of London's transport facilities, in particular, new metro stations. At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, the architects Adams, Holden, and Pearson created a number of buildings in which new designs were applied extensively and without any stylistic disguise.

Among the first successes of the new architectural direction are structures in zoos, built according to the designs of architects Lubetkin and the Tekton group in 1936. Witty combinations of metal, reinforced concrete and glass in such structures as the “gorilla pavilion”, “penguin pool”, were bright examples of modern architecture.

The well-known pavilion on the sea beach in Bexhill, designed by architects E. Mendelson and S. Chermaev in 1936, played a significant role in the development of functionalism. with a spectacular round staircase, enclosed in a mirror glass cylinder, made a great impression with its novelty, truthfulness and original expressiveness.

New ideas were easily and quickly adopted in industrial construction. The chemical factory of the company "Boots" in Beeston, built in 1931 according to the project of arch. Owen Williams, is one of the most famous industrial buildings in England, in which the triumph of new design techniques is quite obvious (Fig. 4). In this structure, vast halls 4 tiers high, cut by connecting reinforced concrete bridges, are covered with steel

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Farms along which longitudinal metal beams are laid. The entire space between these load-bearing elements is filled with continuous glazing, which made it possible to perfectly illuminate both the floor planes of the first floor and the low production facilities open towards the hall with beamless reinforced concrete ceilings. The cantilever overhang of the floors helped turn the outer walls of these rooms into a transparent glass curtain.

The complex, interconnected spatial composition of the chemical factory, with simple and economical designs, comprehensive consideration of technological requirements, was a clear demonstration of the improvements in the structure of an industrial building that become possible using new compositional and design principles.

The influence of functionalism in the construction of industrial buildings in England increased every year. In this area of ​​English architecture, the victory of the new direction was already evident in the 1930s.

In general, the English architecture of the interwar years is characterized not by a sharp revolutionary break with established traditions, but by a gradual transition to new forms of architecture. In different areas of construction, this process proceeded at different speeds.

British architecture 1945-1967 The position of the British Empire in the system of the world economy after the end of the Second World War was greatly weakened. Participation in the aggressive North Atlantic Pact has drawn Britain into the orbit of a tense arms race. The liberation struggle in the British colonies had a huge impact. The forced granting of independence to India, Ceylon, Burma, Ghana and other British colonies led to the collapse of the British Empire. Great Britain's economic difficulties also increased in connection with fierce competition in the world market not only from the United States, but also from West Germany and Japan, and the artificial restriction of trade with the socialist countries.

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Great Britain experienced no less difficulties after the Second World War and within the country. The sharp drop in the standard of living of the working population, the intensification of labor and the intensification of the exploitation of the workers led to an intensification of the class struggle, which was expressed in a broad strike movement. Due to necessity, the British government was forced to carry out various measures aimed at alleviating the growing discontent of the working masses. These measures include the expansion of the housing construction program with the help of long-term loans, the partial elimination of shantytowns, the construction of new cities to decompress overloaded industrial centers.

In the post-war years, the role of municipalities in ordinary housing construction has sharply increased. To a certain extent, their rights were also expanded in carrying out various reconstructive measures. Despite this, the peculiarities of the capitalist system and private ownership of land continue to impede the comprehensive reconstruction of large centers, the elimination of shantytowns and the solution of the housing problem for the broad masses of working people.

In the development of architectural thought after the Second World War, functionalism took a strong position. Rationalist tendencies, the desire for a logical relationship between the functional and constructive structure and the external appearance of the building are the most common feature creativity of English architects of the period under review. Differences in individual decisions, in the creative style of individual masters are within the limits of this general creative direction.

A peculiar kind of architectural research, which has been widely developed in England since the mid-1950s, is the so-called "neo-brutalism". The pioneers of neo-brutalism in England are Peter and Alison Smithson. This direction seeks to oppose the sophistication of modern materials, the subtle nuances of their texture and color, their brilliance and elegance, with the simple and rough structure of natural materials. Stone, wood, brick, rough untextured concrete, iron seem to the representatives of this trend to be more artistically expressive and more “human”.

The use of traditional materials does not signify a penchant for traditional architectural forms. This is what distinguishes neo-brutalism from the varieties of so-called “regional” architecture, whose adherents, in search of local color, turn not only to old materials, but also to traditional forms local architecture.

The use of natural materials, the desire to monumentalize architectural images does not exhaust the concept of "neo-brutalism" in the interpretation given to it by the leaders of this trend and their followers. In numerous articles and speeches, they seek to expand the concepts of neo-brutalism. They believe that the basis of this direction is a new understanding of architecture as a spatial environment that is most favorable for human life, starting from the city as a whole and ending with a separate dwelling. They deny the "diagrammatic" concept of Corbusier's "radiant city", the planning techniques of the "chessboard", strive to take into account the real-life urban planning situation, the gradual reconstruction measures. One of the possible solutions to the problem of the reconstruction of large cities, they consider the so-called "beam" planning, the replacement of one urban center by many. Urban planning neo-brutalists seek to base on sociological research.

In the planning of residential buildings, neo-brutalists propose to provide the opportunity for residents to communicate with each other, including wide bright corridors (“decks”) in the structure of the house, where adults could meet and children could play (Park Hill residential complex in Sheffield, 1964, architect J. Womersley ; Fig. 5). They also propose to include in the structure of dwellings and public service premises (functioning on a commercial basis). However, such an extended interpretation is not

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Lism remains only in declarations and projects.

In the mid-1960s, British architecture increasingly began to react against the weightlessness of modern buildings with their naked light frame and continuous glazing. The desire to revive the monumentality of architectural images in a new style version and neo-brutalist sympathy for natural materials are essentially interconnected.

In general, English architecture after the Second World War is distinguished by the commonality of rationalistic thinking of representatives of various architectural trends.

A major contribution made by English architects to the development of architectural thought was the development of a master plan for the reconstruction of London, begun during the war.

In 1940-1943. plans for the reconstruction of London were developed by various organizations. Among them is the planning committee of the Royal Academy, which included such prominent specialists as E. Lutyens and prof. P. Abercrombie; a committee composed of members of the Royal Institute of British Architects; British Architectural Association. The most extensive and comprehensive was the design of the architectural and planning workshop of the London County Council. The project was led by the chief architect of London, J. Forshaw, with the advice of P. Abercrombie. The project was developed for that part of the city, which is located within the County of London (about 300 km² with a population of about 4 million people according to the 1937 census). The project was accompanied by a detailed analysis of the existing buildings in London, was abundantly illustrated with diagrams, tables and diagrams.

Based on a multilateral analysis of the structure of London, the authors of the project put forward a number of specific proposals. Among the most important are: partial decentralization of the population of London; city ​​zoning by density into three zones: 500, 136 and 100 people per 1 ha, increase and more even distribution of the area of ​​green spaces and open spaces, improvement of the system of transport routes.

The project outlines a system of ring and radial highways (Fig. 6). Some of them are designed for cross-cutting

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High-speed traffic, others - for inter-district communications.

Among the main ideas put forward by the project is the desire to overcome the amorphous structure of London, to highlight the historically established areas, the boundaries between which were almost erased by continuous buildings of the 19th - early 20th centuries. The creation of new highways along these natural boundaries should, according to the authors, help organize urban traffic in the most natural way.

In this project, undoubtedly, the influence of the ideas of a comprehensive reconstruction of the city, put forward by the general plan for the reconstruction of Moscow in 1935, was affected. This was also noted by P. Abercrombie himself. Despite a number of parliamentary acts facilitating the compulsory acquisition of private land for reconstruction purposes, the implementation of this plan in the conditions of private industry and private ownership of land proved to be unfeasible. The plan for the reconstruction of London in 1951 (within the county of London), developed on its basis, set much more limited goals. It was envisaged to create three zones with different building densities - central, inner belt and outer belt. The number of urban population (within the London County) was planned to be reduced to 3150 thousand people by resettling part of the inhabitants in satellite cities. Such cities around London, within a radius of 30-40 km, eight were scheduled. Each of them was supposed to serve to unload a certain sector of London.

6. Project for the reconstruction of London, 1940-1943 Head - arch. Forshaw.

Scheme of transport lines

The attractive force of satellite cities should be improved living conditions, connection with nature and at the same time relative proximity to the cultural centers of the capital.

Among the implemented urban development activities, the most interesting is a number of large residential areas in various parts of London. One of the first housing estates built after the war in the central zone of London was the Churchill Gardens block in the Pimlico area (Fig. 7). On the south side, the quarter overlooks the Thames embankment. During the war, the diverse buildings that existed on the site were badly damaged by aerial bombardments. In 1946, a competition was held for the project of a new development of the site, the winners of which were the then young architects F. Powell and D. Moya. Their project was accepted for implementation.

The estimated population density of the massif is about 500 people per 1 ha. In addition to housing, the project provides for the inclusion of a number of service facilities and an underground garage for 200 cars into the housing estate. The development of Churchill Gardens is interesting due to the use of a mixed number of storeys and various types of apartments, as well as the desire to isolate residential areas from through traffic. These trends are further developed in the residential development of English cities.

In the inner belt of London, among the new residential areas, the planning and development of which reflected new urban planning ideas, is the Loughborough massif (Fig. 8), also created on the site of quarters destroyed during the war (1954-1956, architects of the London County Council R. Matthew, L. Martin and X. Bennet). Here, too, the method of mixed development is applied. The construction, along with low-rise and high-rise buildings, made it possible to reduce the building density, leaving a large number of free green spaces.

A difficult task for English architects is the need to reconstruct areas of old dense buildings with houses devoid of basic amenities.

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Nitar-hygienic facilities. Urban planners put forward the idea of ​​reconstructing such areas by demolishing some of the low-rise buildings. The vacated area is used both to increase open green spaces and the territory of shopping and public centers, and to build new multi-storey residential buildings (often of a tower type), which makes it possible to bring the average population density to the established norm. In the remaining part of the houses, apartments are being reconstructed with their redevelopment and improvement.

The first experience of such a combined reconstruction in the inner ring of London can be the Brandon housing estate in the Southwark area, built in the late 50s. The general management of the design was carried out first by arch. L. Martin, then - arch. X. Bennett (Fig. 9).

Despite the implementation of individual reconstruction measures, the problem of eliminating shantytowns remains unresolved both in London and in other old industrial centers of England.

The largest new housing estate built by the London County Council after the Second World War is Roempton, located in the outer ring of London (in its southern part). The total area of ​​the microdistrict is about 52 ha. The population reaches 10,000 people. The residential area is divided into two unequal parts (Fig. 10). The smaller, southeastern part (the so-called Elton East), adjacent to the street. Portsmouth Road, area 11.5 ha was built in 1952-1955. (design manager - architect R. Matthew). The larger, northwestern portion of Elton West adjacent to Roempton Line and Clarence Line, with an area of ​​40.5 ha built in 1955-1959. (head of design - architect L. Martin). Residential buildings in the microdistrict are characterized by great typological diversity, ranging from 10-11-story tower houses and "plate houses" to two-story detached houses for large families and one-story nursing homes. The total number of apartments is 1867.

The layout of both parts of the microdistrict, separated by Elton Road, is free and picturesque. composition center

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In the academic sense of the word, it is missing here. There are three groups of tower buildings in the development. A vast green lawn separates them from the row of multi-story slab houses. This part of the microdistrict with a strong rhythm of high volumes and large free space plays the role of the main spatial core of the entire development. Vast lawns and picturesque groups of trees create a sense of connection between architecture and nature, which is so lacking in many urban residential complexes.

The greatest difficulties are faced by English urban planners in the reconstruction of historically developed parts of the city, especially where the old layout is in sharp conflict with the requirements of urban traffic. Among such difficult places is a complex site located south of the City of London - the so-called. "Elephant and Castle". A number of streets converge here with radii to a large square. In 1960, the London municipality adopted the development scheme proposed by arch. E. Goldfinger. In subsequent years, this scheme was implemented with some changes.

The sites adjacent to the square were built up with a complex of public buildings (the Ministry of Health, commercial buildings, a printing school, etc.). The new Elephant and Castle development is one of the most impressive pieces of London's redevelopment. However, the lack of harmonic wholeness of the composition hardly makes it possible to consider the Elephant and Castle building as a complete architectural ensemble. Separation in different levels pedestrian and vehicular traffic has undoubtedly facilitated traffic. For pedestrians, the complex system of 18 stairs, 40 ramps and underpasses presents significant difficulties.

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Major work was carried out to reconstruct the South Barbican and to create a well-maintained and landscaped microdistrict on the site of the old dwellings destroyed by the bombing.

Separate reconstruction work is underway in other parts of central London. However, the municipality of London failed to achieve any complete implementation of the complex of town-planning measures that was outlined by the plans of Abercrombie and Forshaw in 1944 and later by the plan of 1951.

Among the most striking innovations in the face of London are changes in the city center's silhouette that has developed over the centuries. Since the beginning of the 60s, high-rise buildings began to appear one after another in the very center of the city. Castrol House was the first to be built in 1961. Then, on the south bank of the Thames (in 1962), a 25-storey building of the Shell company (architect X. Robertson) grew up. A huge tower-like building with a flat, blunt end invaded the spatial silhouette of the London center with its slender towers of Parliament and the majestic dome of St. Paul.

This high-rise building was followed by others: the 34-storey building of the Vickers company (Vickers Tower) was built according to the design of R. Ward in 1963 (Fig. 11) in one of the central districts of London - Westminster. This building, with its strong molding of concave and convex volumes with hinged glass railings, is much more plastic than the Shell building. The top of the building is facilitated by a gallery.

The twenty-story building of the Hilton Hotel is also located in the very center of London - near Green Park, in close proximity to Buckingham Palace. A sharp large-scale dissonance violates the integrity and harmony of one of the most attractive parts of the center of London.

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10. London. Roempton area, 1950s. Architects R. Matthew and L. Martin. Master plan and a fragment of the development of the Elton West microdistrict on the left;

master plan and aerial view of the Elton East neighborhood on the right

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Of great interest to the history of English urban planning in the post-war years is the creation of new cities around London and other major industrial centers of England. The most important motives for the creation of new cities were the ever-increasing need for at least partial deconsolidation of the old centers, a more rational distribution of industry, and bringing housing closer to the place of application of the labor force.

In 1946 and 1947, as a result of many years of parliamentary struggle, legislative acts were adopted allowing the forced purchase of private land by the state for the construction of new cities, and the creation of 15 new cities was planned. Their construction began in the following years. Eight new cities are located around London (Fig. 12) - Basildon, Bracknell, Crawley, Harlow, Hamel-Hampstead, Stevenage, Hatfield and Welwyn (continuation of the development of the city already created after the First World War). Two cities were slated for construction in Scotland - East Kilbride near Glasgow and Glenrose near Edinburgh. One town is Quimbran in Wales. The rest of the cities are being created in various parts of England near the centers of the metalworking and coal industries.

The new cities were not to be turned into bedroom cities; they provided for the development of their own industry and a network of trade and cultural institutions. The population for each of the new cities was set at 20,000 to 60,000 people. However, subsequently for Crawley, Harlow and Hamel-Hampstead this figure was increased to 80 thousand people, for Stevenage and East Kilbride - up to 100 thousand, and for Basildon - up to 140 thousand.

The structure of each of the new cities includes a main commercial and social center, an industrial zone, residential neighborhoods (with auxiliary commercial and public service centers), and agricultural land.

Residential zones are divided into separate districts, which, in turn, consist of a number of microdistricts. The population of the latter varies greatly - from 2 to 10 thousand people (and sometimes even higher). Neighborhoods are not amorphous in their structure and consist of smaller subdivisions - residential complexes. Neighborhoods are separated from each other by landscaped spaces where playgrounds, football and croquet fields, tennis courts, etc. are located. In addition to dwellings and an auxiliary shopping center, library, club or church, a microdistrict usually includes an elementary school and a kindergarten ( placed so that the children

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Do not cross highways). Secondary schools already serve two or more neighborhoods.

Harlow is one of the most characteristic new cities (Fig. 13). It is located at 57 km north of London, on the road to Norwich.

The plan of Harlow is clearly divided into four parts, separated by the green valleys of the streams Canon Brook and Todd Brook. The industrial zone is located in the northeast near the railway line. In the northwest, between the railway line and the new highway, there is a warehouse area and an area serving the city of industry. The city park and the central sports area are located in a picturesque area south of the river. Stort. Near the park, on an elevated part of the hill, the city center is located.

Much attention in the planning of the city is given to the system of roads and their differentiation. In addition to roads, the city has a developed network of pedestrian and bicycle paths. Special attention devoted to solving the transport problem for the commercial and public center of the city. It is bordered by transit roads, and along the eastern and western borders of the center there are parking lots for 2000 cars. There is also a bus station on the eastern border of the center.

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The city center of Harlow consists of two zones - shopping, located in the northern part of the hill, and public - to the south of it. The compositional center of the trading part is the market square, surrounded by commercial and office buildings.

The composition of residential complexes clearly shows the desire to individualize their layout and general appearance, to make them as picturesque as possible, using, in general, a rather limited set of types of residential buildings. Semi-detached two-story houses predominate - cottages with small plots of land with an area of ​​75-80 m². Individual houses-cottages are also used, as well as 3-4-storey apartment buildings without personal plots.

Harlow's system of town-planning techniques underlies other new satellite towns, although the specific layout varies in them depending on local conditions.

The construction of satellite cities was designed to decompress the largest cities and limit their further growth. Under the conditions of private capitalist entrepreneurship, it was impossible to restrain the growth of the largest industrial centers.

At the end of the 60s, the structure of new urban formations in the form of a system of microdistricts separated from each other began to be revised. The main disadvantage of this system is the lack of compactness of buildings and the great remoteness of peripheral microdistricts from the city center.

English urban planners put forward interesting proposals for the organization of commercial and public centers in new cities. These proposals are based on the desire to unite in one building the whole complex of various premises, both commercial and public, and bring housing closer to them, creating groups of high-rise residential buildings around the shopping center.

Very serious attention is paid to the transport problem - the differentiation of pedestrian and automobile traffic, the arrangement of temporary and permanent parking of vehicles.

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So, for example, when designing the new city of Cumbernould, located at 24 km from Glasgow (Scotland), the goal was to create a compact development of the central area, uniting over 60% of the total population of the city. Based on this idea, architects X. Wilson and D. Licker designed the public and shopping center in the form of a large eight-story building with a length of about 800 m so that for the entire development of the central part of the city this structure is within walking distance. Along the longitudinal axis of the building, at one of the lowest elevations of the site, there is a city highway. On the south side, it is adjoined by covered parking lots for 3,000 cars, located on two levels. Vehicle stops are connected to the upper floors of the building by a system of elevators, escalators and pedestrian ramps. Shops, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, halls for public meetings, etc. are located on various levels of the upper building (Fig. 14).

Projects of commercial and public centers in the 60s were created not only for new cities, but also for historically established large centers. In particular, by 1967 a large commercial and public complex, the so-called Bull Ring, was built in Birmingham (Fig. 15). In addition to horizontal retail space, it includes a 15-story office building and a hotel, a five-story ramp-type garage for 516 cars, restaurants, cafes, etc. This complex is connected to the bus station by a footbridge thrown over street.

Among the most important town-planning works that confronted British town planners after the war was the restoration of cities that had suffered from aerial bombardment. The most striking example is Coventry, where the central part of the city was heavily destroyed.

Even before the Second World War, arch. D. Gibson developed a project for the reconstruction of the central part of the city. After the war, a general reconstruction plan was adopted and implemented, drawn up by A. Ling and covering not only the central part, but also part of the residential areas of the city. Most Interest represents the reconstruction of the center. To unload it from traffic, a ring highway was created (Fig. 16). Auxiliary roads and parking areas were provided in the city center. The largest commercial and business buildings are located along mutually perpendicular impassable streets with dead ends. One of them - Smithfordway - goes from south to north. This street divides the central part of the city into two "presyncts" - upper and lower.

Coventry Shopping Center is very compact and easy to use. Canopies-gallery help the pedestrian to hide from the rain, and on hot days - from the sun. The isolation of dead-end shopping streets from traffic creates a feeling of peace and security, while the closed perspectives create an impression of comfort and intimacy. The social and cultural center is located to the east of the main square and combines the library, art gallery, city government and other large public buildings.

An interesting new cathedral, located in the city center. Old medieval cathedral of St. Michael was destroyed by aerial bombardment in 1940 (only one tower and spire survived). The new building of the cathedral was founded in 1962 according to the project of arch. B. Spence. It is located north of the old temple (Fig. 17). The side walls of the cathedral have the shape of sawtooth folds, glazed in such a way as to most effectively illuminate the altar. Two chapels, taken out of the main volume of the temple, complement and complicate its composition. The new cathedral is connected with the ruins of the old platform, covered with a kind of portico and a canopy. The modern forms of the new building, with its rich palette of finishing materials and modernized sculpture and painting, create a very sharp, contrasting combination with the ruins of a medieval building.

In the reconstruction of Coventry, the influence of new ideas, characteristic of post-war urban planning in England, clearly appeared. They are felt in the compositional integrity of the development, in the creation of a system of main and auxiliary shopping centers, closed, isolated from automobile traffic, central “pressing centers” and residential microdistricts, and in a number of

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Other new and progressive planning techniques. However, the planning scheme of Coventry also has significant defects. The most serious of them is the limitedness and isolation of the center, which makes its further development impossible. Has its drawbacks and the concentration of commercial and entertainment enterprises, their isolation from residential areas.

On the whole, British architects achieved significant successes after the Second World War. Thanks to the long struggle of the working class, a breach has been made in the impenetrable wall of laws protecting private ownership of land in the form of giving municipalities the right to force the purchase of land for reconstruction and new construction. However, the concrete use of these legislative possibilities in the conditions of capitalist England is very difficult. The English architects themselves, answering the questions of the questionnaire of the International Union of Architects (1958), give the following description of the situation of urban planning in England: “As for the implementation of approved planning projects, the land use system existing in the United Kingdom, the high cost of construction, limited high interest rates on loans - all this, in essence, prevents both private entrepreneurs and municipalities from deploying reconstruction work on a large scale.

“Moreover, the exceptionally high prices of land and property in London

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And other large cities are forcing local authorities to refrain from using coercive measures to carry out reconstruction” (ISA Publication “Building and Urban Renovation”, volume 1, section “UK”, p. 65).

In the early post-war years, the pre-war types of dwellings dominated the municipal construction of England - five-story houses in urban areas and twin two-story cottages in the suburbs. The transition in the early 1950s to the principles of mixed development led to a sharp increase in the number of types of residential buildings, primarily multi-storey ones.

Along with five-story buildings, residential buildings of 8-10 floors appear with a large number of apartments on each floor. The high parallelepipeds of these buildings gave rise to the term "plate houses". Tall tower houses with a small number of apartments on each floor also appeared - “point houses” in English terminology.

Trying to overcome the shortcomings of ordinary corridor-type houses, English architects often use a complex spatial composition of apartments. Arranging apartments on two levels, they transfer part of the premises on the second floor to the opposite side of the house, blocking the corridor (a duplex apartment). Thus, one corridor serves two floors here. Communication between the tiers of the apartment is provided by internal wooden stairs.

Gallery-type houses continue to be the most widespread. They are built both with apartments located on the same plane, and with apartments on two levels. Planning schemes have gained some distribution, in which the bundle of buildings converges to the central volume.

In the construction of multi-storey buildings (depending on their type), structural schemes are used either with transverse walls, or with two spans, or, finally, with a narrow building, single-span. With a building height of up to five floors, brick is used as a wall material. With a large number of floors, a frame is used, usually from monolithic reinforced concrete, with prefabricated ceilings of various systems. In addition to floor elements made of precast concrete, flights of stairs are made.

In the composition of the facades of multi-storey residential buildings of the post-war period, English architects seek to identify the structural basis of the building - its frame, floor divisions, open galleries, stairwells, often removed from the volume of the building, etc.

In gallery-type houses with apartments located on the same level, a planning and design scheme is often used, in which not only the auxiliary premises of the apartment, but also a small bedroom go towards the gallery. On the other side there is a large bedroom and a common living room. An example of a high-rise gallery-type residential building with apartments on two levels is the 11-story buildings of the Loughborough residential area.

Among the examples of high-rise residential buildings of the corridor type is the 15-storey building of the residential area Golden Lane in the City of London (1952-1957, architects P. Chamberlain, J. Powell and K. Bohn; Fig. 18). In this building, 120 two-room single-storey apartments are located on both sides of the corridor, illuminated from the ends through the stairwells.

On the flat roof of the building, in addition to the swimming pool, pergola, boxes for green spaces, there is an elevator engine compartment, a ventilation chamber and other rooms covered by a folded canopy that strongly protrudes beyond the plane of the facade. The introduction of this element into the composition of the highest building of the residential complex aims to enliven the monotony and rigidity of divisions with a contrasting, freely curved form of completion.

Tower buildings in Elton East (Roempton, 1952) have three three-room and one two-room apartment on each floor (Fig. 19, general view see Fig. 10).

Examples of the "beam" layout of multi-storey buildings are an eight-storey building on Holford Square (architects Skinner, Bailey and Lubetkin, 1954) and a 16-storey building in Bethnal Green in London (architect D. Lesdan, 1960; fig. 20). Each of the four volumes of this house, grouped around the central tower with elevators and stairs, includes

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14 three-room apartments located on two levels. Only on the fifth floor there are one-room apartments in one level.

18. London. Residential building in Golden Lane, 1952-1957

Architects P. Chamberlain, J. Powell and K. Bohn

Low-rise houses with garden plots continue to be a very popular type of dwelling. However, in last years the high cost and difficulty of acquiring land greatly reduced specific gravity low-rise housing construction, despite the relative cost-effectiveness of the buildings themselves. The proportion of individual cottages in the development has decreased especially sharply. They become available only to the wealthiest segments of the population. Mass housing construction is dominated by semi-detached 2-3-story houses, usually located in parallel rows with adjoining household plots (80-100 sq. m²).

19. London. Tower apartment building in Roempton, 1952

Architects R. Matthew et al. Plan

Housing construction in Great Britain in the post-war years as a whole developed under the influence of mixed building ideas. The creation of residential buildings of different heights with a different set of residential premises, designed for different composition of families and their different solvency, is the most characteristic feature of the creative searches of English architects working in this area of ​​construction.

After the end of the war, Britain faced an acute shortage of public buildings of mass cultural service, primarily schools of various types. However, it proved very difficult to launch the school building program envisaged by the Act of Parliament in 1947, primarily because of the lack of skilled labor, mainly masons.

In these difficult conditions, the Architectural Office of Hertfordshire County Council (chief architect S. Eslyn) showed great initiative. Here it was decided to resort to the widespread use of light prefabricated elements of factory production, which do not require powerful building mechanisms for their installation. Such elements were mainly parts of a light steel frame - composite racks made of rolled steel of various profiles and light trusses made of steel pipes. Insulated reinforced concrete slabs were used for walls and roofs, sheets of dry plaster were used for internal walls and partitions.

The main idea of ​​the Hertfordshire Architectural Authority was to standardize the prefabricated elements of the factory

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Preparations, in the establishment of coordinating modular dimensions, but not in the typification of school buildings in general. For each specific case, an individual project was developed, taking into account local conditions.

The classrooms of the Hertfordshire schools of the late 40s and early 50s are usually combined (by age) into small pavilions in separate groups, interconnected by easy transitions. Each group has its own latrines and changing rooms (most often located on the opposite side of the corridor to the classes). The direct connection of the classrooms with the site (and the proximity of the dressing rooms) makes it possible to abandon special recreational facilities and organize outdoor recreation at any time of the year. The social center of the school is the meeting room, which has a universal character. It is used not only for meetings, gymnastics and festive concerts and dances, but sometimes as a dining room. The area of ​​the hall is designed at the rate of 0.56 m- per child.

Started by the Hertfordshire Architectural Board, the search for school building was picked up by many organizations and individual architects. An example of a compact layout is the secondary school in Hunstanton (Norfolk), built in 1954 by architects A. and P. Smithson. The main premises of the school are concentrated in a two-story block, which has a rectangular shape in plan. The middle of this block is occupied by a high two-height hall, partly used as a dining room.

To the right and left of this central core are two landscaped courtyards, bordered by the school's various rooms. Classes and other classrooms requiring silence are located on the second floor in a corridorless system. They are connected in pairs by stairs leading to the first floor, where there are cloakrooms and latrines. The central block does not unite all the premises of the school. On the ground floor, a gymnasium, part of the workshops and kitchens were taken out of its limits. In the external appearance and in the interiors of the school, an elementary simple and clear structural scheme, tectonics and texture of exposed steel structures, reinforced concrete, brick, and glass are emphasized (Fig. 21). The rejection of any decorative techniques that hide natural materials is purely “programmatic” here, clearly illustrating one of the creative trends in modern English architecture - neo-brutalism.

20. London. Tower apartment building in Bethnal Green, 1960

Arch. D. Lesdan

In the 1950s, the construction of separate large public buildings began. An outstanding event in the architectural life of the country in the early 50s was the organization of a festival dedicated to the centenary of the first International Exhibition in England (1851). To this end, in 1951, on the south embankment of the Thames, opposite the central part of the city, an ensemble of exhibition buildings was created. The largest of them are the Discovery Hall and the Festival Hall. The first building is a large round hall covered with a light dome constructed from metal trusses.

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And coatings with aluminum sheets were temporary. After the end of the exhibition, it, along with other exhibition buildings, was dismantled. The second building "Festival Hall" - with a concert hall for 3000 people, a restaurant, a cafe and various service premises - was a permanent capital structure that stands out in the development of the southern Thames embankment, the reconstruction of which was planned as early as 1943. The main authors of the "Festival Hall "are R. Matthew and L. Martin (Fig. 22).

21. Norfolk. School at Hunstanton, 1954

Architects A. and P. Smithson. Interior

The center of the spatial composition of this building is concert hall. The massiveness, isolation, isolation from the outside world of this hall are opposed by peripheral rooms - open foyers, corridors, a restaurant facing the Thames with a solid glass wall, etc. The principle of iridescent spaces is widely used in the composition of the premises. The composition of the facades of the "Festival Hall" is peculiar. The authors interpret the walls of the auxiliary rooms surrounding the hall as light screens separating them from the outer space. However, the exterior of the building is much less expressive than its interiors.

Since the mid-1950s, the construction activity of trading companies has been revived. In London and other cities, a number of exhibition premises are being built for various types of industrial products, offices (“offices”), etc. In their construction, the latest designs, the most modern building and finishing materials are usually used; major architects are involved in their design.

A typical example of this category of building is the Cavendish Street office, designed by architects Collins, Melvin and Ward in 1956. The ground floor contains an exhibition hall, and the top four floors contain office space for rent. The structure of the building is a load-bearing frame made of monolithic reinforced concrete with prefabricated reinforced concrete ceilings. Here, for the first time in England, the so-called "curtain walls" were used as external fences - light external panels attached to the cantilever overhangs of the ceilings. Attached to the extruded aluminum frame of these railings are windows and intermediate panels of opaque bluish-green glass slabs in black metal frames.

Zhey. The spaces of the vestibule, living room and reception hall are arranged in this way. This technique enriches the perception of the interior, increases the variety of visual aspects, eliminates the feeling of isolation of individual rooms. In the tower part around the central core, in which vertical communications are concentrated, there are offices, conference rooms and office space.

The horizontal motif emphasized on the façade connects this building with the traditions of Western European functionalism of the 1920s and 1930s. However, the complex composition of the interiors and the extremely rich palette of finishing materials used here clearly testify to the new trends and new possibilities of the architecture of the 60s.

Some office buildings from the early 1960s show the influence of the Mies van der Rohe school. It is undoubtedly, for example, in the composition of the Castrol House on Marylebone Road (architects Collins, Melvin, Ward, etc.).

The desire to move away from the rigid geometric schemes of the Mies van der Rohe school was manifested in the complex of office buildings on Victoria Street (Fig. 24). In the composition of the high-rise building, the authors softened the usual prismatic shape, creating a cigar-shaped plan and thereby achieving greater plastic expressiveness of the volume. The same trend is often carried out by introducing a system of bay windows into the composition, which at the same time enrich both the interior space and the plasticity of the facades. This technique is used, for example, in the building of the Ministry of Health in the Elephant and Castle district and in the building intended for shops and offices (architect O. Lader) in Catford (London, 1963). The search for new techniques for the composition of public halls was reflected in the building of the Commonwealth Institute in South Kensington (London), designed by architects R. Matthew, S. Johnson-Marshall and others (Fig. 25). Here, the ceiling of the exhibition hall - the central spatial core of the entire building - is a reinforced concrete vault-shell in the form of a hyperbolic paraboloid.

The search for plasticity, linking the nature of new buildings with the historical environment, received a vivid expression in the ensemble of buildings of the editorial office of The Economist magazine in the center of London on St. James Street (1963). This group of multi-storey buildings (4, 11 and 16 floors), inscribed in the building of the XVIII-XIX centuries. without violating the overall scale, belongs to the best works of the founders of neo-brutalism - A. and P. Smithson (Fig. 26).

Neo-brutalist tendencies manifested themselves especially brightly in the construction of the university

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Tetsky buildings, which was widely deployed in the 1960s. Among the characteristic examples of neo-brutalism is Churchill College in Cambridge, built according to the project of arch. Robson in 1964 (Fig. 27). Unplastered brick wall surfaces, reinforced concrete with a rough texture of formwork impressions play an important role in the appearance of this building.

Introduced by Le Corbusier into the everyday life of modern architecture and already familiar, the open reinforced concrete pillars of the first floor (pilotis) are replaced here by heavy brick pillars. The architect brings to the façade flat vaults resting on beams. Executed in the outlines and proportions characteristic of reinforced concrete, this very old architectural motif sounds quite modern here and enriches the rhythmic structure of the composition.

24. London. Victoria Street development, early 1960s.

Architects Collins, Melvin, Ward, etc.

In the building of the University Library in Sussex (architects B. Spence and M. Ogden, 1965), monumentality, emphasized static volumes, simple brickwork of blank walls are striking (Fig. 28). And here, the rhythm of curvilinear outlines of flat reinforced concrete vaults protruding on the facade is introduced into the composition of the facade. With its severity and monumentality, the library building, new in style and artistic image, fits well into the architectural ensemble of the old university.

The features of monumentality are also pronounced in the theater of the University of Southampton (architect B. Spence in collaboration with construction engineer Ove Arup; fig. 29). In order to enhance the monumentality, the architect thickens the outer walls downwards, introduces solid masses of brickwork into the basement, and creates narrow window slits located between heavy blades.

26. London. The complex of buildings of the editorial office of the magazine "The Economist", 1963. Architects A. and P. Smithson

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Wall cladding with copper sheets is very effective.

In the clubhouse at Durham University, built according to the project of the Association of Architects in 1966, the authors sought to reveal as fully as possible the originality of plasticity and textured qualities of concrete. They left the concrete unplastered not only on the facade, but also inside the hall. The wavy ceiling of the hall enhances the freshness and unusualness of the architectural design.

The striving for monumentality, for the use of heavy spread-out volumes in the composition, for emphasizing the massiveness and heaviness of smooth brick walls contrasting with narrow ribbon windows, reaches its extreme limits in the complex of buildings of the arts department in Hull (architect L. Martin, 1967).

The composition of the building of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Leicester, where the concept of neo-brutalism is expressed with particular clarity, is marked by great originality (1963, architects J. Sterling and J. Govan). The building is divided into two groups of volumes: sprawling buildings of the main research laboratories covered with skylights, and a complex group of vertical educational and administrative buildings (Fig. 30). With its accentuated dissection, heightened contrasts of volumes, and peculiar romanticism, the building resembles the buildings of L. Kahn and K. Melnikov.

Despite the differences in the creative searches of modern English architects, they still lie in the same plane of rationalistic thinking. Functional and structural logic continue to be a solid foundation for the development of English architecture.

In the field of industrial architecture, attempts to attract entrepreneurs to organize enterprises in new cities are of interest.

However, the construction of industrial enterprises in new places, associated with the laying of various kinds of communications, is not always within the power of individual entrepreneurs. In order to overcome this difficulty, at the expense of state corporations for the development of new cities, local authorities, and sometimes the combined funds of industrialists, after the war they began to create industrial zones equipped with all the necessary communications. The same funds are being used to build industrial buildings, which are rented out by separate sections to small entrepreneurs. Only the largest enterprises have the opportunity to build individual structures, placing them at their own choice.

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Along with those constructive methods that were widely used even before the war - post-beam structures and beamless ceilings - vaulted structures of various types have received significant development in recent years. Vaulted ceilings with the use of thin shells can significantly increase spans while saving metal.

In post-war industrial architecture, the idea of ​​turning an industrial building into a light shell is increasingly developing. To this end, they strive to make structures independent of the main structure, not only elevator shafts, but also supports for heavy units (locating them on the lower floor). The use of cantilever structures facilitates the transformation of the former massive wall into a lightweight enclosing membrane (curtain wall) from prefabricated panels. As a facing material for laminated panels, along with asbestos-cement of various colors and textures

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With sheets, opaque glass of various colors and with various surfaces is increasingly being used.

An interesting example of the application of new compositional and constructive techniques is the rubber products factory in Brenmore, built in 1947-1951. according to the project of a firm consisting of a group of architects (“Association of Architects”), with the consultation of engineer-constructor. Ove Arupa ((Fig. 31).

Main production workshop with an area of ​​7000 m² is covered by nine domed vaults-shells with a plan size of 25.5 × 18.6 m with arch lifting boom 2.4 m and reinforced concrete shell thickness 7.5 cm. Domes-shells are based on arches corresponding to the curve of the vault in the lateral section. These arches with steel suspensions with a diameter of 18 m support a hollow reinforced concrete puff, where ventilation ducts are located. The vertical planes between the arch and the puff are glazed. In addition, the light holes-lenses of 1.8 in size are placed in the dome. m.

The layout of the factory is characterized by compactness, clarity of the organization of the technological process and the schedule of movement of workers. The appearance of the factory is determined primarily by its constructive composition - combinations of curvilinear ceilings of different size and rhythm with light glass fillings between the structural elements.

In recent years, the construction of industrial buildings of a universal type, suitable for accommodating various industries, has been developing. A steel frame with a constant column spacing allows, with the help of movable partitions, the interchangeability of production and office premises. Such industrial enterprises as the machine-building plant in Durham, the initial design of which was created by the firm of Eero Saarinen (architects K. Roche and others), the electrical plant in Swindon (architects N. and W. Foster, R. Rogers and others) were built according to this principle. .).

Assessing the overall contribution made by English architects to the development of modern architecture, it should be noted that it is not individual outstanding works that determine its significance. Serious work on the rationalization of such ordinary construction projects as housing, schools, industrial buildings, helped English architects to achieve good results, which had a serious impact on the entire Western European architecture of the post-war years. Even more significant is the contribution made by English architects to the development of the construction of new cities.

English methods of planning satellite cities, with their developed and harmonious system of community centers, residential microdistricts, green spaces, industrial zones, etc., are among the most progressive urban planning ideas put forward in the West. The conditions of the capitalist system and private land use did not allow English architects to implement these techniques on the scale required by the task of decentralizing the overpopulated industrial centers of Great Britain with their gigantic shantytowns. The new cities could not solve the problem of softening social contrasts, which the social reformists dreamed of. Despite this, the progressiveness of the new urban planning ideas put forward by English architects and their influence on the development of modern urban planning ideas are absolutely undeniable.

London
architectural symbols

London- the city and capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - was founded by the Romans around 43 AD. and then got the name Londinium. In the 1st-3rd centuries it was the capital of Roman Britain, from the 11th-12th centuries - England, from 1707 - Great Britain, from the 16th to the 20th centuries - the British Empire. From 1825 to 1925 it was the largest city in the world.

Historic center formed by districts Westminster And City developed during the Victorian era. Westminster, formed as a state residence in the 11th century, remains the seat of the royal residence, parliament and government of the country. City with an area of ​​2.7 sq. km remained (within the walls built by the Romans) as a city proper throughout antiquity and the Middle Ages - a place of craft and trade. In the 20th century, the City turned into a purely business district. These two regions are Westminster And City- endowed with the status of the city - "city".

Fires plagued London from the 1st to the 19th century. The use of candles and open flames for heating and cooking was the main cause of fires; wooden buildings contributed to the rapid spread of fire. In the Great Fire of 1666, London burned out almost completely. After that, wooden construction was prohibited: residential buildings were increasingly built of brick, and public buildings were faced with Portland limestone. The medieval street layout has been preserved.

Great fire of 1666

The development of London architecture after the Great Fire of 1666 is associated with the activities of the court architect Christopher Wren committed to the new baroque style. Among his works: Kensington Palace , Royal Palace at Hampton Court , Greenwich Hospital and the most outstanding monument - St Paul's Cathedral , which was completed during the life of the author in 1710.

Monument to Queen Victoria in Kensington Gardens in front of the palace

Kensington Palace - a small and deliberately modest palace in the western part of London. It originated as a suburban mansion of the Earl of Nottingham. The first kings of the Hanoverian dynasty considered urban St. James the palace was overcrowded and lived in Kensington almost continuously. After the death of George II in 1760, the palace was mainly inhabited by representatives of the younger branches of the ruling dynasty. It was here that Queen Victoria was born (as the monument in the garden reminds of). Princess Diana was officially considered the mistress of this palace from the moment of marriage in 1981 until her death in 1997. Now the owners of the palace are Diana's eldest son, William and his wife Catherine. It became their first official residence in London after their wedding on April 29, 2011, after which the Queen awarded them the title of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Royal Palace at Hampton Court

Hampton Court Palace - former English royal palace. It is located 18.8 km southwest and upstream of Central London on the River Thames. The palace contains a large number of works of art and furniture from the Royal Collection, relating mainly to the two main periods of construction of the palace - the early Tudor era (Renaissance) and from the late Stuarts to the early Georgian era.

Royal Naval Hospital - a nursing home established on the south bank of the Thames in Greenwich (a district of London) at the initiative of the English Queen Mary II in 1694, after one of the battles of the War of the English Succession, for veterans of the British fleet.

St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral - Cathedral in London, the residence of the Bishop of London. Originally built in 694, it was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666. Today's building was completed in 1710 by Christopher Wren. Events such as the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965 and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 are associated with the name of this cathedral. St. Paul's Cathedral is the burial place of almost two hundred of the most famous citizens of Great Britain. Of the most notable figures resting in St. Paul's Cathedral, the Duke of Wellington, Admiral Nelson, should be noted.

Most of the architectural monuments of London are located in the area Westminster. One of the most famous is Buckingham Palace . Buckingham Palace was founded on the site of the home of the Duke of Buckingham, from whom he was redeemed by the English king. Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of British monarchs. The palace is guarded by the Court Division, which consists of a regiment of infantry guards and the Royal Horse Guards. The original appearance of the palace was greatly changed over time, the main facade of the palace was created in 1913. On the square in front of Buckingham Palace stands a monument to Queen Victoria.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace interior

Among the architectural treasures Westminster should also highlight Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster), National Gallery, Marlborough House, St. James's Palace, Westminster Abbey .

Palace of Westminster , where the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland meets, was built in 1860 on the site of the former palace, which burned down in a fire. Above the palace, built in the neo-Gothic style, rises the Victoria Tower, 104 meters high, and the most famous part of the Palace of Westminster, St. Stephen's Tower, 98 meters high, with a clock, or Big Ben . In fact, Big Ben is a bell, which is located behind the clock faces, but very often the entire tower, which has become a symbol of London, is called that.

Palace of Westminster

Big Ben

National Art Gallery keeps a collection of over 2000 samples Western European painting XIII - early XX century. Authors include Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Bellini, Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Seurat, Canaletto, Degas and Monet.

London National Gallery

London National Gallery inside

Westminster Abbey - Gothic church in Westminster, west of the Palace of Westminster. It was built intermittently from 1245 to 1745. The traditional place of the coronation of the monarchs of Great Britain and the burial places of the monarchs of England. It is also a place of religious services; the most important dates in Britain are celebrated here.

Westminster Abbey

On the territory of Westminster Abbey is a late Gothic church - Church of Saint Margaret . Along with the Palace of Westminster and the Abbey, it belongs to the World Heritage Site.

St Margaret's Church in Westminster

St. James's Palace one of the oldest in London. Built of red brick as the second metropolitan residence of Henry VIII. Until 1698, the English kings lived in Whitehall, and only after its destruction in 1698 did St. James's Palace become the main seat of the royal court. The courtiers complained about the tightness and dilapidation of the premises, so they had to be constantly repaired and expanded. The monarchs themselves preferred the quieter and more comfortable Kensington Palace, and after the great fire of 1809, the palace on Pall Mall was actually abandoned by them. Upon her accession to the throne in 1837, Queen Victoria officially made Buckingham Palace her main residence, leaving St. James's Palace as the seat of the court of the Prince of Wales.

St. James's Palace

Marlborough House , built in the early years of the 18th century by father and son Renami for Sarah Churchill, Queen Anne's closest friend and confidante, on the east side of St. James's Palace. For a century it served as the London residence of her descendants, who bore the title of the Dukes of Marlborough.

Marlborough House

The connecting link of the location of the above-mentioned architectural monuments Westminster is an Trafalgar Square . A granite column 44 meters high with a statue of Admiral Nelson rises above the square.

Trafalgar Square

Among the architectural monuments of the second central district of London - City, note the buildings Bank of England, Royal Exchange And guild hall - a medieval town hall, which eventually lost its original appearance.

Bank of England - serves as the central bank of the United Kingdom

The Royal Exchange in London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham and acted as the center of trade in the city.

Guildhall, the ceremonial building of the City, is sometimes called the City Hall (the real London City Hall - City Hall - is located in a completely different place). Under the building of the town hall are the premises of the largest medieval crypt in London, in the same place - excavations of the Roman amphitheater, on the foundation of which the current Guildhall partially stands

East of City the fortress is located Tower with two rows of defensive walls; in the courtyard is the White Tower of the time of William the Conqueror, 27 meters high. Adjustable Tower Bridge with neo-gothic style towers was built in 1894.

Fortress Tower

Tower Fortress and Tower Bridge

Drawbridge Tower Bridge

Speaking of architectural features London should highlight the well-maintained Thames embankments in the central part of the city: Victoria, Chelsea and Albert were built in the second half of the 19th century. On the Victoria Embankment, the Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" is installed, surrounded on both sides by sculptures of sphinxes.

Obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle"

The architectural direction in the construction of London naturally changed with the development of society and culture in general. So in the Norman style, the Westminster Reception Hall, built in 1097, is made. At that time it was the largest hall in Europe. In the 14th century, the Tower of Jewels was built to store the treasury of Edward III, as part of the then Palace of Westminster.

Tower of Jewels already. She is almost 700 years old

The 13th century was the century of early English Gothic. One of the brightest examples of this style is Westminster Abbey. No other examples from this period have survived in London. Following the early era came the era of decorated English Gothic, but there are no examples of it in modern London, as well as examples of vertical Gothic - the third Gothic period of English architecture.

The architecture of the Tudor era is similar to the Gothic, but with significant changes such as deep and tall windows. The Henry VII Chapel in Westminster and the Hampton Court Palace in Richmond are architectural monuments of the Tudor period. Under King James I, the development of Greenwich Park began.

King Henry VII added the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the temple of Westminster Abbey in 1503, today known as Henry VII Chapel.

Georgian architecture, whose era began in the middle of the 18th century, generally corresponded to pan-European classicism. In it, the main thing was clear forms and proportions. This period is not represented in London by any famous buildings, but many residential and administrative buildings of the city were built in the Georgian style. Worth noting are the churches designed by Nicholas Hawkesmoor, Somerset House by the architect Sir William Chambers and Entertainment Center"Pantheon" on Oxford Street by architect James Wyatt. In 1759, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was founded - a complex of botanical gardens and greenhouses with an area of ​​​​121 hectares. On the territory of this complex in 1761-62 a large pagoda was erected - the first example of Chinese architecture in Europe. Opposite these gardens was built Syon House, an ancient mansion of the Dukes of Northumberland, made in the style of pure classicism, remarkable for its skillful alternation of geometric shapes and delicate coloring. Work on the interiors of Sion House continued until 1769, when the Duke ran out of funds.

Syon House - an old mansion of the Dukes of Northumberland in west London

Also of note is the Royal Courts of Justice, built 1873-1882. designed by former lawyer George Edmund Street. Among the significant monuments of this style is the Prince Albert Memorial - a monument in Kensington Park. The monument was designed by George Gilbert Scott and unveiled in 1875.

The Crown Court of London is the highest civil court in the UK.

The famous John Nash, the author of Buckingham Palace and Marble Arch, worked in the style of classicism; Westminster Cathedral is an example of neo-Byzantine style. The now defunct Crystal Palace belonged to the industrial style.

Marble arch - triumphal arch in London's Hyde Park

In the 20th century, skyscrapers appeared in the city: the building of Lloyd's of London in the City, the Canary Wharf complex in the Docklands. At the end of the last - the beginning of this century, Norman Foster became the leading British architect, who built the Mary Ax (“Cucumber”) skyscraper in London and New City Hall, the city hall building.

The Mary Ax Tower (popularly "cucumber") is a 40-story skyscraper in London, the design of which is made in the form of a mesh shell with greenish glass and with a central supporting base.

It is also impossible not to mention one more symbol of London, more precisely, about its area. Located in southeast London Greenwich, historical "sea gates" of the capital. It is known throughout the world for being the reference point for longitude and time zones. It is through the Greenwich Observatory that the prime meridian of the same name passes. The architectural ensemble on the right bank of the Thames is considered part of the World Heritage Site and consists of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich Observatory and Queens House Palace. And from the hill on which the observatory buildings stand, wonderful views of the Canary Wharf skyscraper area and the entire Greenwich Park open up.

The Royal Naval Hospital was founded in 1694 by Queen Mary II

The Greenwich Royal Observatory was organized in 1675 by King Charles II to clarify the coordinates vital for navigators and was initially located on the outskirts of London - Greenwich

Queen's House ("the queen's house") is a small two-story building with minimal decor, built for Queen Anne of Denmark in 1614-17. in Greenwich