During the nineteenth century Britain amassed the largest territorial empire the world had ever seen. With this expansion came the export of architecture and urban planning, the visual and spatial consequences of which were profound and unprecedented. This course considers the relationship between architecture and empire during this period, from the American Revolution and the loss of the thirteen colonies, to the partition of India and the demise of the imperial dream. It will examine the formal, spatial, social, and political characteristics of buildings in the context of Britain's ambition to control ever greater swathes of the earth's surface economically and culturally. Examples, both secular and religious, will be drawn from across the British colonial world - from England, Scotland, and Ireland to Canada, the Caribbean, India, South East Asia, Africa, and Australasia. These examples will be discussed in their historical context and analysed for what they reveal about notions (and anxieties) regarding modern British identity, imperialism, and nationhood.

 

Course Organiser: Alex Bremner