Tag Archives: Great Fire of London

How Architecture Rebuilds Communities

Creation From Catastrophe – How Architecture Rebuilds Communities, The Architecture Gallery, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1, until 24th April 2016

Sir Christopher Wren's Plan for Rebuilding the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666 (c) RIBA Collections

Sir Christopher Wren’s Plan for Rebuilding the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666
(c) RIBA Collections

This is an engaging study of how architects and designers have looked at bringing a new harmony and way forward after catastrophic disasters, natural or man-made, to existing cities and communities over the centuries.  Appropriately it starts with the plans to rebuild London after the Great Fire of 1666 and then via 18th century Lisbon and 19th century Chicago to the 20th and 21st centuries in Japan, Macedonia, Chile, Pakistan, Nigeria, Nepal and the USA.

Post Chicago fire, high rise - Reliance Building by Atwood, Burnham & Co, North State Street, Chicago 1890-95 (c) RIBA Collections

Post Chicago fire, high rise – Reliance Building by Atwood, Burnham & Co, North State Street, Chicago 1890-95
(c) RIBA Collections

What is remarkable is how the communities that survive such catastrophes come together to build a new and hopefully more stable future life.

Design for water communities, Lagos, Nigeria by NLÉ (c) NLÉ

Design for water communities, Lagos, Nigeria by NLÉ
(c) NLÉ

 

http://www.architecture.com

Samuel Pepys – an exhibition and a book

Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London SE10, until 28th March 2016

John Hayls, 1666 Samuel Pepys, (c) National Portrait Gallery, London

John Hayls, 1666
Samuel Pepys,
(c) National Portrait Gallery, London

Even if one knew nothing at all about this colourful, celebrated 17th century figure the exhibition’s title gives a clear clue about the stirring, changing times in which he lived.  The exhibition starts with the execution of Charles I, an event which Pepys, playing truant from school, witnessed.  We learn how Pepys in 1658 underwent the removal of a large bladder stone without anaesthetic or antiseptic – and yes the surgical practices of the era were somewhat scary and yet fortunately he survived the trauma.  In 1660 he was on the ship bringing Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York back to England at the Restoration of the Monarchy.

Dirk Stoop, c.1661, Charles II's cavalcade through City of London on 22nd April 1661, the day before his coronation. Oil on panel. (c) Museum of London

Dirk Stoop, c.1661,
Charles II’s cavalcade through City of London on 22nd April 1661, the day before his coronation. Oil on panel.
(c) Museum of London

It is his diary for which he is most widely known and which he wrote in shorthand.  He started writing it in January 1660 and continued writing it until 1669.  We learn through it not only details of his personal life, including affairs and friends but also of major events such as the Plague and the Great Fire of London.

Painting of 'The Fire of London, September 1666', unknown, 17th century, (c) National Maritime Museum, London

Painting of ‘The Fire of London, September 1666’, unknown, 17th century,
(c) National Maritime Museum, London

He was something of a Renaissance man and was an adept administrator in naval matters, an MP and a member of the Royal Society and all these aspects of his life and times are revealed through the two hundred objects in the exhibition drawn from private and public collections.

Suit worn by James, Duke of York, at his wedding to Mary of Modena, 1673, (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Suit worn by James, Duke of York, at his wedding to Mary of Modena, 1673,
(c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

On the death of Charles II in 1685, Pepys continued to serve his brother James, the new King, who had been his main patron.  However James lost his crown in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and William and Mary succeeded to the throne and it as at this juncture that Pepys withdrew from public life and continued to pursue his many interests, including music, in retirement until his death in Clapham in 1703.

 

http://www.rmg.co.uk

 

 Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

Plague, Fire, Revolution

Edited by Margarette Lincoln
Introduction by Claire Tomalin
 Thames & Hudson
ISBN 9780500518144
£29.95

 

This volume which is published alongside the hugely enjoyable exhibition is, if anything, even more of a treat.  It is beautifully illustrated and includes a larger number of pictures, objects and engravings to provide a really engaging view of the world of Samuel Pepys (1633–1703).

 

http://www.thamesandhudson.com