The Story of Britain's Best BuildingsBritain is covered with an extraordinary array of fantastic and brilliant buildings. There are more historic buildings of more styles in Britain than even in Italy. And, our favourites occupy a similar place in the national psyche as Robin Hood and Nell Gwynne. Britain's Best Buildings celebrates the bricks-and-mortar icons of our history that are well known and loved beyond all the others: Dan Cruickshank re-visits the stuff of legend but also reveals the stories behind the buildings. Like the life of any human being, there are highs and lows to the story of every building and as even the best-known celebrity has dark corners and secret closets to explore, so do Britain's best-loved buildings. To know a great building is to make it more our own - to know it even more will make us feel we have a stake in its past, present, and future. Each of the buildings is outstanding architecturally, yet each has strong personal stories behind their construction and as a whole they offer a journey through the nation's architecture and psyche from the 12th century to the present day. |
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Page 7
... century buildings explored in this book each reflect aspects of the great developments and debates – scientific , technical , artistic and religious - that galvanized that tumultuous century . The Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras ...
... century buildings explored in this book each reflect aspects of the great developments and debates – scientific , technical , artistic and religious - that galvanized that tumultuous century . The Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras ...
Page 118
... century , having been developed in royal and private palaces in Britain for the previous quarter of a century . What was demanded were sets of rooms , placed in a row and with doors all aligned to create a dramatic vista through the ...
... century , having been developed in royal and private palaces in Britain for the previous quarter of a century . What was demanded were sets of rooms , placed in a row and with doors all aligned to create a dramatic vista through the ...
Page 252
... century Modernism . Also , in medieval architecture , a defensive wall linking towers and gatehouses . Entablature ... century in Europe and continued into the sixteenth and , in some regions , into the early seventeenth centuries . In ...
... century Modernism . Also , in medieval architecture , a defensive wall linking towers and gatehouses . Entablature ... century in Europe and continued into the sixteenth and , in some regions , into the early seventeenth centuries . In ...
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abbey aisles apartments arches architect architecture bascules bedrooms Benedictine Blenheim Blenheim Palace Book of Revelation BRITAIN'S building built Burges Bute Cardiff Castle centre century Charles choir Christian church columns completed construction corridor court created crossing decoration duchess duke Durham Cathedral early east Edward engineering England English floor Garter geometry George Gothic groin vault Henry Highpoint Holyrood Holyroodhouse interior iron James John king knights Le Corbusier London Lubetkin Marlborough Mary masons massive medieval metres Midland Grand Hotel modern monarch monks monument natural nave original palace perhaps piers Queen revealed ribs roof royal sacred sacred geometry Sarah Scotland Scott semicircular shrine south transept square St Calais St Cuthbert St George's Chapel St Pancras staircase started stone structure survives symbol Thames Tower Bridge transept Upper Ward Vanbrugh vault vesica piscis Victoria Virgin wall William Windsor Castle Woodstock