Edwin Lutyens
FRIBA | |
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Born | Edwin Landseer Lutyens 29 March 1869 Kensington, London, England |
Died | 1 January 1944 Marylebone, London, England[1] | (aged 74)
Alma mater | Royal College of Art |
Occupation | Architect |
Spouse | |
Children | 5, including Robert, Elisabeth and Mary |
Parents |
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Buildings |
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Projects | New Delhi |
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens
Lutyens played an instrumental role in the construction of New Delhi, which would later on serve as the seat of the Government of India.[5] In recognition of his contribution, New Delhi is also known as "Lutyens' Delhi". In collaboration with Sir Herbert Baker, he was also the main architect of several monuments in New Delhi such as the India Gate; he also designed the Viceroy's House, which is now known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Many of his works were inspired by Indian architecture.[6][7] He was elected Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1933.[8][9]
Early life
Lutyens was born in
Architectural career
Private practice
He began his own practice in 1888, his first commission being a private house at Crooksbury,
The "Lutyens–Jekyll" garden had hardy shrubbery and herbaceous plantings within a structural architecture of stairs and balustraded terraces. This combined style, of the formal with the informal, exemplified by brick paths, herbaceous borders, and with plants such as lilies, lupins, delphiniums and lavender, was in contrast to the formal bedding schemes favoured by the previous generation in the 19th century. This "natural" style was to define the "English garden" until modern times.
Lutyens' fame grew largely through the popularity of the new lifestyle magazine Country Life created by Edward Hudson, which featured many of his house designs. Hudson was a great admirer of Lutyens' style and commissioned Lutyens for a number of projects, including Lindisfarne Castle and the Country Life headquarters building in London, at 8 Tavistock Street. One of his assistants in the 1890s was Maxwell Ayrton.[14]
By the turn of the century, Lutyens was recognised as one of architecture's coming men. In his major study of English domestic buildings,
Works
The bulk of Lutyens' early work consisted of private houses in an Arts and Crafts style, strongly influenced by Tudor architecture and the vernacular styles of south-east England. This was the most innovative phase of his career. Important works of this period include Munstead Wood,[16] Tigbourne Court, Orchards and Goddards in Surrey, Deanery Garden and Folly Farm in Berkshire, Overstrand Hall in Norfolk and Le Bois des Moutiers in France.
After about 1900 this style gave way to a more conventional Classicism, a change of direction which had a profound influence on wider British architectural practice. His commissions were of a varied nature from private houses to two churches for the new Hampstead Garden Suburb in London to Julius Drewe's Castle Drogo near Drewsteignton in Devon and on to his contributions to India's new imperial capital, New Delhi (where he worked as chief architect with Herbert Baker and others). Here he added elements of local architectural styles to his classicism, and based his urbanisation scheme on Mughal water gardens. He also designed the Hyderabad House for the last Nizam of Hyderabad, as his Delhi palace and planned the layout for the Janpath and Rajpath roads.[17]
Before the end of the
Lutyens also refurbished Lindisfarne Castle for its wealthy owner.[19]
One of Lutyens' smaller works, but considered one of his masterpieces, is The Salutation, a house in Sandwich, Kent, England. Built in 1911–1912 with a 3.7-acre (1.5 ha) garden, it was commissioned by Henry Farrer, one of three sons of Sir William Farrer.[20]
He was
While work continued in New Delhi, Lutyens received other commissions including several commercial buildings in London and the
In 1924 he completed the supervision of the construction of what is perhaps his most popular design:
Lutyens was commissioned in 1929 to design a new
In 1945, a year after his death, A Plan for the City & County of Kingston upon Hull was published. Lutyens worked on the plan with Sir Patrick Abercrombie and they are credited as its co-authors. Abercrombie's introduction in the plan makes special reference to Lutyens' contribution. The plan was, however, rejected by Hull City Council. He was also involved in the Royal Academy's planning for post-war London, an endeavour dismissed by Osbert Lancaster as "... not unlike what the new Nuremberg might have been had the Fuhrer enjoyed the inestimable advantage of the advice and guidance of the late Sir Aston Webb".[25]
Overseas commissions
Ireland (1906–1918)
Works in
India (1912–1930)
Largely designed by Lutyens over 20 or so years (1912 to 1930), New Delhi, situated within the metropolis of
The Delhi Order columns at the front entrance of the palace have bells carved into them, which, it has been suggested, Lutyens had designed with the idea that as the bells were silent the British rule would never come to an end. At one time, more than 2,000 people were required to care for the building and serve the Viceroy's household.
The new city contains both the Parliament buildings and government offices (many designed by Herbert Baker) and was built distinctively of the local red sandstone using the traditional Mughal style.
When composing the plans for New Delhi, Lutyens planned for the new city to lie southwest of the walled city of
Built in the spirit of British colonial rule, the place where the new imperial city and the older native settlement met was intended to be a market. It was there that Lutyens imagined the Indian traders would participate in "the grand shopping centre for the residents of Shahjahanabad and New Delhi", thus giving rise to the D-shaped market seen today.
Many of the garden-ringed villas in the
In recognition of his architectural accomplishments for the British Raj, Lutyens was made a Knight Commander of the
A bust of Lutyens in the former Viceroy's House is the only statue of a Westerner left in its original position in New Delhi. Lutyens' work in New Delhi is the focus of Robert Grant Irving's book Indian Summer. In spite of his monumental work in India, Lutyens views on the peoples of the Indian sub-continent, although not uncommon for people of his time, would now be considered racist.[35]
He thought that all Indians were uncivilized, smelly, dirty, and unable to govern themselves. He thought the Indian Indo-Saracenic style was "formless, not of carved decoration, an anathema...hardly qualified as architecture at all." Endless battles were fought between him and Viceroy Hardinge over architectural style: Lutyens wanted classical, the architecture of the Empire – Hardinge wanted elements of the Indian vernacular for political reasons.[36] An unapologetic spokesman of British imperialism he built the Viceroy's Palace as a symbol of glory of the Raj, and considered Indians to be primitive as yet on the verge of civilization who deserved to be ruled in perpetuity by the British.[37]
Spain (1915–1928)
In
Between 1915 and 1928, Lutyens also produced designs for a new palace for the Duke of Alba's younger brother, Hernando Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duke of Peñaranda. The palace of El Guadalperal, as it was to be called, would have been, if built, Edwin Lutyens's largest country house.[39]
Personal life
Lutyens married
- Barbara Lutyens (1898–1981), second wife of Euan Wallace (1892–1941), Minister of Transport.[42]
- Robert Lutyens (1901–1971), interior designer. Designed the façade used for over 40 Marks & Spencer stores.[43]
- Ursula Lutyens (1904–1967), wife of the 3rd Viscount Ridley. They were the parents of the 4th Viscount Ridley (1925–2012), and of the Cabinet Minister Nicholas Ridley (1929–1993). Nicholas Ridley was the father of Edwin Lutyens' biographer, Jane Ridley.
- (Agnes) Elisabeth Lutyens (1906–1983), a well-known composer. Second marriage to the conductor Edward Clark.[44]
- (Edith Penelope) Mary Lutyens (1908–1999),[45] a writer known for her books about the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti.
During the later years of his life, Lutyens suffered with several bouts of pneumonia.
Death
In the early 1940s he was diagnosed with
Major buildings and projects
- 1897: Munstead Wood, Surrey
- 1899: Orchards, Surrey
- 1900: Goddards, Surrey
- 1901: Tigbourne Court, Surrey
- 1901: Deanery Garden, Sonning, Berkshire
- 1903: Papillon Hall, Lubenham, Leicestershire
- 1906: Lincoln's Inn House, 42 Kingsway, London
- 1911: British Medical Association in Tavistock Square, London[46]
- 1912: Great Dixter, Northiam, East Sussex
- 1924-37 Midland Bank, Poultry
- 1928: Hyderabad House, New Delhi
- 1929: Rashtrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi
- 1930: Castle Drogo, Drewsteignton, Devon
- 1935: The Midland Bank, Manchester
- 1936: Baroda House, New Delhi
- 1936—1938: Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial, Somme, France
Recognition and legacy
Lutyens received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1921, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1925. In November 2015 the British government announced that all 44 of Lutyens' First World War memorials in Britain[note 1] had now been listed on the advice of Historic England, and were therefore all protected by law. This involved the one remaining memorial—the Gerrards Cross Memorial Building in Buckinghamshire—being added to the list, plus a further fourteen having their statuses upgraded.[47]
The architectural critic Ian Nairn wrote of Lutyen's Surrey "masterpieces" in the 1971 Surrey volume of the Buildings of England series, while noting that; "the genius and the charlatan were very close together in Lutyens".[48] In the introduction to the catalogue for the 1981 Lutyens exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, the architectural writer Colin Amery described Lutyens as "the builder of some of our finest country houses and gardens".[49]
In 2015 a memorial to Lutyens by the sculptor Stephen Cox was erected in Apple Tree Yard, Mayfair, London, adjacent to the studio where Lutyens prepared the designs for New Delhi.[50][51]
Gallery
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Goddards, Surrey (1898–1900)
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Tigbourne Court, Surrey (1899–1901)
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Greywalls house, Lothian, Scotland (1901)
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Little Thakeham, West Sussex (1902)
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Daneshill Brick and Tile Company offices, near Old Basing, Hampshire (1903)[52]
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Country Life Offices, Tavistock Street, London (1905)[53]
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Hestercombe House, Somerset, with Gertrude Jekyll (1904–1906)
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Heathcote, Ilkley, Yorkshire (1906–1908)
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Free Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London (1908–1910)
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Anglo-Boer War Memorial, Johannesburg (1910)
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Henrietta Barnett School, Hampstead, London (1911)
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Johannesburg Art Gallery, Klein Street (1910–1915)
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Abbey House, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria (1914)
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Portico of the British School at Rome (1916)
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Midland Railway War Memorial, Derby(1920)
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Mells War Memorial, Somerset (1921)
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The India Gate, New Delhi (1921)
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Midland Bank, Piccadilly, London (1922–1923)
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Midland Bank Headquarters, Poultry, London (1924)[54]
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Britannic House, Finsbury Circus, London (1921–1925)
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Arch of Remembrance, Leicester (1925)
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Cenotaph, Regina, Saskatchewan(1926)
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British Ambassador's residence, Washington, D.C.(1928)
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Hallway in British Ambassador's residence Washington, D.C. (1928)
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Tower Hill Memorial, Trinity Square, London (1928)
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67–68 Pall Mall, London (1928)[55]
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Grosvenor House Hotel, Mayfair, London (1929)
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Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi (1912–1929)
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Castle Drogo, Devon (1911–1930)
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Social housing for Grosvenor Estate and Westminster Council, Page Street, London (1928–1930)
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Hampton Court Bridge, London (1933)
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Architectural model of unrealised design for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (1933)[56]
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Crypt of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral 1933–1941, the only part of Lutyens's design built
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Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France (1928–1932)
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St Jude's Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London (1909–1935)
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Reuters & Press Association Building, 85 Fleet Street, London (1934–1938)
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Campion Hall, Oxford (1936)
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Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Dublin (1932–1940)
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Runnymede Bridge, Surrey (opened 1961)[58]
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Tranarossan House, Downings, County Donegal, Ireland
Publications
- Edwin Lutyens & Charles Bressey, The Highway Development Survey, Ministry of Transport, 1937
- Edwin Lutyens & Patrick Abercrombie, A Plan for the City & County of Kingston upon Hull, Brown (London & Hull), 1945.
See also
- Herbert Tudor Buckland, a contemporary Arts & Crafts architect
- Butterfly plan
- History of gardening
- Landscape design history (category)
- Hestercombe Gardens
- Rosehaugh House
Footnotes
- ^ 43 in England, 1 in Wales
References
- ^ "England & Wales Deaths 1837–2007". Findmypast.
- ^ "Sir Edwin Lutyens | British architect". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- ^ Hussey 1989, p. xvii.
- ^ Stamp 2007, p. 10.
- ^ Vale 1992, p. 92.
- ^ Goodman & Chant 1999, p. 320.
- ^ Pile 2005, p. 320.
- ^ Past Master List (PDF). Art Workers' Guild. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
- ^ Stamp. G (19 November 1981). "The rise and fall and rise of Edwin Lutyens". The Architectural Review.
- ^ "England & Wales Births 1837–2006". Findmypast.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34638. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Oram, Hugh (7 April 2015). "An Irishman's Diary on Sir Edwin Lutyens and Ireland". Irish Times. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
- ^ "Mary Constance Elphinstone Wemyss (born Lutyens), 1868 – 1951". MyHeritage. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine at scottisharchitects.org.uk, accessed 4 February 2009.
- ^ Muthesius 1979, p. 55.
- ^ Gradidge 1981, pp. 27–31.
- ^ Chakraborty, Debiparna (1 January 2017). "10 Interesting Facts about Sir Edwin Lutyens, the Architect Who Designed Most of New Delhi". www.vagabomb.com. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "Canadian Encyclopedia Monuments, World Wars I and II". Archived from the original on 10 August 2011.
- ^ Brown 1997, pp. 118–119.
- ^ Newman 2013, p. 539.
- ^ "No. 30607". The London Gazette. 2 April 1918. p. 4026.
- ^ "Sir Edwin Lutyens | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
- ^ "No. 32942". The London Gazette. 3 June 1924. p. 4429.
- ^ Conserving the Lutyens cathedral model, Liverpool museums Archived 2 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved on 29 July 2013.
- ^ Stamp, Gavin (19 November 1981). "The rise and fall and rise of Edwin Lutyens". Architectural Review.
- The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster, p. 169. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2003 (originally published by Penguin, London, 1979).
- ^ "Trá na Rosann". Anoige. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ Irving 1981, p. 29.
- ^ "Delhi heritage tour: From Tughlaq to British era, cycle your way to historical monuments". Hindustan Times. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ "Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, English architect and designer". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ "India's roads: Whose space is it anyway?". 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ "Lutyens himself designed only four bungalows". Hindustan Times. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012.
- ISBN 81-224-1587-3. p. 217.
- ^ "No. 33566". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1930. p. 5.
- ^ "The Architect And His Wife, The Life of Edwin Lutyens". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ Ridley, Jane. The Architect and His Wife: A Life of Edwin Lutyens. p. 257.
- ISBN 978-0-670-08346-6.
- JSTOR 29543345.
- S2CID 194864199.
- ^ Lutyens 1980, p. 52.
- ^ Ridley 2002, pp. 257–258.
- ^ Percy & Ridley 1988, p. 53.
- ^ "Robert Lutyens". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40709. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "(Edith Penelope) Mary Lutyens (1909–1999)". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ a b "About BMA House". BMA House. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ "National Collection of Lutyens' War Memorials Listed". Historic England. Historic England. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- ^ Nairn, Pevsner & Cherry 1971, p. 70.
- ^ Amery, Richardson & Stamp 1981, p. 8.
- ^ Cox, Stephen. "Apple Tree Yard Sculpture Honours Spirit of Lutyens". The Lutyens Trust. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ Hancock, Michaila (3 June 2015). "Eric Parry completes St James's Square office". Architects' Journal. London. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ISSN 0960-7870.
- ^ "Country Life building, Tavistock Street, London". RIBA. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1064598)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ "To Plan a Tour of Lutyens Buildings". The Luytens Trust. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ "Conserving the Lutyens cathedral model". Liverpool Museums. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1189781)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ISBN 9780727731968.
Sources
- Amery, Colin; Richardson, Margaret; ISBN 9780728703032.
- Brown, Jane (1997). Lutyens and the Edwardians. London: ISBN 9780140242690.
- Dunster, David (1986). Edwin Lutyens. London: OCLC 757002578.
- Goodman, David C.; Chant, Colin (1999). European Cities & Technology: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Routledge. OCLC 807453904.
- OCLC 924831360.
- ISBN 978-0-907462-59-0.
- Irving, Robert Grant (1981). Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker and Imperial Delhi. London: ISBN 978-0-300-02422-7.
- Lutyens, Edwin (1989). Clayre Percy; OCLC 466283124.
- OCLC 469680629.
- ISBN 978-0-258-97101-7.
- ISBN 978-0-300-09675-0.
- ISBN 9780300185065.
- Pile, John F. (2005). A History of Interior Design. Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 9781856694186.
- ISBN 978-0-7011-7201-5.
- ISBN 978-1-86197-896-7.
- Vale, Lawrence J. (1992). Architecture, Power, and National Identity. New Haven and London: ISBN 9780300049589.
- Wilhide, Elizabeth (2000). Sir Edwin Lutyens: Designing in the English Tradition. London: OCLC 469379799.
Further reading
- Hopkins, Andrew; ISBN 0-904152-37-5.
- Petter, Hugh (1992). Lutyens in Italy: The Building of the British School at Rome. London: British School at Rome. ISBN 0-904152-21-9.
- Skelton, Tim; Gliddon, Gerald (2008). Lutyens and the Great War. London: ISBN 978-0-7112-2878-8.
External links
- The Lutyens Trust
- Jane Ridley, "Architect for the metropolis" Archived 30 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, City Journal, Spring 1998
- The creations of Sir Edwin Lutyens – Ward's Book of Days]
- The cathedral that never was – exhibition of Lutyens' cathedral model at the Walker Art Gallery (archived 17 December 2007)
- Louvet, Solange; de Givry, Jacques. "The history of the Bois des Moutiers". – An 1898 house in France designed by Lutyens and its garden designed by Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.
- Collection of over 2000 photos of Lutyens' work on Flickr