Members: £85
Non-members: £105
Concessions: £20 (call the office 020 8340 3343)
Dates: 28 February - 4 April (6 weeks)
London’s varied architectures and informal urban character are the outcome of centuries of evolution and happenstance. Compared to many European cities, it is notable for its organic and informal tradition. However, this is only a part truth. London has for the past 200 years, been subject to very concerted and often visionary efforts to rethink and reshape the metropolis at a grand scale to improve health, speed commerce, to beautify and to aggrandise.
This course is for anyone interested in architecture and the making of cities. With London as its focus, ‘Urban Improvement’ explores the modern making of the city through urban clearance and the planned development of new streets and townscapes.
Structured into six parts that includes four online lectures and two on location walking tours, the course provides a history of London’s big urban thinking and the shifting architectural image of itself, charting - among others - the development of; Regent Street, Kingsway & Aldwych and the postwar London Wall and assessing the role of The Metropolitan Board of Works and The London County Council.
Core themes include: municipalism, modernity, local government, architectural modernism, urbanism and spatial planning. In each stage of the course the political, economic and social context will be explored alongside the introduction of key architectural and urban figures with illustrative drawings, plans and diagrams bringing buildings, streets and spaces to life.
‘Urban Improvement - Remaking London 1820 - 1970’ is led by urban historian, architectural researcher and educator Mike Althorpe, who also operates walks and tours as ‘The London Ambler’.
Week 1 online - ‘New Streets’
Week 2 online - ‘Metropolitan Works’
Week 3 online - ‘Monument Making’
Week 4 online - ‘Modernism’
Week 5 walking tour - ‘Via Triumphalis - The Making + Re-Making of Regent Street’
Week 6 walking tour - ‘Boulevards of Dreams - Illusion + Reality Along Kingsway Aldwych’
Mike Althorpe is an urban historian, architectural researcher, educator and story teller with a passion for the history, streets and buildings of London. Mike has an MA from the University of Westminster, focusing on London’s architecture, history and spatial development.
