Whereas the past decades have seen a profound reconsideration of eighteenth-century visual culture, the architecture of that century has undergone little evaluation. Its study, unlike that of the early modern period or the twentieth century, has continued to use essentially the same methods and ideas over the last fifty years. Articulating British Classicism reconsiders the traditional historiography of British eighteenth-century architecture as it was shaped after World War II, and brings together for the first time a variety of new perspectives on British classicism in the period. Drawing on current thinking about the eighteenth century from a range of disciplines, the book examines such topics as social and gender identities, colonialization and commercialization, notions of the rural, urban and suburban, as well as issues of theory and historiography. Canonical constructions of Georgian architecture are explored, including current evaluations of the continental intellectual background, the relationship with mid seventeenth-century Stuart court classicism and the development of the subject in the twentieth century.

The idea of a "Greater London" emerged in the 18th century with the expansion of the city's suburbs. In Landscapes of London, Elizabeth McKellar traces this growth back to the 17th century, when domestic retreats were established in outlying areas. This transitional zone was occupied and shaped by the urban middle class as much as by the elite who built villas there. McKellar provides the first major interdisciplinary cultural history of this area, analyzing it in relation to key architectural and planning debates and to concepts of national, social, and gender identities. She draws on a wide range of source materials, including prints, paintings, maps, poetry, songs, newspapers, guidebooks, and other popular literature, as well as buildings and landscapes. The author suggests that these suburban landscapes-the first in the world-were a new environment, but one in which the vernacular, the rustic, and the historic played a substantial part. This fascinating investigation shows London as the forerunner of the complex, multifaceted modern cities of today. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

This publication investigates how, where, when and why the Neo-Georgian has been represented over the course of the last century. It assesses its impact as a broader cultural phenomenon through a consideration of its buildings, objects, institutions, and actors. It contends that this was not another dying gasp of Revivalism restricted to 1920s Britain but a complex assertion of national image and identity with its origins before and its influence extending beyond this 'lost' decade, well into the post-WWII period. Different ideologies have been attached to the Neo-Georgian at different times and places, particularly notions of home, nation, gender and class. The papers explore the construction, reception and historiography of `the Georgian' throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth century - and most particularly its relationship to modernism - through discussion of a range of building types, planning (including the new concept of Civic Design) and design generally. The expansion of the public sector in the twentieth century saw Neo-Georgian embraced for a wide variety of buildings and sites. Re-interpretations and adaptations of the Georgian have been a constant theme over the past century and constitute a powerful and enduring strand in Anglophile culture across the globe. The papers consider interpretations of the Neo-Georgian not only in England but in places as diverse as New Zealand and America.