Chapter Title: INTRODUCTION

Book Title: The Image of the Architect

Book Author(s): Andrew Saint
Published by: Yale University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ww3w0s.4

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Image of the Architect

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 INTRODUCTION

We are at present in the midst of a widespread transformation of'architectural history',

with its emphasis on aesthetics, design and authorship, into 'building history', which
has broader social and economic preoccupations. This book attempts to contribute to
the debate on this transition.
The realities ofarchitectural practice, past and present, have often been hidden from
those entering upon an architectural career; and the conflict between those realities
and the ideals of creativity fostered in the schools is, I believe, something which
students of architecture should appreciate, ponder and debate. The idea of this book
originated in a course which Robin Middleton invited me to give at the Architectural
Association in London in 1978. With his usual liberality, he allowed me any historical
topic of my choosing. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that a traditional
course on the history of architecture might have charm and enjoy brief popularity
among the students, but would have less lasting value. I decided instead to try to discuss
the history of the architectural profession over the last two hundred years. My method
was to choose special periods of time, episodes, careers or books which I felt contained
within them the seeds of the problems which architects had faced or continue to face.
Feeling that the subject was an important one, I decided to make a book out ofit, in
order to explore the arguments and issues in more depth. The audience which I would
particularly like to reach remains the same-thoughtful architects and architectural
students. I hope it may also appeal to readers interested in the wider questions of
architecture and of history.
In the course of research and writing, the material has changed and expanded out of
all recognition. Through the generosity of the British Council, I was fortunate enough
to spend the best part of a year in the United States in 1g 78-9. Much of that time was
spent in widening the scope of this book, especially in deepening my acquaintance with
the history of the American architectural profession, which with the British profession
occupies the lion's share of the following pages. In writing, I have attempted to bring
the separate subjects and episodes into better relation with each other. Readers who,
for instance, wish to get some coherent impression of the way that the architectural
profession evolved in Britain and the United States, can do so by reading Chapters 3,4
and 7 consecutively. By contrast, Chapters I and 5 deal with examples of what might
be called the lighter 'literature of architecture' and can, I hope, be read together for

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X THE IMAGE OF THE ARCHITECT

entertainment as well as for instruction. But the essays remain to some degree partial,
separate and unsystematic 'contributions to the history of a profession'. Since I have
made no attempt to be exhaustive, there are obvious and glaring gaps. I have, for
example, steered clear of any discussion of architectural education, believing that the
nature of architectural teaching at any given time proceeds from the state of the
profession, rather than the other way round. There is also no chapter on the
nineteenth-century architectural profession in continental Europe, where so much of
the ideology and organization of the modern architect evolved.
Many of the chapters are critical pieces of a type not current in recent architectural
history, especially in the United States; to some readers they may seem to concentrate
upon the shortcomings of the architectural profession and even to cast doubts upon its
integrity. T o prevent misunderstanding and to absolve myself of the charge of
scepticism, arrogance or hostility towards architects in general or any architect in
particular, I should perhaps quote some celebrated lines from Marx's Preface to A
Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy which have had some influence on the
standpoint from which this book has been written: 'It is not the consciousness of men
that determines their being, but on the contrary it is their social being that determines
their consciousness. . .Just as one does not judge an individual by what he thinks about
himself, so one cannot judge . . . an epoch of transformation by its consciousness, but,
on the contrary, this consciousness must be explained from the contradictions of
material life . . .'. The Marxian view of history, in other words, seemed to offer an
intelligent framework within which to think about the history of the architectural
profession. But the book is too discursive to deserve to be labelled Marxist, whether by
admirers or by detractors of that great Victorian thinker.

In pressing this book towards completion, I have had great kindness and help from
both individuals and institutions. For the opportunity afforded by the British Council
of going to the United States as a Bicentennial Fellow and spending months of general
research without rendering full account of my activities, I am especially grateful. My
employers, the Greater London Council, kindly released me during this period and
took me back on my return, and the staff of the Survey of London and the Historic
Buildings Division there were good enough to fall in willingly with these arrangements.
Later, the Twenty-Seven Foundation made a generous grant towards the cost of
gathering the odd assemblage of pictures reproduced in this book. The Architectural
Association started things by allowing me to experiment with their students; the
Bartlett School of Architecture ended them by allowing me space to finish my writing
off there. Readers will soon see that this is a very 'bookish' production, which would
have been impossible to write without access to some excellent architectural libraries.
Among these the RIBA Library, with its wonderful bibliographical facilities, stands
first and foremost; while in the United States I profited also from being given a free run
of the Rhode Island School of Design Library and the Brown University Library.
Among individuals, I should first single out Jules Lubbock, who read the whole text,
urged me towards greater coherence and suggested many improvements. Likewise,

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 INTRODUCTION xi
Robert Thorne read most of the manuscript and made many helpful suggestions. John
Bancroft read the penultimate chapter with great care and attention from the point of
view of the practising architect. At Yale University Press, John Nicoll has been
consistently encouraging and patient in face of tardy progress and persuaded me to
make a major revision which was certainly necessary. Mosette Broderick, Dene
Leopold and Dick Chafee have helped with American material and saved me from
various pitfalls. Mrs Elizabeth Fish, the daughter o f H . B. Creswell, has been specially
helpful with Chapter 5. Among others who have assisted I am grateful to John
Greenacombe, Walter Kilham junior, Richard Haslam, Peter Howell, Lynne Walker
and Clive Wainwright. For particular help with photographs I am pleased to thank Dr
Kurt Junghanns, Paul R . Baker, Alan Crawford, Godfrey New, and the RIBA Library
and Drawings Collection ; other suppliers of photographs are gratefully acknowledged
in the list ofillustrations. Whilst I have made every effort to contact owners ofcopyright,
it has not been possible to do so in every case.
Final1y;Ellen Leopold first directed my thoughts along the path they travel in this
book, and has consistently given me wise and forbearing advice on this, as on many
other subjects.

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 This content downloaded from
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