Shaping the Surface: Materiality and the History of British Architecture 1840-2000

Shaping the Surface explores the history of modern British architecture through the lens of surface, materiality and decoration.

Picking up on a trait that art historian Nikolaus Pevsner first identified as a 'national mania for beautiful surface quality', this book makes a new contribution to architectural history and visual culture in its detailed examination of the surfaces of British architecture from the middle of the 19th century up to the turn of the 21st century. Tracing this contin...