FOR MOST OF MY LIFE, I HAVE regarded the University of London’s Senate House as a strange and monstrous construction looming in a sinister way off the north side of Russell Square. But a small public exhibition on its first-floor landing organised by Bill Sherman, the enterprising director of the Warburg Institute, and Richard Temple, London University’s archivist, has encouraged me to think differently.
The secondary literature on the growth of London has traditionally emphasised the way in which it is the product of organic growth. In this narrative, Sir Christopher Wren’s plan to reconstruct London after the Great Fire on a grand new classical plan was thwarted by brave householders who wanted as far as possible to maintain the recollection of the City’s more random medieval streets.
John Nash’s…
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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2024