Neo-Georgian Architecture 1880-1970

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.