Robert Tavernor

Last updated

Robert Tavernor (born 1954) is an English Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), [1] and founding director of the Tavernor Consultancy in London. [2] He is an architecture historian and urbanist, who has published widely on architecture and urban design, including the impact of tall buildings on historic cities. [3] His academic career includes being appointed to the Forbes Chair in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh at age 36.

Contents

Biography

Tavernor was born in England and studied architecture in London (B.A. and Dip. Arch with Distinction, 1973–79), Rome (British Prix de Rome in Architecture at the British School at Rome, 1979–80 [4] ), and at the University of Cambridge (St John's College, 1980–83, doctorate awarded 1985), where his PhD thesis, Concinnitas in the Architectural Theory and Practice of Leon Battista Alberti, [5] was supervised by Joseph Rykwert. He is a registered architect and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (since 1985).

Tavernor has held multiple academic posts in the UK. He was formerly Forbes Professor of Architecture at the University of Edinburgh (1992–95), professor of architecture and head of the department of architecture and civil engineering at the University of Bath (1995–2005), LSE professor of architecture and urban design (2005–2011) and director of the LSE Cities Programme (2005–08). He held various visiting academic posts internationally, including visiting professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA, 1998), European Union visiting scholar in planning and conservation at the University of Texas A&M (2002); and visiting professor in architecture and urbanism at the University of São Paulo, Brazil (2004), and the University of Bath (since 2009).

He founded the Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture (CASA) at Bath, and with Vaughan Hart, established a focus on Classical and Italian Renaissance architectural treatises; between them they have translated and written about leading classical architectural theorists. He has been a national assessor for the Architecture and the Built Environment sub-panel of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE2008) for the UK Higher Education Funding Council for Education (HEFCE), and a member of the Faculty of the Fine Arts of the British School at Rome. [6]

Tavernor initiated (with co-authors) a series of modern translations of the principal classical architectural treatise writers – Vitruvius, Alberti, Serlio and Palladio – and is the sole author of parallel monographs on these subjects published by (Yale [7] and MIT [8] ). His book on Alberti was described as "the last and the best of the books on Alberti on this scale in the twentieth century" (Chronique). [9] He pioneered the use of the computer to visualize urban forms in architectural exhibitions, [10] co-curating with Rykwert in 1994 the international exhibition of Alberti's work at Palazzo Te in Mantua for the computer firm Olivetti. As a consultant architect and urbanist he applies his knowledge of architectural history, design and the visual representation of buildings in advising planners and architects on the form, character, scale and massing of tall buildings in the City of London and along the south bank of the Thames. His advice on several large urban masterplan projects in London (including Battersea Power Station) led to him being invited in 2007, by former Russian Senator Gordeev, to assemble and to contribute his expertise to an international master planning team to re-configure the city of Perm (population of 1 million) in the southern Urals. The published masterplan led by KCAP was awarded the Grand Prix at the Moscow Architecture Biennale in May 2010.[ citation needed ]

Robert Tavernor currently works as an architectural and urban design consultant in London.

Works

As an architectural historian and theorist, Tavernor is an expert in the foundations of Italian Renaissance architecture and the transmission of associated ideas and forms to England and America. He is the author of Palladio and Palladianism (1991 – subsequently translated into Italian, Chinese, and Korean) and On Alberti and the Art of Building (1998). He is co-translator of two English translations of architectural treatises: Leon Battista Alberti's 16th century De re aedificatoria, as On the Art of Building in Ten Books (1988); and Andrea Palladio's 17th century I Quattro Libri dell Architettura, as The Four Books on Architecture (1997), and co-edited and provided the introduction to Vitruvius' On Architecture (2009).

Tavernor's translation works have become standard texts in art historical scholarship, used by students and scholars throughout the world. His book Smoot’s Ear: The Measure of Humanity (2007 and 2008) pulls together much of his earlier writings and sets measures and measuring in a cultural context and shows how deeply they are connected to human experience and history. Other notable architects have used his writing as inspiration. [11]

Tavernor was co-editor of Body and Building: Essays on the changing relation of Body to Architecture (2002 and 2005), a collection of essays on art and architecture dedicated to Rykwert. He founded the Alberti Group with Rykwert, which led to the 1994 international exhibition on Alberti for Olivetti. Photogrammetric drawings relating to research for the exhibition can be found on the CASA website at Bath University. Tavernor was subsequently commissioned by the Royal Academy of Arts to produce computer-animated urban and architectural reconstructions through CASA for exhibitions in London and internationally, for the Sir John Soane Exhibition (1999), Aztecs Exhibition (2003), and by Tate Britain for the Sir Stanley Spencer Exhibition (2001). [12]

Publications (selection)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Battista Alberti</span> Italian architect and author (1404-1472)

Leon Battista Alberti was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. He is considered the founder of Western cryptography, a claim he shares with Johannes Trithemius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitruvius</span> Roman architect and engineer

Vitruvius was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled De architectura. As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first book on architectural theory, as well as a major source on the canon of classical architecture. It is not clear to what extent his contemporaries regarded his book as original or important.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renaissance architecture</span>

Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture and neoclassical architecture. Developed first in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators, the Renaissance style quickly spread to other Italian cities. The style was carried to other parts of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathematics and architecture</span> Relationship between mathematics and architecture

Mathematics and architecture are related, since, as with other arts, architects use mathematics for several reasons. Apart from the mathematics needed when engineering buildings, architects use geometry: to define the spatial form of a building; from the Pythagoreans of the sixth century BC onwards, to create forms considered harmonious, and thus to lay out buildings and their surroundings according to mathematical, aesthetic and sometimes religious principles; to decorate buildings with mathematical objects such as tessellations; and to meet environmental goals, such as to minimise wind speeds around the bases of tall buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Palladio</span> 16th-century Italian Renaissance architect of the Republic of Venice

Andrea Palladio was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of the most influential individuals in the history of architecture. While he designed churches and palaces, he was best known for country houses and villas. His teachings, summarized in the architectural treatise, The Four Books of Architecture, gained him wide recognition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palladian architecture</span> Style of architecture derived from the Venetian Andrea Palladio

Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and the principles of formal classical architecture from ancient Greek and Roman traditions. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Palladio's interpretation of this classical architecture developed into the style known as Palladianism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastiano Serlio</span> Italian architect and painter (1475–1554)

Sebastiano Serlio was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. Serlio helped canonize the classical orders of architecture in his influential treatise variously known as I sette libri dell'architettura or Tutte l'opere d'architettura et prospetiva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuscan order</span> Architectural order

The Tuscan order is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with un-fluted columns and a simpler entablature with no triglyphs or guttae. While relatively simple columns with round capitals had been part of the vernacular architecture of Italy and much of Europe since at least Etruscan architecture, the Romans did not consider this style to be a distinct architectural order. Its classification as a separate formal order is first mentioned in Isidore of Seville's 6th-century Etymologiae and refined during the Italian Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proportion (architecture)</span> Principle of architectural theory that describes the relationships between elements of a design

Proportion is a central principle of architectural theory and an important connection between mathematics and art. It is the visual effect of the relationship of the various objects and spaces that make up a structure to one another and to the whole. These relationships are often governed by multiples of a standard unit of length known as a "module".

<i>De architectura</i> Treatise on architecture by Vitruvius

De architectura is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide for building projects. As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first known book on architectural theory, as well as a major source on the canon of classical architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architectural theory</span> The act of thinking, discussing, and writing about architecture

Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, and writing about architecture. Architectural theory is taught in all architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are the lecture or dialogue, the treatise or book, and the paper project or competition entry. Architectural theory is often didactic, and theorists tend to stay close to or work from within schools. It has existed in some form since antiquity, and as publishing became more common, architectural theory gained an increased richness. Books, magazines, and journals published an unprecedented number of works by architects and critics in the 20th century. As a result, styles and movements formed and dissolved much more quickly than the relatively enduring modes in earlier history. It is to be expected that the use of the internet will further the discourse on architecture in the 21st century.

<i>De re aedificatoria</i> Classic architectural treatise

De re aedificatoria is a classic architectural treatise written by Leon Battista Alberti between 1443 and 1452. Although largely dependent on Vitruvius's De architectura, it was the first theoretical book on the subject written in the Italian Renaissance, and in 1485 it became the first printed book on architecture. It was followed in 1486 with the first printed edition of Vitruvius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Rykwert</span> British historian (born 1926)

Joseph Rykwert CBE is Paul Philippe Cret Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost architectural historians and critics of his generation. He has spent most of his working life in the United Kingdom and America. He has taught the history and theory of architecture at several institutions in Europe and North America. Rykwert is the author of many influential works on architecture, including The Idea of a Town (1963), On Adam's House in Paradise (1972), The Dancing Column (1996) and The Seduction of Place (2000). All his books have been translated into several languages.

Neil Leach is a British architect and theorist. He is also a licensed architect, registered to practice in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniele Barbaro</span> Italian cleric and diplomat

Daniele Matteo Alvise Barbaro was an Italian cleric and diplomat. He was also an architect, writer on architecture, and translator of, and commentator on, Vitruvius.

Vaughan Hart is a leading architectural historian, and Professor Emeritus of Architecture in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Bath. He served as head of department between 2008 and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James S. Ackerman</span> American architectural historian (1919–2016)

James Sloss Ackerman was an American architectural historian, a major scholar of Michelangelo's architecture, of Palladio and of Italian Renaissance architectural theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Bautista Villalpando</span> Spanish architect and mathematician (1552–1608)

Juan Bautista Villalpando also Villalpandus, or Villalpanda was a Spanish priest of Sephardic ancestry, a member of the Jesuits, a scholar, mathematician, and architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture</span> Product and process of planning, designing and constructing buildings and other structures

Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes from Latin architectura; from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn) 'architect'; from ἀρχι- (arkhi-) 'chief', and τέκτων (téktōn) 'creator'. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilisations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.

The Center for Palladian Studies in America, Inc. (CPSA) engages in research and other activities relating to the work of architect Andrea Palladio. CPSA was founded as a national non-profit membership corporation in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1979.

References

  1. "Professor Robert Tavernor – Academic staff – Who's who – Department of Sociology – Home". .lse.ac.uk. 23 February 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. "Home | Tavernor Consultancy Architecture + Heritage". Tavernorconsultancy.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. "House of Commons – Transport, Local Government and the Regions – Memoranda". Publications.parliament.uk. 22 January 2002. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. "Rome Prize in Architecture « The British School at Rome". Bsr.ac.uk. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  5. "Concinnitas in the architectural theory and practice of Leon Battista Alberti". Dspace.cam.ac.uk. 12 November 1985. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  6. "Governance « The British School at Rome". Bsr.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  7. "Smoot's Ear – Tavernor, Robert – Yale University Press". Yalepress.yale.edu. 24 September 2007. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  8. "Robert Tavernor | The MIT Press". Mitpress.mit.edu. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  9. "On Alberti and the Art of Building". Yalepress.yale.edu. 11 January 1999. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. "Cambridge Journals Online – arq: Architectural Research Quarterly – Abstract – Architectural history and computing". Journals.cambridge.org. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  11. Bickersteth, Rupert (28 February 2022). "Pierre d'Avoine on 14th-century San Salvatore retrofit". The Architects' Journal. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  12. "Stanley Spencer – Virtual Church-House". tate.org.uk. 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.