William Lethaby
Encyclopedia
William Richard Lethaby was an English
architect
and architectural historian
whose ideas were highly influential on the late Arts and Crafts
and early Modern
movements in architecture, and in the fields of conservation
and art education
.
, Devon
, the son of a fiercely Liberal
craftsman and lay preacher. After an early apprenticeship with a local architect he found work in London
in 1879 as Chief Clerk to architect Richard Norman Shaw
. Shaw quickly recognized Lethaby's talent as a designer and Lethaby was to contribute significant pieces of work to major Shaw-designed buildings such as Scotland Yard
in London and Cragside
in Northumberland
.
While working for Shaw, Lethaby became involved in the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
, which campaigned to preserve the integrity and authenticity of older buildings against the Victorian practice of 'improving' them to the point of almost completely rebuilding and redesigning them. Through this he became a personal friend of Arts and Crafts Movement
pioneers William Morris
and Philip Webb
, becoming a significant and influential member of their circle and acting as co-founder of the Art Workers Guild
in 1884.
The Guild was formed from a nucleus drawn from two separate groups, the St George’s Art Society, a group of architects who had seen service in the offices of Norman Shaw, including Ernest Newton
, Mervyn Macartney, Reginald Barratt, Edwin Hardy, Lethaby and Edward Schroeder Prior
, and the Fifteen, founded by the designer and writer Lewis Day and the illustrator and designer Walter Crane
. Prior wrote the prospectus for the Guild. It initially met in Newton’s chambers by St George’s Church, Bloomsbury.
ism of medieval and non-European design and architecture: themes he was to elaborate in his first and most famous (though arguably least representative) book Architecture, Mysticism, and Myth, published in 1891. This was the first major work of architectural theory to treat architecture as a system of symbols with identifiable philosophical meanings, rather than as abstract systems of aesthetic principles.
Lethaby finally left Shaw's practice in 1892 after the completion of his first major independent architectural project - the country estate of Avon Tyrrell in Hampshire
, built for Lord Manners. The next decade was Lethaby's most productive in terms of built works as his contacts in the Birmingham
area, where the ideas of the arts and crafts movement were particularly well received, led to series of commissions for buildings in the Midlands
or for Birmingham-based clients. He built Monkswood Cottage, Loughton
, Essex, for his friend, Hubert Llewellyn Smith.
. Here he had a pioneering role in developing education in the fine and practical arts, most notably as the founder of the Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1896. His most significant innovations lay in breaking down academic barriers between design (perceived as an artistic and intellectual pursuit) and production (widely perceived as the less sophisticated activity of the craftsman or artisan). Lethaby believed that this was an artificial distinction and sought to have both taught as equally valuable parts of the process of producing a high quality end-product.
. This, coupled with his appointments as Principal of the Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1902 and as Surveyor of Westminster Abbey
in 1906 meant that he was increasingly devoted to the academic study of the theory and history of architecture and design. He effectively ceased architectural practice around this time, though he remained an immensely influential figure through his writings and teaching. Lethaby's role as a guide and mentor to German Cultural Attaché Hermann Muthesius
during his investigations into English architecture was to prove particularly significant in the light of Muthesius's later role as an influence on the early pioneers of the Bauhaus
.
At Westminster Abbey, Lethaby was able to put into practice his belief in sympathetic and historically accurate restoration, conducting extensive research into the history of its structure and design and largely setting the template that the restoration and preservation of historic buildings was to follow for the rest of the century.
as significant primarily in his role as a precursor of the early modern movement. He was the acknowledged theorist behind the work of Ernest Gimson
and the group of architect-craftsmen who worked with him in Sapperton, Gloucestershire
, intent to found a "school of rational building". Lethaby's emphasis on "good, honest building" is viewed as making explicit the functionalism
implicit in the writings and architecture of Pugin, Ruskin
and Philip Webb
, with his connection to Muthesius as the means through which this idea was to influence the German modernist pioneers.
More recently it has been argued that this represents a considerable over-simplification of Lethaby's complex and sometimes contradictory sets of beliefs. "A house should be as efficient as a bicycle" may presage Le Corbusier
, but Lethaby's theories of meaning in architecture and his use of elemental, cosmological and mystical symbolism in his design work can be seen as having more in common with post-modern figures such as Charles Jencks
.
Either way, Lethaby remains widely recognized as a figure of pivotal significance in the transition between the architecture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Some info and copies of his work can be seen in "Some men who made Barnstaple..." 2010 by Pauline Brain.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and architectural historian
Architectural History
Architectural History is the main journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain .The journal is published each autumn. The architecture of the British Isles is a major theme of the journal, although it includes more general papers on the history of architecture. Member of...
whose ideas were highly influential on the late Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
and early Modern
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
movements in architecture, and in the fields of conservation
Architectural conservation
Architectural conservation describes the process through which the material, historical, and design integrity of mankind's built heritage are prolonged through carefully planned interventions. The individual engaged in this pursuit is known as an architectural conservator...
and art education
Art education
Art education is the area of learning that is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings...
.
Early life
Lethaby was born in BarnstapleBarnstaple
Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, the son of a fiercely Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
craftsman and lay preacher. After an early apprenticeship with a local architect he found work in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1879 as Chief Clerk to architect Richard Norman Shaw
Richard Norman Shaw
Richard Norman Shaw RA , was an influential Scottish architect from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings.-Life:...
. Shaw quickly recognized Lethaby's talent as a designer and Lethaby was to contribute significant pieces of work to major Shaw-designed buildings such as Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
in London and Cragside
Cragside
Cragside is a country house in the civil parish of Cartington in Northumberland, England. It was the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power...
in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
.
While working for Shaw, Lethaby became involved in the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris, Philip Webb and J.J.Stevenson, and other notable members of the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood, in 1877, to oppose what they saw as the insensitive renovation of ancient buildings then occurring in Victorian...
, which campaigned to preserve the integrity and authenticity of older buildings against the Victorian practice of 'improving' them to the point of almost completely rebuilding and redesigning them. Through this he became a personal friend of Arts and Crafts Movement
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
pioneers William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
and Philip Webb
Philip Webb
Another Philip Webb — Philip Edward Webb was the architect son of leading architect Sir Aston Webb. Along with his brother, Maurice, he assisted his father towards the end of his career....
, becoming a significant and influential member of their circle and acting as co-founder of the Art Workers Guild
Art Workers Guild
The Art Workers Guild or Art-Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British architects associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of all the arts', denying the distinction between fine and applied art...
in 1884.
The Guild was formed from a nucleus drawn from two separate groups, the St George’s Art Society, a group of architects who had seen service in the offices of Norman Shaw, including Ernest Newton
Ernest Newton
Ernest Newton, FRIBA, ARA was an English architect and President of Royal Institute of British Architects.-Life:Newton was the son of an estate manager of Bickley, Kent. He was educated at Uppingham School. He married, in 1881, Antoinette Johanna Hoyack, of Rotterdam, and had three sons...
, Mervyn Macartney, Reginald Barratt, Edwin Hardy, Lethaby and Edward Schroeder Prior
Edward Schroeder Prior
Edward Schroeder Prior was an architect who was instrumental in establishing the arts and crafts movement. He was one of the foremost theorists of the second generation of the movement, writing extensively on architecture, art, craftsmanship and the building process and subsequently influencing...
, and the Fifteen, founded by the designer and writer Lewis Day and the illustrator and designer Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
. Prior wrote the prospectus for the Guild. It initially met in Newton’s chambers by St George’s Church, Bloomsbury.
Independent practice
From 1889 Lethaby worked only part time for Shaw and increasingly practiced independently, designing a wide range of products - books, furniture and stained glass as well as buildings - exploring the mystical symbolSymbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism of medieval and non-European design and architecture: themes he was to elaborate in his first and most famous (though arguably least representative) book Architecture, Mysticism, and Myth, published in 1891. This was the first major work of architectural theory to treat architecture as a system of symbols with identifiable philosophical meanings, rather than as abstract systems of aesthetic principles.
Lethaby finally left Shaw's practice in 1892 after the completion of his first major independent architectural project - the country estate of Avon Tyrrell in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, built for Lord Manners. The next decade was Lethaby's most productive in terms of built works as his contacts in the Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
area, where the ideas of the arts and crafts movement were particularly well received, led to series of commissions for buildings in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
or for Birmingham-based clients. He built Monkswood Cottage, Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
, Essex, for his friend, Hubert Llewellyn Smith.
London County Council
In 1894 Lethaby was appointed Art Inspector to the Technical Education Board of the newly formed London County CouncilLondon County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
. Here he had a pioneering role in developing education in the fine and practical arts, most notably as the founder of the Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1896. His most significant innovations lay in breaking down academic barriers between design (perceived as an artistic and intellectual pursuit) and production (widely perceived as the less sophisticated activity of the craftsman or artisan). Lethaby believed that this was an artificial distinction and sought to have both taught as equally valuable parts of the process of producing a high quality end-product.
Academic and pioneer of conservation
In 1901 Lethaby was appointed the first Professor of Design at the Royal College of ArtRoyal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. This, coupled with his appointments as Principal of the Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1902 and as Surveyor of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in 1906 meant that he was increasingly devoted to the academic study of the theory and history of architecture and design. He effectively ceased architectural practice around this time, though he remained an immensely influential figure through his writings and teaching. Lethaby's role as a guide and mentor to German Cultural Attaché Hermann Muthesius
Hermann Muthesius
Adam Gottlieb Hermann Muthesius , known as Hermann Muthesius, was a German architect, author and diplomat, perhaps best known for promoting many of the ideas of the English Arts and Crafts movement within Germany and for his subsequent influence on early pioneers of German architectural modernism...
during his investigations into English architecture was to prove particularly significant in the light of Muthesius's later role as an influence on the early pioneers of the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
.
At Westminster Abbey, Lethaby was able to put into practice his belief in sympathetic and historically accurate restoration, conducting extensive research into the history of its structure and design and largely setting the template that the restoration and preservation of historic buildings was to follow for the rest of the century.
Influence and reputation
Lethaby has traditionally been seen by figures such as Nikolaus PevsnerNikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
as significant primarily in his role as a precursor of the early modern movement. He was the acknowledged theorist behind the work of Ernest Gimson
Ernest Gimson
Ernest William Gimson was an English furniture designer and architect. Gimson was described by the art critic Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest of the English architect-designers"...
and the group of architect-craftsmen who worked with him in Sapperton, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, intent to found a "school of rational building". Lethaby's emphasis on "good, honest building" is viewed as making explicit the functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
implicit in the writings and architecture of Pugin, Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
and Philip Webb
Philip Webb
Another Philip Webb — Philip Edward Webb was the architect son of leading architect Sir Aston Webb. Along with his brother, Maurice, he assisted his father towards the end of his career....
, with his connection to Muthesius as the means through which this idea was to influence the German modernist pioneers.
More recently it has been argued that this represents a considerable over-simplification of Lethaby's complex and sometimes contradictory sets of beliefs. "A house should be as efficient as a bicycle" may presage Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
, but Lethaby's theories of meaning in architecture and his use of elemental, cosmological and mystical symbolism in his design work can be seen as having more in common with post-modern figures such as Charles Jencks
Charles Jencks
Charles Alexander Jencks is an American architectural theorist, landscape architect and designer. His books on the history and criticism of Modernism and Postmodernism were widely read in architectural circles and beyond....
.
Either way, Lethaby remains widely recognized as a figure of pivotal significance in the transition between the architecture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Major built works
- Avon Tyrrell House, near Burley, HampshireBurley, HampshireBurley is a village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, England, with a wealth of tea rooms, gift shops, art galleries and a pick-your-own farm.-The village:...
(1892) - The Hurst, Hartopp Road, Four Oaks, Birmingham (1894) - largely demolished
- 122-124 Colmore Row122-124 Colmore Row122-124 Colmore Row, built as the Eagle Insurance Offices and now Hudson's Coffee House, is a Grade I listed building on Colmore Row in Birmingham, England....
(Eagle Insurance Offices), BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
(1900) - Melsetter House, Gatehouse, Lodge and Chapel, HoyHoyHoy is an island in Orkney, Scotland. With an area of it is the second largest in the archipelago after the Mainland. It is connected by a causeway called The Ayre to South Walls...
, Orkney (1900) - High Coxlease House, Lyndhurst, HampshireLyndhurst, HampshireLyndhurst is a village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It is a popular tourist location with many independent shops, art galleries, cafés, restaurants, pubs and hotels. The nearest city is Southampton located around nine miles to the north-east...
(1902) - All Saints Church, Brockhampton-by-Ross, HerefordshireHerefordshireHerefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
(1902)
Major publications
- Architecture, Mysticism, and Myth (1891)
- Mediaeval Art (1904)
- Architecture: An Introduction to the History and Theory of the Art of Building (1912)
- Form in Civilization: Collected Papers on Art and Labour (1922)
External links
- Central Saint Martins Museum and Study Collection - The museum has a large collection of works by W.R. Lethaby, which are available to view on the VADS website.
Some info and copies of his work can be seen in "Some men who made Barnstaple..." 2010 by Pauline Brain.