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news EXHIBITION
‘Architectural drawings have a profound ability to record and articulate the various design discussions that occur within an office or between an architect and a client’
Abraham Thomas, director, Sir John Soane’s Museum
Building a Dialogue: The Architect and the Client
Sir John Soane’s Museum presents Building a Dialogue: The Architect and the Client, an exhibition exploring the delicate, complex and sometimes difficult relationship between clients and architects, charting the development of the architectural profession from Elizabethan to Victorian times. Analysing exemplary projects by Sir John Soane, and the
work of and influence on the profession by some of the most illustrious British architectural pioneers – Sir Christopher Wren (1622 – 1723), William Chambers (1723 –96), Robert Adam (1728 –92) and his brother James Adam (1732 – 94) – Building a Dialogue will look at the intrinsic dynamics of architectural commissions, in an unprecedented display of rare pieces from the museum collection. The commissioning process for Soane’s buildings, including
Dulwich Picture Gallery and Holy Trinity Church, and Wren’s Royal Naval Hospital will be presented through a unique body of work, which includes never before seen drawings, private and public documents, letters, correspondence, and models, in one of the most comprehensive surveys of the architecture profession ever displayed at Sir John Soane’s Museum. A key area of interest is the client’s role within the process;
client typologies will be examined through a series of historical case studies, focusing on different types of commissions: the private client; the public client; the State as a client; and, unusually, a posthumous client commission. One of the exhibition’s highlights, a recently discovered
drawing of the facade of the museum, will be displayed for the first time. Conservators found the drawing in 2014, hidden behind a painting within a frame in the Museum. Soane produced very few drawings of his home at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, as typically these were part of the presentation process to the
client; this newly discovered drawing is thus a rare and precious depiction of the architect’s own vision for the building. Sir John Soane’s work at Dulwich Picture Gallery forms one
of the exhibition case studies. The project and its construction presents a unique client-architect relationship, as Soane designed the gallery to the posthumous specifications of his friend Sir Francis Bourgeois. Bourgeois stipulated in his will (following his death in 1811) that Soane be given the commis- sion to design and execute the gallery. Problematic client relationships will also be explored through
projects such as Soane’s Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone and Wren’s Royal Naval Hospital. Both these state-sponsored projects were characterised by radical changes to the architect’s initial vision brought about by the strong opinions of the patrons. In particular Wren’s initial concept of the Royal Naval Hospital envisaged demolishing Inigo Jones’ Queen’s House, something vetoed in the strongest manner possible by the King. Wren’s initial vision will be illustrated by drawings by Hawskmoor and Knyff, which have previously not been shown to the public. Abraham Thomas, director of Sir John Soane’s Museum says:
“Architectural drawings have a profound ability to record and articulate the various design discussions that occur within an office or between an architect and a client. I’m delighted that this exhibition not only draws upon gems from the museum’s collection of over 30,000 architectural drawings, but also reminds us that Sir John Soane’s home was the site of a busy architectural practice, embedded in the heart of the building, where such conversations happened every day. The exhibition also makes a connection between historical and contemporary contexts, by exploring the multi-faceted ways in which architects, especially Soane himself, have always engaged with, and redefined, the notion of a ‘client’ – showing us how design ideas have continued to express themselves through the drawing process, from Soane’s time through to the present day.”Building a Dialogue: The Architect and the Client will be on display at Sir John Soane’s Museum from 17 February to 9 May 2015.
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