Abstract
The book presents a study of how the dominant class in each epoch of English history has accumulated its wealth and invested that wealth in iconic buildings. Five key driving forces of iconic building are identified. Accumulation of the economic surplus funds the investment; functional imperatives determine the demand; technological progress and stylistic shifts shape the built form; the collective investment expresses ruling class hegemony; and individual investments compete for elite status. Iconic building reaches a peak in each epoch when the prevailing mode of production is operating most effectively, the surplus product is most plentiful, and the dominant class rules supreme. To illustrate the argument, subsequent chapters present a succession of six case studies, each focussing on the iconic building types which define their age.
It was perceived at the first, when Men sought to cure Mortality by Fame, that Buildings was the only way. … As for the Pyramids, the Colosses, the number of Temples, Colleges, Bridges, Aquaeducts, Castles, Theatres, Palaces, and the like, they may shew us, that Men ever mistrusted any other way to Fame than this only, of Works and Monuments.
Francis Bacon, 1594, Gesta Grayorum (Bland 1968: 49).
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Barras, R. (2016). Of Works and Monuments. In: A Wealth of Buildings: Marking the Rhythm of English History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-31921-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-31921-0_1
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