Enriching Architecture: Craft and its Conservation in Anglo-Irish Building Production, 1660-1760

An argument for taking the craft work of surface enrichment of buildings more seriously in architectural history.

Architectural history has tended to marginalize the many types of refinement and enrichment of surfaces in stone, wood, and plaster that were fundamental aspects of early modern architecture. Enriching Architecture aims to retrieve and rehabilitate surface achievement as a vital element of early modern buildings in Britain and Ireland, arguing for the historical legitimacy of creative craft skill as a primary agent in architectural production. The contributors draw upon the major rethinking of craft and materials within the wider cultural sphere in recent years to deconstruct traditional, oppositional ways of thinking about architectural production. The book explores broad themes of surface treatment such as wainscot, rustication, plasterwork, and staircase embellishment, along with chapters focused on virtuoso buildings and set pieces that illuminate these themes.