Architecture and Power

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the role which architecture has played in our public life throughout history, whether in homage to an individual or as a monument to an institution or ideology, has always been a potent symbol of wealth, status and power. From castles to cathedrals, from the pyramids to Canary Wharf, architecture has always served to glorify in some way the animating ideal of the time. Why is architecture such a powerful form of expression? Have architects concerned themselves mainly with the masses, or restricted their designs to the demands and aspirations of the elite? What can a country’s buildings tell us about its ideas of its own past and present identity? With Adrian Tinniswood, Architectural historian; Gavin Stamp, Senior Lecturer, Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art; Gillian Darley, Architectural historian and biographer of John Soane.

→ Play on BBC Sounds website

Guests

• Adrian Tinniswood No other episodes
  Architectural historian
• Gavin Stamp No other episodes
  Senior Lecturer, Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art
• Gillian Darley 2 episodes
  Architectural historian and biographer of John Soane

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Programme ID: p00548k0

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548k0

Auto-category: 720 (Architecture)

Hello (First sentence from this episode)

Hello. In today's In Our Time, I'll be discussing the role which architecture has played in public life.