The importance of being specialist? The impact of component suppliers on metropolitan building and decorating practices, c.1850-1930
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal College of Art
Department Name: School of Art and Humanities
Abstract
Victorian London witnessed a diversification of decorative and built components, from fibrous plaster to iron staircases to plumbing works. Component suppliers offered pre-fabricated parts and technologically novel solutions to the construction requirements of the day. Architects, builders, decorators, contractors, home-owners and the Office of Works all turned to a variety of component suppliers for the realisation of building and interior decoration schemes. The proposed project explores the impact of this complex network of production on the design, commission and manufacture of metropolitan space.
Recent studies have noted considerable growth in the number of building-related businesses c. 1850-1930, but little research has addressed component suppliers in this period. By addressing this acute gap, the project challenges the current argument that it was only by the late 1930s that component suppliers and subcontracting on scale became common phenomena, transforming London's building world. In turn, the work aims to significantly advance current understandings of how decorating and building practices worked as a whole, how such systems were negotiated and how they may have evolved over time.
Emerging competition between an increasing numbers of component firms likely stimulated the importance of public display as a key marketing tactic. Numerous component suppliers exhibited at the International Expositions in London and Paris, and received commissions for public building projects such as museums. By setting component suppliers against broader social, economic and cultural developments, the project seeks to critically assess the role larger historical trends played in fostering specialisation at this moment. This research will add to 19th c. British architectural history, as well as to urban history and the histories of standardisation, mass production and industrialisation, which have been predominantly investigated through the lens of the building firm.
Key questions the PHD aims to address include: From the perspective of component suppliers, how and why did the shift towards specialisation occur? What were the major advantages and disadvantages of specialising in pre-fabricated components? How did this differ between various component types? What impact did assembly methods have on the development, namely the design, technology and manufacture, of different components? How did component suppliers respond to and influence market forces, aesthetic trends and consumer practices?
Case-studies of individual firms will allow examination of these questions. The project offers a unique opportunity to mobilise and link under-explored sources from the V&A collections and archive. These will be combined with the analysis of other documentary sources (ledgers, contracts, plans, advertising material and newspapers) held in London archives.
The student will employ a range of methodologies from disciplines including economic geography, the history of technology and construction history, to map the genesis and commercial workings of component suppliers across the city and over time. Drawing on the tools of design history, material analysis of the museum's existent components and designs will shed light on the actors, processes and skills deployed in the making of individual components. In turn, the project will investigate how their materiality helped to shape professional and public approaches to the design of the built environment. The multidisciplinary focus of the PHD will enable the student to make original and interesting contributions to current themes in academic and public arenas, such as the relationship between architecture and interior design and the significance of human-material interactions in systems of production.
The student will tailor the scope of the project by selecting categories of component firms to address and through the development of research questions within the wide scope of the project.
Recent studies have noted considerable growth in the number of building-related businesses c. 1850-1930, but little research has addressed component suppliers in this period. By addressing this acute gap, the project challenges the current argument that it was only by the late 1930s that component suppliers and subcontracting on scale became common phenomena, transforming London's building world. In turn, the work aims to significantly advance current understandings of how decorating and building practices worked as a whole, how such systems were negotiated and how they may have evolved over time.
Emerging competition between an increasing numbers of component firms likely stimulated the importance of public display as a key marketing tactic. Numerous component suppliers exhibited at the International Expositions in London and Paris, and received commissions for public building projects such as museums. By setting component suppliers against broader social, economic and cultural developments, the project seeks to critically assess the role larger historical trends played in fostering specialisation at this moment. This research will add to 19th c. British architectural history, as well as to urban history and the histories of standardisation, mass production and industrialisation, which have been predominantly investigated through the lens of the building firm.
Key questions the PHD aims to address include: From the perspective of component suppliers, how and why did the shift towards specialisation occur? What were the major advantages and disadvantages of specialising in pre-fabricated components? How did this differ between various component types? What impact did assembly methods have on the development, namely the design, technology and manufacture, of different components? How did component suppliers respond to and influence market forces, aesthetic trends and consumer practices?
Case-studies of individual firms will allow examination of these questions. The project offers a unique opportunity to mobilise and link under-explored sources from the V&A collections and archive. These will be combined with the analysis of other documentary sources (ledgers, contracts, plans, advertising material and newspapers) held in London archives.
The student will employ a range of methodologies from disciplines including economic geography, the history of technology and construction history, to map the genesis and commercial workings of component suppliers across the city and over time. Drawing on the tools of design history, material analysis of the museum's existent components and designs will shed light on the actors, processes and skills deployed in the making of individual components. In turn, the project will investigate how their materiality helped to shape professional and public approaches to the design of the built environment. The multidisciplinary focus of the PHD will enable the student to make original and interesting contributions to current themes in academic and public arenas, such as the relationship between architecture and interior design and the significance of human-material interactions in systems of production.
The student will tailor the scope of the project by selecting categories of component firms to address and through the development of research questions within the wide scope of the project.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Sarah Teasley (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Roxanne Ravenhill (Student) |