Teaching craft skills in the building trades: the Museum of Construction and Building Materials and its legacies
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: History Faculty
Abstract
The project explores the relationships between museums, education and the building trades in 19th-century London. It focuses on the Museum of Construction and Building Materials (MCBM), founded in 1859, directed by Francis Fowke and overseen by the Department of Science and Art. The MCBM was one of the precursors of the V&A, and its collection included raw materials, products, models and designs; many objects were incorporated into the V&A buildings. The museum had close links with the construction industry and its displays were intended for an audience of artisans and students. Following its dissolution in 1888, parts of the collection remained in the V&A.
The initial aim is to compile a catalogue of extant objects from the MCBM. Examples survive in the V&A sculpture department, such as a group of architectural models accessioned as untraced finds in 1973 (A.10 to 15-1973). Other objects from the MCBM are now in the ceramics collection, including a mosaic panel of Pluto and Proserpine, accessioned as an untraced find in 1923 (C.94 & 95-1923). The catalogue will underpin an analysis of the MCBM's practices of collecting and display.
The role of object-based learning in the building trades is a central area of focus. The research will explore the nature of the MCBM's audience and draw links between the museum and the training in construction offered by London art and design schools. These included Camberwell College of Arts & Crafts, Battersea Polytechnic and Hammersmith College of Art & Building, which taught subjects including masonry, plumbing and plastering, as well as architecture and construction engineering. Students worked towards examinations set by the Department of Science and Art. This aspect of the project relates to current interest in making as a form of knowledge, among architects such as Juhani Pallasmaa and Peter Zumthor as well as academics like Glenn Adamson.
Previous histories of the V&A focus primarily on elements of the museum that survive into the present. Major surveys range from John Physick's 1982 history of the museum to Julius Bryant's 2017 analysis of its design. Several key objects from the MCBM which were incorporated into the V&A buildings are identified in these works. This research will build on the existing histories by identifying objects whose original connection to the MCBM has been lost.
A smaller body of literature explores alternative approaches to the history of South Kensington, including Dale Dishon's work on the 1862 exhibition and Bruce Robertson's exploration of the institutional history of the South Kensington museums. Robertson critiques the teleological structure of histories which treat the emergence of a unified museum of art and design as an inevitability; he emphasises the diversity of institutions occupying the site in the 1850s-80s. Dishon demonstrates the significance of the 1862 exhibition in terms of design and building technology. This project shares their focus on the overlap between the arts and sciences in the early stages of development at South Kensington.
There is also a growing historical interest in the relationship between museums and the development of new academic disciplines in the Victorian period. This includes ongoing research into the materiality of the Oxford Museum of Natural History and the emergence of the sciences at Oxford, and a project at Leeds looking at museum collections, academic teaching and the new discipline of geology in the 19th century. The project will contribute to this emerging field by exploring the role of museums in technical education.
By exploring how the collections, displays and audiences interacted, and how they related to more formal education in the building trades, the project will create a holistic picture of the MCBM's role in teaching and learning. This will be based on a combination of archival and object-based study.
The initial aim is to compile a catalogue of extant objects from the MCBM. Examples survive in the V&A sculpture department, such as a group of architectural models accessioned as untraced finds in 1973 (A.10 to 15-1973). Other objects from the MCBM are now in the ceramics collection, including a mosaic panel of Pluto and Proserpine, accessioned as an untraced find in 1923 (C.94 & 95-1923). The catalogue will underpin an analysis of the MCBM's practices of collecting and display.
The role of object-based learning in the building trades is a central area of focus. The research will explore the nature of the MCBM's audience and draw links between the museum and the training in construction offered by London art and design schools. These included Camberwell College of Arts & Crafts, Battersea Polytechnic and Hammersmith College of Art & Building, which taught subjects including masonry, plumbing and plastering, as well as architecture and construction engineering. Students worked towards examinations set by the Department of Science and Art. This aspect of the project relates to current interest in making as a form of knowledge, among architects such as Juhani Pallasmaa and Peter Zumthor as well as academics like Glenn Adamson.
Previous histories of the V&A focus primarily on elements of the museum that survive into the present. Major surveys range from John Physick's 1982 history of the museum to Julius Bryant's 2017 analysis of its design. Several key objects from the MCBM which were incorporated into the V&A buildings are identified in these works. This research will build on the existing histories by identifying objects whose original connection to the MCBM has been lost.
A smaller body of literature explores alternative approaches to the history of South Kensington, including Dale Dishon's work on the 1862 exhibition and Bruce Robertson's exploration of the institutional history of the South Kensington museums. Robertson critiques the teleological structure of histories which treat the emergence of a unified museum of art and design as an inevitability; he emphasises the diversity of institutions occupying the site in the 1850s-80s. Dishon demonstrates the significance of the 1862 exhibition in terms of design and building technology. This project shares their focus on the overlap between the arts and sciences in the early stages of development at South Kensington.
There is also a growing historical interest in the relationship between museums and the development of new academic disciplines in the Victorian period. This includes ongoing research into the materiality of the Oxford Museum of Natural History and the emergence of the sciences at Oxford, and a project at Leeds looking at museum collections, academic teaching and the new discipline of geology in the 19th century. The project will contribute to this emerging field by exploring the role of museums in technical education.
By exploring how the collections, displays and audiences interacted, and how they related to more formal education in the building trades, the project will create a holistic picture of the MCBM's role in teaching and learning. This will be based on a combination of archival and object-based study.
People |
ORCID iD |
| William Whyte (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Lily Crowther (Student) |