Alfred Waterhouse and the Natural History Museum

by Mark Girouard

Recounts the circumstances surrounding the planning and design of a building for London's Natural History Museum, and examines how political and architectural difficulties were overcome

Genres: History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 1981

About the author

Mark Girouard FSA was a British architectural historian who was an authority on the country house, and Elizabethan and Victorian architecture.

Reviews

[Jaq Greenspon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but really needs an update. The style of writing could be much more dramatic and engaging. As it is, there’s a lot of information but not a lot of context.

[Edoardo Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated overview of the men responsible for building the Natural History Museum (chiefly Richard Owen, the first curator, and Alfred Waterhouse, architect) and the process of building it. The text can be read in an hour or two, but Waterhouse's sketches and watercolours - he originally wanted to be an artist before becoming an architect - are worth lingering over.