Patrick Gwynne: The Homewood and Beyond
a talk by Neil Bingham
Tuesday 15th October, 7 - 9pm
at Conisbee, 1-5 Offord Street, London, N1 1DH
Please note that this is a different venue than usual for Docomomo events
Tickets can be purchased here.
Free tickets for members can be booked here. To become a member click here.
To celebrate his new biography on Patrick Gwynne, Neil Bingham will speak on this thoroughly modern architect’s life and work.
Patrick Gwynne (1913–2003) lived and worked at The Homewood, the large country villa that he designed for his family in Esher, Surrey in 1938. It is so fine a work of early modern architecture that it is now owned by the National Trust and open to the public.
Spanning a career of nearly sixty years, Gwynne maintained a small architectural practice to accommodate select, affluent and sometimes famous clients, like the actors Jack Hawkins and Lawrence Harvey. Although celebrated for his exuberant houses, he also created a selection of dynamic public buildings including the startling addition to the Theatre Royal, York, and the delicate sixteen-sided Dell Restaurant which floats like a waterlily at the tip of the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park.
Dr Neil Bingham is an architectural historian and former curator of architectural collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Royal Institute of British Architects. He has curated numerous exhibitions over the last forty years and is the author of books and articles on architecture and design, many concentrating on his speciality in the history of the architectural drawing. Some of these include 100 Years of Architectural Drawing: 1900–2000 (2013, 6 language editions), Masterworks: Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts (2011), The New Boutique: Fashion and Design (2005, 4 language editions), Modern Retro: Living with Mid-Century Style (2000, 8 language editions), Christopher Nicholson (1996) and C.A.Busby: The Regency Architect of Brighton & Hove (1991).
Books will be on sale for a reduced price. Also available will be a tea towel featuring all the wonderful house plans by Patrick Gwynne.