Sign-In
Cart
John Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture
Hardcover
Series: Architectural History of the British Isles
Publisher Price: $59.99
ISBN13: 9781848227316
Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Published: Mar 2 2026
Pages: 272
Weight: 2.35
Height: 1.27 Width: 7.10 Depth: 10.09
Language: English
Sir John Vanbrugh was one of Britain's greatest architects and the designer of some of the most important and best beloved English country houses, including Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. This beautifully illustrated biography draws on close study of Vanbrugh's letters to bring to life his ideas, beliefs, friendships and buildings, as well as providing insight into his professional practice and working relationships. Vanbrugh was, by the standards of architects of the time, a worldly figure, friend and ally of the great, with a strong sense of the imaginative characteristics of architecture, its power of evocation, and the emotional impact of a building's massing, particularly when compared to the more disciplined and scholarly work of his contemporaries Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Charles Saumarez Smith paints a fascinating portrait of a man whose architecture was shaped by his personality. The book also explores Vanbrugh's activities as a playwright and theatre manager, his circle of friends, his place in 18th-century society, and, in a final section, his influence on later architects from Robert Adam to Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.
Also from
Saumarez Smith, Charles
Also in
Architecture History
The Power of Place: Rulers and Their Palaces, Landscapes, Cities, and Holy Places
Rollason, David
Hardcover
Rural Utopia and Water Urbanism: The Modern Village in Franco's Spain
LeJeune, Jean-François
Paperback
A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture
McAlester, Virginia Savage
Paperback
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks: Landscape Monuments of the Ancient Ohio Valley
Hancock, John E.
Hardcover
The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers
McKissack Daniel, Cheryl
Hardcover
The Golden Age of Normandale: An Illustrated Remembrance of Montgomery's Legendary Shopping Center
Moseley, Willie G.
Paperback
Frédéric Chaubin. Cccp. Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed. 45th Ed.
Chaubin, Frédéric
Hardcover
Men at Work: The Empire State Building and the Untold Story of the Craftsmen Who Built It
Kurtz, Glenn
Hardcover
The Divine Blueprint: Temples, power places, and the global plan to shape the human soul.
Silva, Freddy
Paperback
Nineteen Reservoirs: On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City
Sante, Lucy
Paperback
The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome
Morrissey, Jake
Paperback
Historic Homes of the Old West Side: The neighborhood at the heart of the planned city of Longview, Washington
Baxter a. I. a. Emeritus, Fred J.
Hardcover
The One World Tartarians (Black and White): The Greatest Civilization Ever Erased From History
Lee, James W.
Paperback
September 2026 Revision: What to see in Palm Springs - Sights, History & Stories
Stark, John
Paperback
Welcome to Paradox City: A Critical History of Dallas as Told Through Its Architecture
Lamster, Mark
Hardcover
Fausto & Felice Niccolini. Houses and Monuments of Pompeii. 45th Ed.
Schütze, Sebastian
Kockel, Valentin
Hardcover
Antifascist Architecture: A Genealogy of Antifascist Architects, Buildings, History, and Theory
Roche, Daniel Jonas
Santa Lucia, Andrew
Paperback
New York 2020: Architecture and Urbanism at the Beginning of a New Century
Stern, Robert A. M.
Fishman, David
Tilove, Jacob
Hardcover
The Stage of Time: Secrets of the Past, The Nature of Reality, and the Ancient Gods of History
LaCroix, Matthew R.
Paperback
The Sea Ranch, Revised: Fifty Years of Architecture, Landscape, Place, and Community on the Northern California Coast
Lyndon, Donlyn
Alinder, Jim
Hardcover
Broken Glass: Mies van der Rohe, Edith Farnsworth, and the Fight Over a Modernist Masterpiece
Beam, Alex
Paperback
Cathedrals: Masterpieces of Architecture, Feats of Engineering, Icons of Faith
Jenkins, Simon
Hardcover
The Great Miscalculation: The Race to Save New York City's Citicorp Tower
Greenburg, Michael M.
Hardcover
100 Turn-Of-The-Century Brick Bungalows with Floor Plans
Manson, Rogers &.
Rogers & Manson
Manson
Paperback
Restoring Notre-Dame de Paris: Rebirth of the Legendary Gothic Cathedral
de Chalus, Olivier
Zachmann, Patrick
Hardcover
A Year at Highclere: Secrets and Stories from the Real Downton Abbey
The Countess of Carnarvon
Hardcover
Barragán Outside Barragán: A Journey Through Books, Trips, Exhibitions and Friends
Barragan, Luis
Canales, Fernanda
Paperback
Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings -- Revised and Updated
Dupré, Judith
Hardcover
Historic Homes of the Old West Side: The neighborhood at the heart of the planned city of Longview, Washington
Baxter a. I. a. Emeritus, Fred J.
Paperback
Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles l'Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.
Berg, Scott W.
Paperback
The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers
McKissack Daniel, Cheryl
Paperback