A Pyramid for Primrose Hill? - How and Why Ancient Egypt has influenced the architecture of London
UDG Members and Students £5, Non-Members £8.
Includes refreshments
Summary
Richard Ling, Egyptologist, explores the enduring influence of Ancient Egyptian architecture on London’s urban landscape across three distinct waves of popularity.
The First Wave: Funerary Architecture
Following Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt and the publication of The Description of Egypt, a fascination with Egyptian motifs emerged in the 19th century. This was most visible in the development of London’s garden cemeteries, such as Abney Park and Highgate. Architects incorporated features like cavetto cornices, winged sun disks, and papyrus-style columns into funerary monuments, even when mixing them with traditional Victorian, Gothic, or Classical elements.
The Second Wave: Art Deco and Modernity
In the 1920s, the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb sparked a new wave of 'Egyptomania.' During this period, architects applied Egyptian stylistic elements to modern commercial buildings, including the Carreras Cigarette Factory and the Carlton Cinema. These structures utilized vibrant colors, inspired by Owen Jones’s The Grammar of Ornament, and served as innovative, eye-catching designs for buildings that lacked traditional historical architectural precedents.
The Third Wave: Postmodernism and Beyond
In more recent decades, postmodern architecture has occasionally integrated Egyptian motifs as decorative or conceptual flourishes. Buildings like the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, the Four Seasons Hotel in Docklands, and the former Homebase in Kensington have all experimented with these ancient forms. The presentation concludes by noting the irony of how these symbols—ranging from sacred Egyptian gods to poetic references—have been adapted to suit contemporary tastes, sometimes with a touch of modern humour or irony.
Reflections - Why do styles become popular?
Something makes the style visible - or easily discovered
Painters in the 19th century enabled the style to be discovered by Europe. Popularisation came through the discovery of Tutenkhamun's tomb in the 1920s, and the subsequent global Tutenkhamun tour in the 1980s.
There needs to be an opportunity to use the style
In the case of cinemas in the 1920s, they were new, there was no pre-ordained style, so why not make them distinctive by creating them in the Egyptian style?
Sometimes people are seeking exclusivity - adopting an Egyptian style for funerary monuments, or for a cigarrette factory would be a way of creating an identity.
in the case of the Post Modernist buildings, the theme was electic: drawing from different styles, and Egyptian was viable option.
Human civilizations have borrowed architectural styles for millennia—drawing inspiration from ancient Greece, Rome, and the Middle East, to name just a few. These historic influences can be profound and wide-ranging, but we rarely go beneath the surface to examine why and how styles are copied. This lecture explores the lasting impact of ancient Egyptian architecture in London.
- Learn how to recognise Egyptian architectural style in buildings and public art, ranging from domestic architecture through to hotels, cinemas, factories, pumping stations, and the extension of the National Gallery, along with the Art Deco movement.
- Learn the extraordinary history of how Egyptian architecture came to be seen in the streets of London and how it came to be fashionable.
- Discuss when and why a style gets adopted, and when and why is it abandoned.
- Debate what is influencing architecture and urban design today.
Lecturer: Richard Lunn
Host: Robert Huxford, Strategic Director, Urban Design Group
