Bloomsbury Shaping World Architecture: Banister Fletcher and the Emergence of Global Architectural History

Shaping World Architecture examines Sir Banister Fletcher’s A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method and 120 years of reactions to this classic book. From Victorian England and the British Empire, through two World Wars and into 20th century postcolonial landscapes, it shows how ‘Banister Fletcher’ can be used as a lens to explore the mechanisms of architectural history, global knowledge exchange, and the emergence of regional architectural histories. This is a book about the translation of architectural ideas in a global context and how generations of historians and architects responded to Fletcher’s analyses, as much as it is about Banister Fletcher’s book itself. Featuring new archival research and intriguing anecdotes, it probes the dissemination of the multiple editions ‘Banister Fletcher’ worldwide. It demonstrates how early editions of the book created a two-way transfer of knowledge between Fletcher and his readers in Asia, North America, and Europe, and how their invigorated search for new forms of architectural evolution charted a significant milestone in the development of regional histories of architecture. Carefully balancing responses to ‘Banister Fletcher’ – both favourable and fiercely critical – this book offers a re-reading of a classic text that is still read worldwide today, and provides insights for students into interpreting key texts of architectural history. Shaping World Architecture is valuable for all scholars and researchers interested in the history and historiography of world architecture, and in the methodologies of architectural history.