Brick: The Forgotten Material

Brick: The Forgotten Material

James Campbell, Cambridge.

Architecture viii
Studio Tom Emerson
9 April 2013, hil e4, 8–10am

Dr James Campbell is an architect and architectural historian. He has practised as an architect in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the United States. He and Frank Salmon together formed the MSt in Building History, a course in the Faculty run jointly with English Heritage.

His research focuses on three areas: the development of building construction;

17th c. architecture (particularly Wren and Hawksmoor); and the history and development of libraries. His PhD looked at the work of Wren and seventeenth-century carpentry. His first book, Brick: a World History (2003), was featured as Guardian ‘book of the week’ and is available in eight languages. His book Building St Paul’s (2007) provides an introduction to the key issues in seventeenth century architecture and building construction through a retelling of the story of the building of the cathedral. He is currently working on a book on the history of libraries, to be published by Thames and Hudson and editing a book on staircases to be published by Donhead.