Session theme: Appearances and meanings of buildings in the Victorian City

Session information: The session provides an opportunity to examine the principles, ideals and customs that governed the public building of Victorian cities. Affording the chance to consider the influences upon the built environment during a time when a greater control of the urban setting was exercised by public authority, papers might consider such matters as the evolution of the system of local government, municipal aspirations, modern design and regional aesthetic cultures, environmental law, philanthropy, and imperial sentiments. Endeavouring therefore to investigate the extent, features and value of civic aesthetic culture within English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh urban settlements, and moreover those overseas within the colonial milieu where applicable, the session is intended to explicate what the civic design face of the Victorian city meant in terms of both its theory and practice during an era when the greater and more rational control of the urban environment unfolded and much public building occurred. In such a context the abstract meaning and the concrete form of Victorian cities shall be appraised, in so doing enriching existing discourse on the symbolic and physical appearance of urban environments, their art, culture, and connotations.

Please send 500-word abstract to Dr Ian Morley as soon as possible (ideally by April 7, 2008).

All proposals not accepted for this session will automatically be considered for inclusion in the NAVSA conference’s Open Panels. Thank you.