Product Description

This long-awaited book is the first to focus solely on the brilliant but often neglected interiors and furniture of the great British architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944).

Lutyens's lifelong creative partnership with landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll spurred the revival of the English country garden, and his designs-rooted in the English Arts and Crafts movement but inspired by Classicism-remain popular today for their clean lines, angles, and contrasts. Published with the cooperation of the Lutyens family, and illustrated with specially commissioned and archival photographs of intact or restored interiors and gardens, original furniture designs, and contemporary reinterpretations of the Lutyens style, the book provides fresh insight into a design genius whose masterful synthesis of function and artistry has enduring relevance and appeal.

ELIZABETH WILHIDE was born in the United States and has lived in England since the late 1960s. She is a leading expert on interior design who has written, co-authored, or contributed to dozens of books on the subject, including Abrams' William Morris: Decor & Design.

CANDIA LUTYENS, who has contributed the foreword, is the great-niece of Sir Edwin Lutyens. She lives in England.

116 illustrations, 90 in full color, 9 x 10"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1119316 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From Booklist
An English architect gets the due he deserves with a thoughtful pictorial perspective of his life and works. Sir Edwin Lutyens' particular brand of "Wrennaissance"--a mix of simple arts and crafts with classicism--is well documented by Wilhide, author of William Morris: Decor and Design (1991). Few know, for instance, that Lutyens partnered with painter-turned-landscape artist Gertrude Jekyll to create some of the most harmonious homesteads in the English and foreign countryside, nor that this once-invalid child who opened a business at age 20 reveled in designing interiors and furnishings that bespoke his "building with wit." The British Embassy in Washington, D.C., London's Cenotaph war memorial, and Lutyen's tribute to English imperialism in New Delhi, India--all of which contrasted to his tumultuous personal life--stamps this architect as a true genius. Select bibliography, useful addresses, and places to visit are appended. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Excellent photographs and a strong emphasis on interiors and furniture make Wilhide's book a worthy addition to the popular literature on England's 'Architect Laureate'.

In this absorbing account, the author outlines the life and work of Edwin Lutyens, one of England's most distinguished architects. During the course of a career which spanned the later years of the 19th Century and continued until the middle of the 20th Century Lutyens undertook over 500 projects designing and renovating buildings.Born in 1869, he showed an early interest in the construction of buildings and set up his own architectural practice in 1888. He embraced the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement and collaborated with the garden designer Gertrude Jekyll over a long period.Lutyens became a leading architect of the Edwardian era, reconciling the picturesque with the classical style in the spacious country houses he built for affluent clients. After commissions to design the British Pavillions in Paris and Rome in the early 1900's, Lutyens became involved in the planning and building of New Delhi, notably the Viceroy's House. This was a major, long-term project and included the design of almost all the furniture and fittings.Every aspect of decor and furnishings would be carefully considered, from staircases, floors and fireplaces to light fittings, door handles and latches. These features are amply illustrated in the excellent photographs and sketches. This informative book places Lutyen's formidable achievemnts in historical and cultural context while serving to further his reputation.In this attractive volume the main focus is on Lutyen's interiors, where he cleverly exploited qualities of light and made innovative use of colour. He achieved an effect of elegance and simplicity while catering for the need to incorporate modern comforts. Every aspect of decor and furnishings would be carefully considered, from staircases, floors and fireplaces to light fittings, door handles and latches. These features are amply illustrated in the excellent photographs and sketches. This informative book places Lutyen's formidable achievements in historical and cultural context while serving to further his reputation. (Kirkus UK)

About the Author
Elizabeth Wilhide was born in the United States and has lived in England since the late 1960s. She is a leading expert on interior design and has written numerous books for Pavilion on the subject, including Creating Space, The Mackintosh Style and William Morris: Decor and Design.

Customer Reviews

Lutyens houses come alive
Although this book was published in 2000, I was surprised to find no customer had yet reviewed it. It is a little different from other books on the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens.
First of all, most of the photographs are in color, bringing the subjects to life in a way that was not possible in previous books, many of them relying largely on old photographs from Country Life magazine. Thus we get a much more real feeling of those classic Lutyen houses, nestling into their incredible English gardens (largely designed by Gertrude Jekyll) and see how the design is carried on through to the interiors. All the favorite Lutyens houses are there - Goddards, Orchards, Little Thakeham, Munstead Wood, Deanery Garden, Marsh Court and more.
Another difference in this book is that it deals not only with the architecture but also with the design of the interiors, the architectural fixtures and accessories and the furniture, which in themselves are amazing - they bow to tradition, yet look to the future - and many have been borrowed by more than one modern designer.
This book is well worth consideration.