Philip Webb: Pioneer of Arts & Crafts Architecture

Abstract Arts and Crafts architecture has reached an important turning point in its reassessment. The ‘International Arts and Crafts’ exhibition opens at the V&A in London from 17 March to 24 July 2005 (before travelling on to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in autumn this year, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco in spring 2006). Coinciding with this is Wiley‐Academy's publication of the first definitive monograph of leading Arts and Crafts architect Philip Webb (1831–1915). This long‐awaited book, by architectural historian Sheila Kirk, includes specially commissioned photography by Martin Charles. Interweaving biography with evocative descriptions of all of Webb's seminal buildings, Kirk perceptively breathes life into one of the quietest members of William Morris's circle, and provides a new understanding of the buildings of a man who offered strong principles and firm guidelines yet at the same time allowing ample freedom of design. Here, she describes the relevance of Webb's national vernacular approach for architecture today. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.