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Shells and Architecture

Wigzell, Freya; (2020) Shells and Architecture. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Mollusc shells have been present in Western architecture since Antiquity, whether as a readily available natural resource, as decoration, as symbols, as metaphors, or as sources of inspiration. In twentieth century architecture, they are present, but little acknowledged. The thesis is a historical enquiry into the various ways that shells have operated within twentieth century architecture, and into the possible reasons for their occlusion from most accounts. No precedent for such a study exists, and the thesis provides an overview, which while not comprehensive, is more complete than any existing. A wide range of twentieth century buildings in Europe and North America within which shells appear, in one way or another, are examined, and the use of shells is considered in relation to the written and spoken record of architects, critics and thinkers of many descriptions, to throw light on both these presences and absences. Among thinkers, particular attention is paid to the French writer Paul Valéry, not simply because of his possible influence upon Le Corbusier, but also for the force and resonance of his 1936 essay ‘L’homme et la coquille’ for the topic as a whole. The study of shells in architecture presents a difficulty in that, to an extent greater than with any other architectural element, shells are simultaneously both things and ideas. To detach the two would be to lose sight of the particularity of shells. The thesis adopts a structure intended, so far as is possible, to avoid such a separation. Five shell features – encrustation, subaquatic, rubbish, spirals, and exoskeleton – are taken as traits through which to examine the dual occurrences of shells within twentieth century architecture as both things and ideas. Included is an exploration of mollusc shells as metaphors, incorporating one of the principal structural innovations of the twentieth century, so-called ‘shell structures’.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: Ph.D
Title: Shells and Architecture
Event: UCL
Language: English
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10109643
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