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Victoria and Albert Museum

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Architectural Design

Architectural Design

In partnership with RIBA, the V&A holds a large collection of two- and three-dimensional architectural designs. These sketchbooks and models provide an insight into centuries of architectural innovation.

Architects and Their Sketchbooks
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Architects and Their Sketchbooks

Drawing in a sketchbook, said Le Corbusier, teaches 'first to look, and then to observe and finally perhaps to discover … and it is then that inspiration might come'.
Architectural Models in the V&A and RIBA Collections
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Architectural Models in the V&A and RIBA Collections

Ranging from ancient China and medieval India to early 19th century Italy and contemporary London, this is a selection of models drawn from the collections of the V&A and RIBA.
Designs by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, 1726–31
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Designs by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, 1726–31

These lavish and imposing designs by Meissonnier for the Palace and Church of the Order of the Holy Spirit in Paris was intended for the Quai des Augustins but was never executed. They were created in 1726-31, just before the emergence of the mid- 18th century mania for town planning that stemmed from the contest for the creation of the new 'Place Louis XV' in Paris.
Design for a Vaulted Ceiling, by Vincenzo Brenna, about 1775
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Design for a Vaulted Ceiling, by Vincenzo Brenna, about 1775

This highly finished and elegantly drawn design was executed by the Italian architect, interior decorator and decorative painter Vincenzo Brenna (1745-1820) around 1776. It represents the vault of the Eagle Room of the Domus Aurea, the Roman palace built by Emperor Nero shortly after the great fire of Rome in AD 64.
The Modern Shop: Architecture & Shopping between the Wars
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The Modern Shop: Architecture & Shopping between the Wars

In the 1920s and 1930s architects produced a number of striking shop designs in Britain. Influenced by the 1925 Paris Exhibition and other Continental examples, many shops and chain stores rebuilt their premises, or at least modernised their façades. Architects became interested in shop design, using marble, neon and chrome, and critics praised the way in which the Modern Movement revitalised this sphere of design. Many of these innovative interiors and façades are now sadly gone.
Designs for Prefabricated House Fronts, by Berthold Lubetkin, 1949
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Designs for Prefabricated House Fronts, by Berthold Lubetkin, 1949

Modernist architect Berthold Lubetkin created these theoretical designs for the 100 Houses Scheme, Thorntree Gill Housing, Peterlee, County Durham, drawing by Peter Yates, to show how different facades could transform a basic prefabricated house. Lubetkin's ideas range from the everyday to the absurd, but they effecitvely demonstrate how easily identical frameworks can be transformed. 
Designs for the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, by Mies van der Rohe, 1968
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Designs for the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, by Mies van der Rohe, 1968

These recent acquisitions are the first examples of architectural work by Mies van der Rohe to enter the V&A's collections. Representing a seminal project by one of the foremost architects of the 20th century, these prints plug a crucial gap in the Word & Image Department's extensive collection of architectural prints and drawings.
Design for an Entrance Hall by David Connor, 1985
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Design for an Entrance Hall by David Connor, 1985

This design by David Connor for the entrance hall of a Marylebone flat is part of a larger body of early work based around a small group of influential London punks.
Archigram: The Walking City, Living Pod and the Instant City
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Archigram: The Walking City, Living Pod and the Instant City

This panel was created by the radical collective, Archigram (from ARCHItecture and teleGRAM) and uses collage to showcase 3 experimental British architectural design of the 1960s. They include Walking City, a peripatetic giant reptilian structure, Living Pod a minature capsule home and Instant City, an airship containing all the cultural and education resources of a metropolis which could land in remote areas giving inhabitants a taste of city life.
Video: A Virtual Tour of the Phaeno Science Center

Video: A Virtual Tour of the Phaeno Science Center

Take a Virtual Tour of the Phaeno Science Center, Germany. This innovative concrete structure was completed in 2005. The fly-through animation takes us around the structure using the architects actual computer model. Fly-through animations like this one are used to present designs to clients and test how the building will eventually look.
Arup Associates Campus Model
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Arup Associates Campus Model

Declan O'Carroll and Alan Belfield talk about the Arup Associates Campus project
Contemporary Architecture Videos
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Contemporary Architecture Videos

Seven short films commissioned by the V&A which look at the architects featured in the 2010 Small Spaces exhibition and their projects.
Architecture Audios
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Architecture Audios

Listen to three audioclips discussing the architecture of Bluewater Shopping Centre, Sotckley Park Office Complex and a traditional Japanese house.
Archives of Sir Hugh Casson and Margaret Macdonald Casson
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Archives of Sir Hugh Casson and Margaret Macdonald Casson

The archives of Sir Hugh Casson (1910–1999) and Margaret Macdonald Casson (1913–1999) are important additions to the Museum’s collection of papers of twentieth-century British designers. The archives, which were generously donated by the Casson’s daughters, contain a wealth of material relating to their careers as architects and designers.
Architects’ Sketchbooks: Resource Guide
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Architects’ Sketchbooks: Resource Guide

This guide explains where to find architects' sketchbooks across the collections of the V&A+RIBA Architecture Partnership. It also gives some description of the kind of sketchbooks you can find.
Architects' Models
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Architects' Models

This guide explains where to find out about architects' models within the collections of the V&A+RIBA Architecture Partnership.
Architecture

Architecture

In 2004 RIBA and the V&A opened the first museum gallery in the country dedicated to architecture in the UK. It provides an accessible and engaging introduction to the art, use and practice of architecture. On display are models, drawings and designs, and samples of materials, as well as photographs and fragments of buildings.
Architecture Gallery

Architecture Gallery

This is the subject hub for Architecture Gallery

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