Architecture

Rooms 127 - 128a

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Discover the extensive collections of the V&A and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Together they form the world's most comprehensive architectural resource.

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Explore over 1 million drawings by major British architects from the 15th century to the present, including those by Sir Christopher Wren, Inigo Jones, J.B. Papworth, Pugin, Voysey and Lord Norman Foster – plus important foreign groups including the majority of the surviving Palladio drawings and drawings by Royal Gold Medallists that include Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe. There are also designs for interior decoration, textiles, furniture and other objects relating to interiors. The Manuscript and Archive collection contains papers by British architects from the 17th century and includes letters, diaries, project correspondence and building accounts. On display around the museum are magnificent large-scale architectural objects, including the eighteenth-century Norfolk House Music Room, part of the colonnade from the fort at Agra and casts of antique and medieval building details.

Exploring Architecture

Photo of Drawing of the bar for the London Gliding Club, Hugh Casson for the architect Christopher Nicholson, 1935. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Drawing of the bar for the London Gliding Club, Hugh Casson for the architect Christopher Nicholson, 1935. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Photo of Design for the entrance hall of a Marylebone flat, David Connor, 1985. Museum no. E.5-2007. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Design for the entrance hall of a Marylebone flat, David Connor, 1985. Museum no. E.5-2007. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Photo of Exterior view of the roof of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction, albumen print, 1856. Museum no. 34:966 CIS. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Exterior view of the roof of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction, albumen print, 1856. Museum no. 34:966 CIS. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Photo of Design for a coach house, Edwin Landseer Lutyens, 1891 – 2. Museum no. E.2-1991. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Design for a coach house, Edwin Landseer Lutyens, 1891 – 2. Museum no. E.2-1991. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Photo of Model of The Eden Project section through Biome, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw of Grimshaw Architects, model made by Andrew Ingham & Associates, United Kingdom, 2002. LOAN:GRIMSHAW.1-2003
Model of The Eden Project section through Biome, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw of Grimshaw Architects, model made by Andrew Ingham & Associates, United Kingdom, 2002. LOAN:GRIMSHAW.1-2003

Photo of Detail and working drawings for rebuilding and enlargement of 'The Library' East India House, London, Richard Jupp (ca.1728 – 1799), 1797 – 98, London. Museum no. D.1672-1898. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Detail and working drawings for rebuilding and enlargement of 'The Library' East India House, London, Richard Jupp (ca.1728 – 1799), 1797 – 98, London. Museum no. D.1672-1898. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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