Modern Buildings London
Celebrate London's architecture as a fantastic mix of the old and the new, in constant flux through development, decay and renewal.
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Architecture
Plan a visitDiscover 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
Drawing of the bar for the London Gliding Club, Hugh Casson for the architect Christopher Nicholson, 1935. © 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
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.
Design for a coach house, Edwin Landseer Lutyens, 1891 – 2. Museum no. E.2-1991. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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
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
Learn more about Architecture
Architecture at the V&A
Discover the extensive collections of the V&A and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Building the Museum
The V&A's buildings are works of art in themselves. Each represents a chapter of the V&A's story and a moment in British design history
William Kent: designing Georgian Britain
The leading architect and designer of early Georgian Britain
Modernist architecture: the Bauhaus and beyond
From the 1920s, the teachings of the Bauhaus school inspired a new, experimental architecture
Robin Hood Gardens
Discover the history of Robin Hood Gardens – a defining example of Brutalist architecture and social housing, as a three-storey section is acquired by the V&A
Architects and their sketchbooks
Architects sketchbooks provide freedom. They are a personal record of thoughts, observations, problems and memories
Design for a vaulted ceiling by Vincenzo Brenna
Find out about Architect Vincenzo Brenna's elegant hand drawn designs for Emperor Nero's Roman palace
About the Elytra Filament Pavilion
The pavilion explored the impact of emerging robotic technologies on architectural design, engineering and making
Engineers in focus
Computers and the Sydney Opera House
Discover how the groundbreaking use of computers helped realise a feat of structural engineering
Engineering the Penguin Pool at London Zoo
A shelter for penguins, an aquatic sculpture, and an impressive feat of engineering
Inside an ocean liner: the 'Aquitania'
Take a fascinating tour of the Aquitania's interior – from promenade deck to boiler room – with our interactive
