Hewas knighted in 1919 and elected president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1929 (until 1931). Fletcher was surveyor to the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, and became Master in 1936, a position also held by his father.
Banister Fletcher and his father wrote the first edition of A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, published in 1896. This became a standard reference work, with updated editions published throughout the 20th century.
There was a major revision with the 6th edition in 1921, when much of the text was rewritten by Fletcher and his first wife. This was over twenty years after his father's death, and for this edition his father's name was dropped, and the very numerous drawings replaced by new ones by George G. Woodward and others.[1] According to J. Mordaunt Crook this edition concentrated 'on supplying an epitomised history of world architecture' such that 'Fletcher turned a useful handbook into a veritable student's bible.' Fletcher produced the sixteenth edition shortly before his death in 1953.[5]
The 21st edition was published in 2019, edited by Murray Fraser and Catherine Gregg, under the sponsorship of the RIBA. Retitled as Sir Banister Fletcher's Global History of Architecture, it aims to correct the historical western centric imbalance of the content, which has been tackled by earlier editions, but not eradicated. The RIBA claims that the expanded edition, written by 88 experts from around the world, represents the most comprehensive survey of global architecture to date.[6]
Banister Fletcher's "The Tree of Architecture" is a schematic diagram detailing what Fletcher identified as the "branches" of architectural style beginning with five periods (Peruvian, Egyptian, Greek, Assyrian, and Chinese and Japanese) and culminating in the Modern American style. Initially published as a frontispiece in the first edition of Fletcher's A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the Student, Craftsman, and Amateur in 1896, the schematic was reproduced in each subsequent edition of the publication. Fletcher suggests a cross-cultural and historical evolution of architectural styles through a series of successive branches, some of which terminate prior to the Modern period including Mexican and Indian, while other lineages can be traced through multiple generations into the final apex of Modern style. Recent scholarship has been critical of Fletcher's hierarchical emphasis on the primacy of Western European architectural traditions.[7]
A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method is a book about history of architecture by Banister Flight Fletcher and his father, Banister Fletcher, published in London in 1896. The book became a standard reference work, with updated editions published throughout the 20th century. The latest, 21st edition, was published in 2019.
The first edition was steeped in late-Victorian myths of empire. It covered nothing outside Europe and the (ancient) Middle East. The 4th edition (1901) added some other architectural traditions under the dismissive title of "The Non-Historical Styles". Non-Western architecture was likewise caricatured as the stunted lower branches on the "Tree of Architecture" included in the 5th and 6th editions (1905 and 1921). This attitude was partially tackled by later General Editors, and a centenary 20th edition was published in 1996 under Dan Cruickshank, yet their good intentions did little to resolve the fundamental problem. A fully post-colonial reworking planned by John McKean in the mid-2000s never happened, and post-colonialism itself has since been absorbed into broader concepts of globalisation.[1]
There was a major revision with the 6th edition in 1921, when much of the text was rewritten by Banister Flight Fletcher and his first wife. This was over twenty years after his father's death, and for this edition, his father's name was dropped, and the numerous drawings were replaced by new ones by George G. Woodward and others. According to J. Mordaunt Crook, this edition concentrated "on supplying an epitomised history of world architecture" such that "Fletcher turned a useful handbook into a veritable student's bible". Fletcher produced the sixteenth edition shortly before his death in 1953.[2]
The 21st edition was published in 2019, edited by Murray Fraser and Catherine Gregg, under the sponsorship of the RIBA. Retitled as Sir Banister Fletcher's Global History of Architecture, it aims to correct the historical western-centric imbalance of the content, which has been tackled by earlier editions, but not eradicated. The RIBA claims that the expanded edition, written by 88 experts from around the world, represents the most comprehensive survey of global architecture to date.[4] In a review of the new edition, Preeti Chopra writes that "Banister Fletcher's Global History uses as its starting point 3500 BCE, commonly accepted as the beginning of the 'urban revolution', and concludes with the present day. A neutral framework divides the volumes into seven parts covering sequential and broad periods that unfold in linear time without focusing on particular historical events or favouring particular regions. ... Acknowledging that this edition bears only some 'traces' of the original works, Fraser defends the use of Sir Banister Fletcher's name in the title by affirming that 'just as no man is an island, nothing stands anew'."[5]
A History of Architecture is the first major work of history to include an overview of the architectural achievements of the 20th Century. Banister Fletcher has been the standard one volume architectural history for over 100 years and continues to give a concise and factual account of world architecture from the earliest times. In this twentieth and centenary edition, edited by Dan Cruickshank with three consultant editors and fourteen new contributors, chapters have been recast and expanded and a third of the text is new. There are new chapters on the twentieth-century architecture of the Middle East (including Israel), South-east Asia, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, the Indian subcontinent, Russia and the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The book's scope has been widened to include more architecture from non European countries and coverage of pre twentieth century architecture now includes 6 chapters on Islam.
For the first time in Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture the architecture of the20th century is considered as a whole and assessed in a historical perspective. There is more information on vernacular buildings and engineered structures as well as many new plans and sections. This unique reference book places buildings in their social, cultural and historical settings to describe the main patterns of architectural development, from Prehistoric to the International Style. Again in the words of Sir Banister Fletcher, this book shows that 'Architecture ... provides a key to the habits, thoughts and aspirations of the people, and without a knowledge of this art the history of any period lacks that human interest with which it should be invested.' Winner of the International Architecture Book Award, The American Institute of Architects Book of the Century. THE source book for the historical development of architecture. Publisher's description.
Since its first edition in 1896, Banister Fletcher has been essential reading for generations of architects and students. The new edition is the most authoritative and up-to-date account of the history of world architecture. It features a full re-write by over 80 experts, reflecting significant shifts in perspective over the 30 years since the book was last published providing a truly global view of architecture history. It is the first edition to be in full colour, fully global in its coverage, and now available online for the first time as part of the Bloomsbury Architecture Library.
Murray Fraser is Professor of Architecture and Global Culture at The Bartlett School of Architecture, where he teaches on five undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In 2018 he was awarded the RIBA Annie Spink Award for Excellence in Education.
The 20th edition of Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture is the first major work of history to include an overview of the architectural achievements of the 20th Century. Banister Fletcher has been the standard one volume architectural history for over 100 years and continues to give a concise and factual account of world architecture from the earliest times. In this twentieth and centenary edition, edited by Dan Cruickshank with three consultant editors and fourteen new contributors, chapters have been recast and expanded and a third of the text is new. * There are new chapters on the twentieth-century architecture of the Middle East (including Israel), South-east Asia, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, the Indian subcontinent, Russia and the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Latin America. * The chapter on traditional architecture of India has been rewritten and the section on traditional Chinese architecture has been expanded, both with new specially commissioned drawings* The architecture of the Americas before 1900 has been enlarged to include, for the first time, detailed coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean* The book's scope has been widened to include more architecture from outside Europe* The bibliography has been expanded into a separate section and is a key source of information on every period of world architecture* The coverage of the 20th century architecture of North America has been divided into two chapters to allow fuller coverage of contemporary works* 20th century architecture of Western Europe has been radically recast* For the first time the architecture of the twentieth century is considered as a whole and assessed in an historical perspective* Coverage has been extended to include buildings completed during the last ten years* The coverage of Islamic architecture has been increased and re-organised to form a self contained sectionThis unique reference book places buildings in their social, cultural and historical settings to describe the main patterns of architectural development, from Prehistoric to the International Style. Again in the words of Sir Banister Fletcher, this book shows that 'Architecture ... provides a key to the habits, thoughts and aspirations of the people, and without a knowledge of this art the history of any period lacks that human interest with which it should be invested.'
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