The Wessex Project: Thomas Hardy, Architect

Product Description

Thomas Hardy's architectural career is not considered a success Seen usually as a mere prelude to his literary output it is most often summed up by reference to the 'shockingly' suburban home he built himself at Max Gate But in this new work Professor Kester Rattenbury argues the opposite that far from being incidental Hardy's architectural thinking is integral to a full understanding of his life's work This is the first time Hardy's life & legacy have been studied by a fellow architectural writer & critic Reconstructed from the wealth of little-known drawings photographs experimental illustrations & modest built work he produced or oversaw & an architecturally-biased re-reading of his novels this book sets out a startling new vision of Thomas Hardy's work & how it has shaped England in fact & fiction The Wessex Project exposes the architectural thinking & invention underlying Hardy's novels It shows how his famous imaginary realm Wessex can be seen as a forerunner of the experimental architectural projects of our own times
- in which architects weave together design description polemic & images of both real & imagined spaces to form highly developed & challenging unbuilt projects published in books designed to change the way we see the world The book makes a compelling case for listing Hardy among the greatest of all conceptual architects as well as recognising him as one of the most influential & active conservationists & architectural critics of all time This radical new perspective gives Hardy's many readers a chance at last to see Wessex as the author himself constructed it through architectural eyes