The Architects Who Made London with Maxwell Hutchinson

What were the influences, inspirations and ambitions of the minds which created the London we see today?

Answers for that question were sought over the course of the four series of entertaining and informative lectures that formed 'The Architects Who Made London'. Each lecture saw architect, broadcaster and former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Maxwell Hutchinson (right) engage a notable scholar – an expert in their field – in a lively discussion about the life, personality and work of an architect whose legacy – both built and imagined – has helped shape the London of today. A broad range of architects were examined: from the seventeenth century right up to the late twentieth century, working in many different styles and on a variety of building types.

Series 1

The first lecture series, held in Spring 2007, looked at the careers, personalities and impact on the London’s architecture of a selection of key architects from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, Robert Adam, John Nash, Sir Charles Barry RA and Sir George Gilbert Scott RA. Read more

Series 2

Spring 2008 saw the second instalment of this popular lecture series consider the period from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, discussing the contributions of Sir Aston Webb PRA, Richard Norman Shaw RA, Sir Edwin Lutyens PRA, Charles Holden, Tecton and Berthold Lubetkin RA and London County Council (LCC). Read more

Series 3

In Spring 2009 the third series examined the lives, personalities and work of Erno Goldfinger RA, Richard Seifert, Sir Denys Lasdun RA, Powell and Moya, Alison and Peter Smithson and Chamberlin Powell and Bon – key figures from the twentieth century, whose buildings – loved and loathed – neglected or venerated – contribute to the London we see today. Read more

Revisited

Autumn 2009 saw the lecture series revisit earlier episodes in the story of ‘The Architects Who Made London’. Two lectures and two walking tours examined the fascinating, though notably different, contributions to London's urban fabric of Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir William Chambers RA. Read more

• Royal Academy of Arts