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The Architecture of William Burn: Style and Identity in Scotland's Imperial Age

Project description

Building on Burn’s Scottish architectural identity

William Burn (1789-1870) was amongst the foremost Scottish architects of the early to mid-19th century. His major achievement was the formulation of a pro-Scottish architectural identity that was simultaneously accepted as pro-establishment and British. Considering the resurgence of nationalist politics in recent years, Burn’s work is of special contemporary relevance. In this context, the EU-funded BURN-BEYOND project will explore debates over architectural style and national identity in Britain and beyond, and show (through Burn’s work) that the Scots foreshadowed the later 19th-century quest to establish political or cultural difference through national or pseudo-national architectural revivalism. The project will focus on the construction of national, imperial, political and gender identities in Burn’s work.

Objective

BURN-BEYOND is a study of the Scottish architect William Burn (1789-1870), the progenitor of ‘Scots Baronial’ architecture, one of the earliest and most distinctive examples of a self-consciously ‘national’ revivalist style. Burn’s career spanned the period when the world was being transformed by British imperial and economic power and by the aftermath of the French Revolution, when architecture became an enduring vehicle for defining national, political and social identities. His achievement was to formulate a pro-Scottish architectural identity that was simultaneously accepted as pro-establishment and British. His work is of special contemporary relevance given the recent resurgence of nationalist politics in the face of contemporary trends towards economic and cultural globalisation. This study will articulate debates over architectural style and national identity in Britain and beyond, and show that, through Burn’s work, the Scots foreshadowed the later 19th-century quest to establish political or cultural difference through national or pseudo-national architectural revivalism. Using innovative approaches to stylistic, spatial and historical analysis, this project will explore the construction of national, imperial, political and gender identities in Burn’s work. It will seek to: establish the motivations for and implications of Burn’s unrivalled stylistic diversity; demonstrate how Burn contributed to the formulation of a Scottish architectural identity; and understand how his famously ingenious domestic planning shaped gender, familial and social relationships. It will therefore generate new insights into the interactions between stylistic choice and social, cultural and political identities in Europe in the Romantic era, and enrich studies of politics, literature, gender relations, the visual arts and nationalism. It will be of particular value to historians studying the emergence of stylistic nationalism elsewhere.

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Topic(s)

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

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Coordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 212 933,76
Address
OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE
EH8 9YL Edinburgh
United Kingdom

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Region
Scotland Eastern Scotland Edinburgh
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 212 933,76
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