Voysey, C.F.A. [Paperback]

Wendy Hitchmough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1997

This text examines the life and work of British architect C.F.A. Voysey. Voysey was one of the most successful and renowned British architects from the 1890s until the outbreak of World War I. His white-rendered houses with stone window dressings and sweeping green slate roofs combined clarity and simplicity with a sensual appreciation of natural materials. Voysey's belief that the house should embody "Quietness in a storm, economy of upkeep, evidence of protection, harmony with surroundings, absence of dark passages" placed him at the heart of the Arts and Crafts movement, while the elongated simplicity of his furniture together with the fluid, undulating curves of his decorative design made him a formative influence on Mackintosh, Van de Velde and the Art Nouveau style. Voysey's conviction that no detail of a house was too small to deserve the attention of its architect led him to design everything from the plan of the garden to the handles on the kitchen dresser. His reputation spread across Europe and America and in the 1930s John Betjeman, Pevsner and others revived his reputation in Britain as a precursor of the Modern Movement. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1940 at the age of 83.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An influential architect and designer in Britain's Arts and Crafts movement, Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941) is best known for his white, roughcast houses with green slate roofs, models of economy, clarity, the use of natural materials and the harmony of a building and its surroundings. In this impressive, beautifully illustrated monograph, London-based architectural historian Hitchmough scrutinizes the English architect's cottages and grand houses; designs for offices, a factory, a school, a village hall; as well as his curvilinear furniture, metalwork and fresh, charming wallpapers, fabrics and textiles. Translating the critical philosophy of John Ruskin into simple, practical statements, Voysey invented a housing type at once fashionable, rooted in tradition and progressive in its insistence that all elements in the makeup of a dwelling be integrally linked. Hitchmough appraises the legacy of an individualist who, though he scorned modern architecture as ``false originality,'' has been hailed as a precursor of the modernist movement.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (September 26, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714837121
• ISBN-13: 978-0714837123
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #602,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring:, December 31, 2004

By 

Jonathan E. Miller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Voysey, C.F.A. (Paperback)

As an Architect always in search of refreshing ideas I was truly pleased when I first reviewed this book. All architects should be familiar with Voysey's career and work. Next to my monograph of Mellor Meigs and Howe I can think of no more favorite book that I have purchased this past year. Voysey was a forerunner of the modern movement, a true innovator and artist.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Voysey Architectural Retrospective, March 29, 2011

By 

James Ellsworth (Caldwell, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Voysey, C.F.A. (Paperback)

Today I have the pleasure of comparing two books on the work of CFA Voysey, a major designer of wall coverings and a major 'modern' transitional English architect during the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries--a period during which architects and designers emphasized that no part of a living space, its decoration or its hardware was too 'insignificant' to merit careful thought and fine design. Voysey's work may be characterized by his use of 'vernacular' English/Gothic architectural elements (translated into forms for his own time), his use of natural stone surrounds for windows and doors and his reliance on a white 'rendering' exterior wall finish (akin to stucco.) This review will emphasize 'CFA Voysey,' by Wendy Hitchmouch. My companion review can be found for 'CFA Voysey: Architect, Designer, Individualist' by Anne Stuart O'Donnell. I purchased both books from Amazon and enjoy each one for different reasons. This book is my favorite exposition of Voysey's architecture for its plates and its descriptions of each of the Voysey projects selected for comment by the author. More of his architectural work is included in this book. Many of the same projects are included in Anne Stuart O'Donnell's book but Wendy Hitchmouch's exposition provides far more detail and written analysis of each project and the plates and photographs of his major 'oeuvre' are far more communicative in her book--there are many more elevations and plan views, the illustrations/photographs are much larger and the drawn labels are clearer. Those of us who are interested in Voysey's architecture will be disappointed in O'Donnell's book...but those persons interested in his art design work will love O'Donnell and will scramble to find sources to purchase versions of Voysey's wall papers even if they need to custom order them.

I have an amateur interest in architecture, fired by 'A Pattern Language' (various authors; Oxford Press), a work which provides an unequalled introduction to the description and the uses of domestic spaces. During my life, I have had the opportunity to own and to live in two architect-designed homes of different styles and I have participated in detail as a client with an architect in the design of a third, 'Usonian' (simple, modern, cost-effective)retirement home. I have a modular-type archtectural program on my computer (Punch series)and I am always fiddling with some arrangement of space or trying to experience new materials and apply them to room surfaces. More than most people, I may be prepared to 'see' and to treasure books such as these but a wider audience will appreciate them at least as well as I do.