Great Britain is one of the primary examples to observe when working to understand the reach of colonial, European imperialism. Cain and Hopkins observe that the onset of British Imperialism can be read two ways: one as the continuation of an existing system dominated by oligarchical land holders, and second as a consequence of the […]
Bitumen from La Brea Pitch Lake, Trinidad to Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C. 1876 Diatoms are a major group of microalgae which reside in the world’s oceans, waterways, and soils. Living diatoms make up an incredibly large portion of the Earth’s biomass, constitute nearly 50% of the organic material found in the oceans, and generate between […]
The Palm House: a crucial node in the 19th century colonial world The Palm House at Kew Gardens is an exemplar of industrial modernity. The building helps to encapsulate ideas of industrial modernity with its size, materials and meaning. With the building’s large-scale use of glass and wrought iron it helps situate the project in […]
Rangoon (Yangon) has a complex history as Burma’s (Myanmar) largest city, its former capital, and most influential port city. The Port Trust Office (Myanma Port Authority building) was designed by Thomas Oliphant Foster and completed in 1928.[1] A powerful beacon in contemporary Yangon, the Port Trust Office represents British Imperial Power over its inhabitants, streetscapes, […]
A Selective Curation and Distribution of Knowledge The Natural History Museum in London established in 1881 was designed by the Architect Alfred Waterhouse under the close guidance of Richard Owen, the Superintendent of the museum at the time. It exhibits a vast range of specimens and is recognized as the pre-eminent center of natural history […]
Every Christmas, Torontonians flock to the distillery district to shop under twinkling lights as they stroll down old brick roads lined by preserved heritage buildings that have been adaptively reused. Designated as a heritage neighborhood based upon, “illustrating the entire distillery process, from the processing of raw materials, to the storage of finished products for […]
On the outskirts of London, UK, lies Kew, home to the Royal Botanical Garden and its Palm House conservatory. This significant glass house was designed by Decimus Burton and constructed by Richard Turner from 1844 to 1848, although there has been some debate as to who rightfully lays claim to the design1. The Palm House […]
The life after death for a colonial British cemetery in India In the early nineteenth century, England was undergoing a period of rapid development due to industrialization. This led to an urban population boom in places like London especially, which ushered in changes to much of the city’s infrastructure in order to accommodate the new […]
Sir John Soane was a prominent neo-classical architect in Britain between the 18th and early 19th century. Possibly his most famed building was the London townhome he inhabited during the latter half of his career. Having begun its renovations in the early 1800’s, Soane lived and worked at Lincoln’s Inn Fields until his death in 1837. During […]
Le Château Frontenac, a Canadian pacific Railway hotel in Quebec City constructed in 1892, is often revered for being the heart of Old Quebec. Although the hotel nowadays is considered to be luxurious and picturesque, it has not always been thought of so highly throughout the past. What tends to be overlooked are the details […]