Christopher Wren

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Christopher Wren
1632-1723
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Biography
Wren the scientist. The greatest British
architect of all time was born in East Knoyle,
Wiltshire, in 1632, the son of the rector of
Knoyle. Christopher Wren attended Westminster
School and Wadham College, Oxford, where he
graduated with a masters degree in 1651.
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At this stage Wren was a pure scientist focusing
on astronomy, physics, and anatomy. He
experimented with submarine design, road paving,
and design of telescopes. At the tender age of 25
he was offered the Chair of Astronomy at Gresham
College, London. In 1660 Wren was one of the
founding members of the Society of Experimental
Philosophy. In 1662, under the patronage of
Charles II, this body became known as the Royal
Society. Wren died in 1723.
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A first stab at architecture
It was not until 1663 that Wren tried his hand at
architecture, and his first commission was
literally the result of nepotism. His uncle, then
Bishop of Ely, got him the job of designing
Pembroke College Chapel at Cambridge University.
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Next was the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, based
on the classical design of the Roman Theatre of
Marcellus..
This was the work that made Wren's reputation as
an architect
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The Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major
conflagration that swept through the City of
London from September 2 to September 5,1666, and
resulted more or less in the destruction of the
city. Before this fire, two early fires in London
, in 1133/1135 and 1212, both of which destroyed
a large part of the city, were known by the same
name. Later, the Luftwaffes fire-raid on the
City on 29th December 1940 became known as The
Second Great of London
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• The fire of 1666 was one of the biggest
  calamities in the history of London. It
  destroyed
• The Royal Exchange
• St Pauls Cathedral
• The Bridewell Palace
• The Guildhall
• 87 Paris churches

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Christopher Wren's Buildings
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St Paul's Cathedral
On 2nd September, 1666, the Great Fire of London
destroyed a large area of the city including St.
Paul's Cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren was given
the task of designing and rebuilding St. Paul's -
a task that was to take him thirty-five years to
complete. The most dramatic aspect of St. Paul's
was its great dome. It was the second largest
dome ever built.
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The cathedral is built of Portland stone in a
late Renaissance to Baroque style.
Its impressive dome was inspired by St Peters
Basilica in Rome, rising 108 metres, making it a
famous London landmark.
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The Monument to the Great Fire of London
It is located at the junction of Monument Street
and Fish Street Hill, 61 metres from where the
Great Fire of London started in 1666.
The Monument to The Great Fire of London, more
commonly known as The Monument is a 61-metre
(202-foot) tall stone Roman doric column in the
City of London, near to the northern end of
London Bridge.
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It consists of a large fluted Doric column built
of Portland stone topped with a gilded urn of
fire, and was designed by Christopher Wren and
Robert Hooke. The west side of the base of the
Monument displays an emblematical sculpture with
King Charles II, and his brother, James, the Duke
of York surrounded by Liberty, Architecture, and
Science, giving directions for its restoration.
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Its 61-metre height marks the monument's distance
to the site of Thomas Farynor, the king's baker's
shop in Pudding lane, where the fire began. At
the time of construction (between 1671 and 1677)
it was the tallest freestanding stone column in
the world.
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Royal Observatory
It housed not only the scientific instruments to
be used by John Flamsteed in his work on stellar
tables, but over time also added a number of
additional duties such as the keeping of time and
later Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office
Flamsteed House, the original part of the
Observatory, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren
and was the first purpose-built scientific
research facility in Britain.
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Wren Building (College of William and Mary)
The Wren Building is a highly notable building on
the campus of the College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg,Virginia. Construction began August
8, 1695 and was completed in 1700.
The Wren Building is the oldest continually used
academic building in the U.S. According to
tradition, the building was designed by famous
British architect Christopher Wren. The building
is constructed out of red brick and contains
classrooms, offices, and a chapel.
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On the top of the building is a weather vane
with the number 1693, the year the college was
founded. Posted on the building is the college's
honor code, attributed to Thomas Jefferson, who
at one point in time, attended college in the
Wren Building himself. The Wren Building was the
first major building
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Wren Library
The Wren Library is the library of Trinity
College in Cambridge. It was designed by
Christopher Wren in 1676 and completed in 1695.
It is credited as being one of the first
libraries to be built with large windows to give
comfortable light levels to aid readers.
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The library is a single large room built over an
open colonnade on the ground floor of Nevile's
Court. The floor of the library proper within the
upper storey lies several feet below the external
division between the two storeys, reconciling the
demands of use with the harmony of architectural
proportion. This device prefigures the inner,
middle and outer domes at St Paul's Cathedral.
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Trinity College
The Chapel, though relatively modest in size
compared to some of its Oxford counterparts, is
also of particular note, being the first College
chapel to be designed entirely in the
neoclassical style. The noted architect Sir
Christopher Wren is said to have assisted in its
design.
Trinity's buildings also have many notable
features. On the top of the West Tower sit four
female statues, which represent Astronomy,
Geometry, Medicine, and Theology.
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The End
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