Biography
Joshua (pronouns: he/him) is an architectural historian with broad specialisms, mostly in British architectural history of the 19th and 20th centuries, conservation, and the historiography of British architectural history. He has taught previously at ETH Zurich, Queen Mary University of London, and led the architecture summer school of the United Studies Abroad Consortium based at Imperial College. He is deeply interested in the story of the University of York, and believes the campus architecture to be a landmark episode in the history of British post-war planning and Utopianismâhe breathed a heavy sigh of relief when, at last, many of the campus buildings were listed in 2018.
Research
I first studied the built environment during my BA in Historical Archaeology at York, which has a strong standing buildings focus. I went on to pursue an MPhil at the Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies at Cambridge University, working on the plurality of approaches to post-war reconstruction followed by a network of somewhat unsung architects. I then moved to ETH Zurich to write my PhD on the Buckler dynasty of antiquarian artists and architects who were united â over three generations, across the long nineteenth century â both through family ties, as well as by their indefatigable reverence for the Gothic past.
My current research is supported by a fellowship at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. I am using the papers of the architectural historian, writer and campaigner Gavin Stamp (1948-2017), to examine the inimitable contribution to architectural history he made through diverse platforms, including scholarly monographs, acidic journalism, and his infective enthusiasm for architecture conveyed especially through walking tours, broadcasts and a limpid and evocative prose.
I am much involved with the statutory amenity societies, or conservation charities. I am on the events committee of the Victorian Society, and I enjoy editing the âBuilding of the Monthâ feature for the Twentieth Century Society. I am one of the oral history researchers for the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, interviewing prominent figures in the field (albeit on hold during the pandemic), and sit on the Societyâs LGBTQIA+ panel helping to promote diversity in the discipline. Iâm also co-editing a book on queer spaces and stories.
Grants:
- Doctoral Research Fellowship, ETH Zurich;
- Brian Allen Visiting Scholarship, Yale Center for British Art;
- Research Collections Fellowship, Paul Mellon Centre.
Publications
Forthcoming
[accepted for publication] âBlackballing Buckler: the letters of John Buckler (1770â1851), the Carter school and the foundations of the Buckler dynasty of antiquarian artists and architectsâ, Antiquaries Journal, 102.
[accepted for publication] With Adam Nathanial Furman (ed.) Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQIA+ Places and Stories, London: RIBA.
2020
âGetting into a Scrape: the Buckler Dynasty, Lincoln Cathedral and mid-Victorian Architectural Politicsâ, Architectural History, 64.
The Former North Peckham Civic Centre, The Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month.
âBook Review of Peter Jefferson Smith, The IâAnsons: A Dynasty of London Architects & Surveyors (2019)â, Architectural Research Quarterly, 24(3).
2019
âThe Tower, Christmas Commonâ, The Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month.
âOn how we ought to be anarchistsâ: Pat Crooke, John Turner, and dweller-oriented architectureâ, Journal of Architecture, 42(6).
âCast Iron Reasons for Conservationâ, RIBA Journal.
âPatrick Crooke (1927-2018)â (obituary), RIBA Journal.
âPatrick Crookeâ (obituary), C20 Magazine.
2018
ââFidelis ad Mortemâ: J. C. Buckler, an Oxford College architectâ, Oxoniensia, 83. Brian Cohen Essay Prize from the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society.
2017
âThe Buckler Topographical Collection: a dynastical readingâ, British Library Online.
2016
âSir Andrew Derbyshireâ (obituary), C20 Magazine.
2013
âFar From the Madding Crowd: John Voelcker & Ruralism in Architectureâ, AA Files, 66.
2012
âLearning from Yorkâ, Scroope: Cambridge Architecture Journal, 22.
