In 1917, the decision was taken that every junior architect working for the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC) should have served in the armed forces during the war. Ostensibly, this was a decision to ensure that the cemeteries, to be designed by a group of older architects, would retain a legitimacy and connection with those who were buried within them. The few works on the subject of the IWGC architecture, notably Longworth and Stamp, conform to the idea that Lutyens, Baker and Blomfield are chiefly accountable for the architectural response visible today. In contrast, the group of young architects that formed the IWGC architectural department in France is rarely given more than a mention in passing. This paper will explore how the war experience of this group of junior architects influenced almost every part of the design process, aspects that have hitherto been considered the realm of the senior architects. It will show how the junior architects shaped everything from the practicalities of location and siting, to the preservation of battlefield features within the cemetery plans. Moreover, it will go on to show how the process was a personal journey of remembrance that included the design of cemeteries and memorials that contained friends and family members. For the first time, this paper will show how this group of architects used their experience of the war and the landscape to design an architecture of memory that is resonant with both personal and general experiences of the war on the Western Front.
Tim Fox-Godden is a PhD researcher at the Kent School of Architecture, University of Kent. He has previously completed degrees at Norwich School of Art and Design and the University of London. His previous research looked at the work of the architect Charles Holden with the IWGC and the London Underground. In 2013 he was awarded funding at Kent School of Architecture to research the architecture and narratives of memory in the British war cemeteries of the Western Front. In addition to his academic studies Tim is also a freelance illustrator.
Venue: Conference Room, Town Hall (2nd floor), Cloth Hall, Grote Markt 34, 8900 Ieper.
In Flanders Fields Museum, Gateways to the First World War and the University of Kent organize a series of eight seminars, accessible to all. Full details of all the seminars are available here.
