Think of the historic built environment and what comes to mind are churches, palaces and grand civic buildings: architecture defined by being enduring and monumental. Yet there were also less durable structures. While the elaborate occasional architecture built for the most magnificent public celebrations has been studied by historians of art and architecture, much else remains hidden: practical and functional structures, like the booths and stalls that defined early modern commercial activity, or the pavilions, pagodas and tents that were devised for some of the period’s grandest patrons and events.

This conference celebrates the hidden world of ephemeral architecture, bringing together exciting work being done on the full spectrum of temporary structures, to reveal their role in shaping the social, cultural, political, religious and economic lives of people in the past.

The Saturday morning session will be held in the Ashmolean Museum. Those wishing to attend should meet in Reception at Rewley House at 1100 sharp. Note that the walk to and from the Museum is at delegates’ own risk.

Programme

Saturday 29 April 2017

1030    Registration opens

1100    Depart for Ashmolean Museum

1300    Lunch at Rewley House

1400    Portable palaces: English royal tents and timber lodgings in the 16th century, Dr Alden Gregory

1500    Impermanence and preservationism in 17th-century English architectural culture, Dr Olivia Horsfall Turner

1600    Tea

1630    Fleet of foot? The ephemeral architecture of the racecourse, Dr Oliver Cox

1730    'Our wondring Sight what various Structures strike!': Royal Kew Gardens in the 1760s, Mr Matthew Storey
1845    Dinner

2000    Fleeting forms: forts and ships in England’s early colonies, Dr Emily Mann

Sunday 30 April 2017

0900    Ephemeral Methodist spaces in 19th-century London, Ruth Slatter

1000    London's Smithfield Market in the 18th century, Dr Spike Sweeting

1100    Coffee

1130    Buildings of the democratic and labour movements in 19th-century England, Dr Katrina Navickas,

1245    Lunch and Disperse