Wind Virtual World

The Art Corner (Architect)

Sir Christopher Wren (b. Wiltshire, England 1632; d. London, England 1723)

Christopher Wren was born in Wiltshire, England in 1632. He attended Wadham College, Oxford in 1649 as a Gentleman Commoner. At Oxford he joined a group of brilliant scholars, who later formed the core of the Royal Society. As assistant to an eminent anatomist, Wren developed skills as an experimental, scientific thinker. With astronomy as his initial course of study, Wren developed skills in working models, diagrams and charting that proved useful when he entered architecture.

Wren became the Gresham Professor of Astronomy in London in 1657, at the age of twenty-five. Four years later he became the Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. In 1663, Wren's uncle, the Bishop of Ely, asked him to design a new chapel for Pembroke College, Cambridge. This, his first foray into architecture, was quickly followed by more commissions.

London's Great Fire of 1666 gave Wren a chance to present a scheme to rebuild the city. Utopian in concept, it was only partially realized. In 1669 Charles II appointed Wren Surveyor General of the King's Works. As Surveyor General he supervised all work on the royal palaces. In 1673 Wren resigned his Oxford professorship because of the work load. He was also knighted in 1673.

Wren died in London in 1723.

Works

Greenwich Hospital, at Greenwich, England (near London), 1696 to 1715.
Saint Paul's Cathedral, at London, England, 1675 to 1710.
St. Clement Danes, at Strand, London, England, 1680.
St. James, at Picadilly, London, England, 1674 to 1687.
St. Mary Le Bow, at Cheapside, London, England, 1670 to 1683.
St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, at London, England, 1671 to 1681.
St. Stephen's Walbrook, at London, England, UK, 1672 to 1687.

Greenwich Hospital

Location Greenwich, England (near London)
Date 1696 to 1715
Building Type palace complex
Construction System bearing masonry
Climate mild
Context suburban, on riverside
Style English Renaissance
Notes Not to be confused with Wren's Greenwich Observatory, 1675-1676.

Saint Paul's Cathedral

Location London, England, United Kingdom
Date 1675 to 1710
Building Type church
Construction System masonry, brick, timber, and cut stone.
Climate temperate
Context urban
Style Late Renaissance to Baroque
Notes "St. Paul's". The dome peaks at 366 feet above pavement.

St. Clement Danes

Location Strand, London, England
Date 1680
Building Type church
Construction System bearing masonry
Climate temperate
Context urban
Style English Renaissance
Notes Spire added by Gibbs, 1719 to 1720.

For More Information.......