Transformative Research Legacies: Walter Aubrey Thomas

Thursday 24th September 2015, 3-4pm 

Venue: Rendall Building, Lecture Theatre 4 (University of Liverpool)

Speaker: Prof. Thomas Osborne (University of Bristol)

Iconic architecture and the question of legacy: Remarks on Walter Aubrey Thomas and the Royal Liver Building

Though its focus is a single building – the famous Royal Liver Building on the Pier Head in Liverpool, designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas (1864-1934) – this talk is more an exercise in urban theory and aesthetics than in the history of architecture. It is about how buildings signify; how they ‘express’ the cities in which they stand, and draws largely upon the philosopher Nelson Goodman’s ‘symbolist’ conception of aesthetic and architectural form.

Several issues are raised by this. Some are to do with questions of significance, authenticity and expression. What does it mean for a building to be described as ‘iconic’? In what ways, if any, does the Royal Liver Building ‘exemplify’ both its own properties as a landmark ferro-concrete ‘skyscraper’ and, by extension, the properties of Liverpool itself? What is the meaning of the notion of ‘legacy’ in the arts and architecture? Is legacy the same thing as ‘influence’?

Related to these questions are issues to do with creativity and constraint. What are the implications for the calling of architecture of system-based technological advances such as Hennebique ferro-concrete? Do such technologies eclipse the creative role of the architect, as some have argued, or – as I will contend in relation to Walter Aubrey Thomas, who spent his entire career in Liverpool – do they in some ways endorse and enhance it?