UCD SCHOOL OF ART HISTORY & CULTURAL POLICY:
RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES
Monday, 16 October 2023 at 3:00 pm – J004, School of Art History and Cultural Policy.
Dr Alborz Dianat, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Art History & Cultural Policy, UCD
Though often absent in histories, Philip Morton Shand (1888-1960) exerted exceptional influence on Modernist architecture in the 1930s. The London-based critic forged friendships with renowned designers including Walter Gropius, Alvar Aalto and Le Corbusier, leading to exhibitions, business ventures and architectural commissions. Recent discoveries made through Shand’s archive reveal his talent in progressing architectural developments in his desired direction, but also the xenophobic and gendered impulses permeating the British design scene. By considering some of Shand’s most impactful ventures, this talk exposes the dependence of Modernist developments on criticism.
Alborz Dianat recently started as a postdoctoral researcher at UCD having completed a PhD in Architectural History at the University of Edinburgh, studying the interchanges between British and European Modernism. Dianat is Executive Editor of Architectural History and is writing a monograph on Walter Gropius in Britain (Routledge).
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