Summary: Richard Norman Shaw was the most inventive of a group of late nineteenth-century architects who introduced a new freedom of composition which expressed London's increasing social and physical diversity. His contribution to Bedford Park, London's first garden suburb, showed how such eclecticism could give identity to the rapidly growing city fringe, while buildings like New Scotland Yard and Albert Hall Mansions indicated a way beyond the dichotomy of classical or gothic architecture for city centre sites. Andrew Saint, general editor of the Survey of London, and author of the most comprehensive book on Shaw, discusses Shaw's originality and vision as an architect with series presenter Maxwell Hutchinson. This event took place at the Royal Academy of Arts on 25 February 2008. For more information on this lecture series and the RA's Architecture Programme see www.royalacademy.org.uk/architecture.
