Born on 20 October 1632 in Wiltshire, Christopher Wren is often considered the greatest English architect of his time. In addition to being an architect, Wren was also an astronomer, geometrician, designer and founder of The Royal Society.
In his lifetime, Wren built 53 churches in London, including the current St. Paul’s Cathedral. Wren’s extensive portfolio of Baroque and Classical Revival.
This Gothic-style church forms part of Pembroke College, founded in 1525. Wren added the upper part of the tower between 1681 and 1682
This Baroque-style building by Sir Christopher Wren was used as part of the Royal Naval College, c.1705
A Benedictine abbey was established on the site in the 10th century and the last major additions were the towers on the west front by Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James, completed in 1745
The gateway was designed by Christopher Wren in 1672 and is the only surviving gateway to the City of London. It was moved from its original site in Fleet Street and re-erected in Theobalds Park in 1888
This Classical Revival palace was enlarged by Sir Christopher Wren in 1689-1695 with further alterations carried out in the 18th century
Often considered to be Wren’s greatest architectural work, St. Paul’s Cathedral was built in the Baroque style and Wren was buried in in the catacombs below the cathedral after his death in 1723
The Baroque church with a large dome, designed by Wren in the City of London, was completed in 1680 while the spire was added in 1713-1714
The new south and east ranges (for William III and Queen Mary) of this Classical Revival palace were begun by Wren in 1689
The Classic Revival hospital, including the above meal hall, was designed by Christopher Wren in 1692
Architecture wasn’t always Christopher Wren’s main practice. After completing a B.A. from Wadham College, Oxford in 1651, and then an M.A. in 1653, Wren was appointed as a professor of astronomy at Gresham College in London in 1657.
Wren’s eventual shift to architecture came later, following a spell in English history where, following the death of architect Inigo Jones, few architects were able to bring art and science together in the way Wren could, according to The Royal Society.
In 1662, Wren’s first architecture opportunity came when he was engaged in the designing of the Sheldonian Theater, a gift from Bishop Gilbert Sheldon of London to the University of Oxford. It was again in Oxford in 1666 that Wren made his first design for a dome for the then derelict St. Paul’s Cathedral. The design was accepted in principle on 27 August 1666, but a week later, the Great Fire of London destroyed two-thirds of the city, including the existing St. Paul’s.
Following the fire, Wren used the drawing skills he had acquired from his time spent in Paris with Gian Lorenzo Bernini to create a plan for the rebuilding of London. The plans were submitted to Charles II but would never become reality. This did however lead to Wren being appointed as the king’s surveyor in 1669, which he did until his dismissal in 1718. During this time, Wren erected The Monument to commemorate the Great Fire, and in 1710, the new St. Paul’s Cathedral was completed.
Christopher Wren passed away at the age of 90 but left a conflicting architectural legacy for those who immediately followed him. To many, his work was deemed too ‘unclassical’ in the way it combined Neoclassical, Gothic and Baroque elements. It is this method of design that has solidified his legacy today.
Architects such as Sir Edwin Lutyens (1944) praised his work, and in 1923, The Wren Society published over 20 volumes of his material, highlighting Wren's successes. Many of these works can be found within the RIBA Collections.
The RIBA Collections also houses a series of items relating to Wren's life, works, and legacy. Find out more below.
"On the anatomy of the river eel" from Christopher Wren's Parentalia (London, 1750), 'Heirloom copy'. This page is one of several insertions in the RIBA Library's 'Heirloom copy' of the Parentalia
This wooden fragment originally belonged to the architect George Adam Burn: "The fragment was given to me August 20th 1851 / by Mr. Richards Verger of the Cathedral and then of No.3 St. Martin's Place"
This marble copy of Edward Pearce's bust of Sir Christopher Wren is believed to be 19th century in date and appears to be the one presented to the RIBA in 1836 by H.E. Kendall
From Louis Hellman’s “Archi-têtes” series, Wren has been transformed into his most famous building, with his seventeenth-century wig transformed into the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral
This diagram on the "Sign language system for the deaf and dumb" [sic] is one of several manuscript insertions in the RIBA Library's 'Heirloom copy' of Christopher Wren's Parentalia
This architectural composition by Charles Robert Cockerell was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1838. it contains buildings, mostly in London, showcasing Wren's architectural successes
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