Digital re-analysis of lost architecture and the particular case of Lutyens׳ Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

Abstract

Research and critique of unbuilt or destroyed works of architecture is traditionally carried out through the examination of surviving information such as drawings, models, photographs, biographies and monographs. The case study presented here demonstrates that this approach cannot always give a full-picture of the architect or designer׳s intentions, and may miss inconsistencies in the design and links to other precedents or antecedents in such schemes. Here, we employ strategic contemporary digital representation techniques to re-present and re-analyse the evidence available for a particular architectural project. We describe a systematic methodology, which shows that these techniques can challenge or enhance current understanding. The focus therefore is on the digital re-analysis process that has been devised. Sir Edwin Lutyens׳ unbuilt Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral design, that would have delivered one of the largest cathedrals in the world, is used as a case study. The findings reveal new information about the cathedral by following structured lines of enquiry generated from the study of primary and secondary source data, as well as serendipitous results that occur as a potential by-product of the methodological process.

Keywords

• Unbuilt architecture
• Digital critique
• Forensic analysis
• Digital modelling