The British Library at St Pancras opened to the public in April 1998 and no other project in Britain since the building of St Paul s Cathedral is comparable in time-scale or the magnitude of controversy surrounding it. Professor Sir Colin St John Wilson spent the greater part of his working life on the project, from 1962 onwards, when various schemes for a building adjacent to the British Museum were proposed, through to the completion phase of the present design. This fascinating little book, joining Scala's successful Art Spaces series, reveals how Professor Wilson and his team responded to successive changes in the Brief, while determinedly maintaining a commitment to the very highest quality in all aspects of a building designed to last 250 years. Drawing on the wealth of drawings and photographic material in the British Library archives and filled with the author's personal memories and anecdotes, this is a hugely entertaining and interesting account of one of the most important buildings in modern architecture. AUTHOR: Professor Wilson was formerly Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, and the author of two important books on the history and theory of architecture. He has his own practice in North London. He is uniquely placed to give both an account of the development of the design concept of the building and to tell the story of its construction. SELLING POINTS: .An entertaining and interesting account of one of the most important buildings in modern architecture .Continuing Scala s internationally renowned Art Spaces series on the architecture of buildings housing art 66 colour & 5 b/w illustrations
