So it seems appropriate that Wren is buried in the cathedral that he created. Architecture writer Harry Mount comments, “Wren used all his engineering skill to create something beautiful that hid the complex structures that supported it.” The design and construction of the dome shows clearly how Wren wanted to provide a simple, beautiful solution to a difficult engineering problem. The large dome of it is still a prominent feature of the London skyline. The building of St Paul’s Cathedral took 35 years to complete. However, it did influence on other architects, especially in America.į. He replaced the old, winding streets with a geometrical plan of the street. Now was the time for a great architect to come forward and rebuild the city in a grand style that was suitable for the English capital. In 1666, most of London was destroyed in the Great Fire. A year later, he designed a chapel for Pembroke College, Cambridge. In 1664, Wren was asked to design the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.
At the same time, it was about mathematics and geometry, and providing simple solutions to complex engineering problems.Į. Wren had very clear ideas about the purpose of architecture. He had read “On Architecture” by the Roman writer Vitruvius and later visited Rome, where he was very impressed by the magnificent buildings. Wren was interested in everything in the world around him, including, naturally, architecture. Three years later, Newton published his proof together with his Law of Universal Gravitation.ĭ. Wren once organized a competition for his friends to see which of them could prove that the force that keeps the planets in their orbit decreases as an inverse square of the distance from the sun. Wren was a friend of the other great scientists of the day and was a founding member of the Royal Society. When he was a student at Oxford University, he did experiments in anatomy and made detailed drawings of the human brain.Ĭ. For example, he made models of the solar system and of how muscles work. When he was still a teenager, he began doing his own scientific experiments. In fact, he came relatively late to architecture. He was interested in everything and was a great man of science, or natural philosophy as it was known in the 17th century. Because it survived the bombing raids during the World War II, it has come to be a symbol of strength and hope.ī. His greatest masterpiece, St Paul’s cathedral in London, is a fundamental part of the London skyline. His great buildings still look beautiful and majestic. This may appear a rather arrogant statement today, but in Wren’s case we can forgive such feelings. “Architecture aims at Eternity,” said the great British architect Sir Christopher Wren.