Wilson, Charles

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Wilson, Charles (1810–63). Scots architect. In 1827 he entered the progressive office of David Hamilton, and obtained the commission to design the Gartnavel Mental Hospital, Glasgow (1841), in the Tudor Gothic style. When carrying out research for this building he travelled in France and England, and from that time he began to experiment with round-arched Classicism, although Italianate themes still informed his work (e.g. Breadalbane Terrace (now Hill Street) and Windsor (now Kirklee) Terrace, both 1845, and both in Glasgow). He designed Glasgow Academy (1846— influenced by von Klenze's work in Munich), the Free Church College, Woodlands Hill (1856— where German and Lombardic influences are apparent), and the layout of Woodlands Hill, including Park Terrace (1854) and Park Circus (1855), one of the most dramatically successful pieces of townscape in the British Isles. His one large country house, Lewis Castle, Stornoway, Western Isles (1848), was in a Neo-Tudor style. Like his friend ‘Greek’ Thomson, he was influenced by the work of Schinkel, and in turn exercised an influence on the Classicism of later generations of Glaswegian architects, including his assistant John Burnet.

Bibliography

Das Werk ;
G&W (1987);
Sinclair (ed.) (1995);
Jane Turner (1996);
Williamson,, Riches,, & and Higgs (1990)

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