Shrine in Tinghir, southern Morocco

Bringing Berber empires into focus as contributors to Islamic culture

06 July 2016

The Almoravid and Almohad empires flourished in the western Mediterranean of the 11th and 12th centuries. Despite controlling vast tracts of land, these Berber dynasties are little known in the English-speaking world. In her latest book, Dr Amira Bennison looks at the rise and fall of Berber empires that made a lasting contribution to the history of Islamic culture.

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Screenshots from D.W. Griffith’s The Lonely Villa (1909)

Grand designs: the role of the house in American film

27 May 2016

It’s black and white, silent and just short of ten minutes in length. But D.W. Griffith’s 1909 classic The Lonely Villa inspired Dr John David Rhodes, Director of Cambridge’s new Centre for Film and Screen, to look at the role and meaning of the house in American cinema.

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Conceptual image of how the building would look as viewed from the River Thames

Timber skyscrapers could transform London’s skyline

08 April 2016

London’s first timber skyscraper could be a step closer to reality this week after researchers presented Mayor of London Boris Johnson with conceptual plans for an 80-storey, 300m high wooden building integrated within the Barbican.

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King’s College Chapel: A History and Commentary by John Saltmarsh

King’s College Chapel: an architectural masterpiece and the man who told its story

16 December 2015

Five hundred years ago the masons working on one of the world’s most famous buildings completed the stonework of a chapel conceived some 70 years earlier. For several decades, King’s College Chapel had stood partially built in the heart of Cambridge. The story of the chapel is told in riveting detail by John Saltmarsh, who died in 1974 before completing his magnum opus.

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Heavenly matters, earthly delights

26 January 2015

In his book, Gothic Wonder, Professor Paul Binski explores a period in which English art and architecture pushed the boundaries to produce some of Europe’s most spectacular buildings and illuminated manuscripts. Binski’s research sets into context the whole gamut of human endeavour: from awesome cathedrals to playfully irreverent grotesques.

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