Edward Falkener (1814–1896) was an English architect and author.
Life
Born in London on 28 February 1814, he was the son of Lyon Falkener, head of the ordnance department in the Tower of London. He was educated at a private school in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and after declining a nomination for the civil service of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
on the ground of delicate health, he was articled to the architect
John Newman (1786–1859). He became a student of the
Royal Academy in 1836, and in 1839 gained its gold medal for a design for a cathedral church.
In 1842 Falkener started on a tour of most of the countries of Europe, on through Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and visiting some of the Greek islands. He made studies of the architectural remains in the various places he visited. While in Denmark he made sketches of the palace of
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...
; it was burned in 1859 and
Frederick VII of Denmark asked for Falkener's original drawings, to support restoration work; the king in acknowledgment made him a knight of the
Order of the Dannebrog. In 1847, while he was at Pompeii, he was allowed to excavate, at his own expense, the "House of Marcus Lucretius", a plan and description of which was given in his ''Museum of Classical Antiquities''. The Greek inscriptions he collected during his travels were edited in 1852 by
Wilhelm Henzen.
Falkener practised as architect for a few years, building some offices on St. Dunstan's Hill, London E.C., and subsequently made alterations to his house at Glanymor,
Laugharne
Laugharne ( cy, Talacharn) is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf.
The ancient borough of Laugharne Township ( cy, Treflan Lacharn) with its Corporation and Charter is a unique survival ...
,
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...
; but spent most of his time on writing and making drawings of restorations. From 1851 to 1855 he edited the ''Museum of Classical Antiquities''. His drawings were exhibited in Paris at the
Exposition Universelle, 1855, and gained him the ''grande médaille d'honneur'', and in 1861 he was presented with another gold medal by the king of Prussia, for his works on classical archæology.
In 1866 Falkener married, gave up private practice, and retired to Wales; but he continued studies and restorations to the time of his death, at Glanymor on 17 December 1896. He was a member of the Academy of Bologna, of the Architectural Institutes of Berlin and Rome, and was elected honorary fellow of the
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
on 2 December 1895.
Works
![Plan Artemision Ephesus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Plan_Artemision_Ephesus.PNG)
In 1839 Falkener published ''Was the Ceiling of the Parthenon flat or curved?''. He wrote on lighting for museums of sculpture, and the artificial illumination of churches and mosques. He was a supporter of the lighting of Greek temples by the
hypæthron
In classical architecture, hypaethral describes an ancient temple with no roof. (From the Latin ''hypaethrus'', from Ancient Greek ὕπαιθρος ''hupaithros'' ὑπό hupo- "under" and αἰθήρ aither "sky, air".) It was described by the ...
, in opposition to the views of
James Fergusson and
Wilhelm Dörpfeld
Wilhelm Dörpfeld (26 December 1853 – 25 April 1940) was a German architect and archaeologist, a pioneer of stratigraphic excavation and precise graphical documentation of archaeological projects. He is famous for his work on Bronze Age site ...
, and published ''On the Hypæthron of Greek Temples'' (London, 1861). Some of the illustrations in Fergusson's ''History of Architecture'' were by him, and many of his sketches were published in the ''Architectural Publication Society's Dictionary''.
Falkener published also:
* ''Dædalus; or, the Causes and Principles of the Excellence of Greek Sculpture'', London, 1860.
* ''Ephesus and the Temple of Diana'', 1862.
* ''Games, Ancient and Oriental'', 1892.
* As E. F. O. Thurcastle (i.e. Edward Falkener of Thurcastle) ''Does the "Revised Version" affect the Doctrine of the New Testament?'' (1884).
He frequently contributed to the ''Proceedings of the Royal Institute of British Architects''.
Family
In 1866 Falkener married Blanche Golding Victoria, daughter of
Benjamin Golding, who, with a son and three daughters, survived him.
References
Bibliography
*
Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkener, Edward
1814 births
1896 deaths
19th-century English architects
British draughtsmen
English writers
Architects from London
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects