The History and Architecture of Cardiff Civic Centre

Black Gold, White City

John B. Hilling

• Publisher: University of Wales Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781783168422
• eBook ISBN: 9781783168446
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

Cardiff's civic centre in Cathays Park, described as the finest civic centre in the British Isles, is an impressive planned group of public buildings, begun largely with wealth created by the coal industry in the south Wales coalfield. This book covers the Cardiff site's earlier evolution as a private park in the nineteenth century by the fabulously rich Bute family, and the borough's battles to obtain land for public buildings and the park's development in the twentieth century, to become Britain's finest civic centre. All the buildings, memorials and statues in the park are fully described and illustrated in this book which includes maps, plans and photographs. The History and Architecture of Cardiff Civic Centre is the first in the series Architecture of Wales, published in partnership with the Royal Society of Architects in Wales.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Series Editor’s Preface
• Foreword
• List of Illustrations
• Introduction and Acknowledgments
• 1 A Small, Sleepy Town in the Shadow of a Castle
• 2 Black Gold
• 3 A Gentleman’s Park
• 4 A Battle for Sites and Minds
• 5 Negotiations and Diversions
• 6 Plans and Petitions
• 7 A View of the Civic Centre: Its Layout, Appearance and Open Spaces
• 8 Development of the Civic Centre Before the First World War: Buildings and Monuments
• 9 Development of the Civic Centre Between the Wars: Buildings and Monuments
• 10 Development of the Civic Centre After the Second World War: Buildings and Monuments
• 11 Cardiff’s Civic Centre in Context
• 12 Conclusion
• Brief Biographies of Architects
• Architectural Glossary
• Bibliography
• Notes