Playfair, William Henry, 1790-1857 (architect)
Dates
- Existence: 1790 - 1857
Biography
The architect William Henry Playfair was born in Russell Square, London, July 1789. On the death of his father, Playfair was sent to reside with his uncle in Edinburgh. Professor John Playfair, mathematician and geologist and a leading figure in the Edinburgh Enlightenment, took control of his nephew's education. Following his father's profession, the young Playfair studied under William Starke of Glasgow. His first public appointment was the laying out of part of the New Town in Edinburgh in 1815.
Then, after a visit to France in 1816, he established himself professionally by winning the commission in 1817 to complete the unfinished University buildings (leaving the front as designed by Robert and James Adam). He also designed the city's Royal Terrace and Regent Terrace on the Calton Hill estate; the unfinished National Monument on Calton Hill; and, the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery on the Mound. While Playfair's most important works in Edinburgh have been executed in the Greek revivalist or classical style - earning for Edinburgh the title of 'Athens of the North' - he was competent in other styles too. He designed New College for the ten newly established Free Church of Scotland, a jagged-lined rendering of the Gothic style. He also built country houses and mansions in the Italianate and Tudor styles.
Playfair died in Edinburgh after a long illness on 27 May 1857.
Found in 163 Collections and/or Records:
Furnishings of the Buildings of Western End of College Area, 28th April 1819
Section of door moldings and joints and elevations of doors and windows.
Furnishings of the Lower Museum, 5th July 1819
Elevation of the entrance door and details of the architrave and mouldings of windows and doors.
Greek fret (Full Size) for Ceiling of Chemistry Class, 7th July 1819
Close up detail and section of Greek fretwork.
Greek fret (Full Size) for frieze in Lower Museum, 5th July 1819
Close up detail of Greek fretwork.
Handle of the Inside of Entrance Door to Museum &c (Full Size), 29th January 1820
Handle of the inside of entrance door to museum
Iron Grating for Windows and Chemistry Cellars, 3rd July 1819
Plan and sectional detail of iron grating for windows.
N.B. The grating to be of wrought iron with Steel Pivots turning in iron sockets, door nailed and let into the stone and (?) with lead.
Iron Work for Roofing of Museum, 6th December 1817
Letter Book of Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch
Letters, No.4, 1830-1833
The volume begins with an A-Z index of recipients' names, followed by 498 pages of copies of outgoing letters.
Letters, No.7, 1840-1845
The volume begins with an A-Z index of recipients' names, followed by 516 pages of copies of outgoing letters.