Editing William Chambers (architect) (section)

==Biography==
William Chambers was born on 23 February 1723 in [[Gothenburg]], [[Sweden]], to a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] merchant father.<ref>[http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/William_Chambers.html William Chambers Biography]</ref><ref>page 11, Sir William Chambers Architect to George III, John Harris and Michael Snodin, 1996, Yale University Press {{ISBN|0-300-06940-5}}</ref>

Between 1740 and 1749 he was employed by the [[Swedish East India Company]] making three voyages to China<ref>page 11, Sir William Chambers Architect to George III, John Harris and Michael Snodin, 1996, Yale University Press {{ISBN|0-300-06940-5}}</ref> where he studied [[Chinese architecture]] and decoration. It was during his employment with the company that he befriended David af Sandeberg, director of the Swedish East India Company and [[Swedish nobility|nobleman]], who subsequently married Chambers' sister, Maria.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=John |title=Sir William Chambers: Architect to George III |date=10 October 1996 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1996 |isbn=9780300069419 |edition=1st |location=New York, USA |pages=11-25 |language=en}}</ref>

Returning to Europe, he studied architecture in Paris (with [[Jacques-François Blondel|J. F. Blondel]]) and spent five years in Italy.  Then, in 1755, he moved to London, where he established an architectural practice. In 1757, through a recommendation of [[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute|Lord Bute]],<ref>page 59, The Architect King: George III and the Culture of the Enlightenment, David Watkin, 2004, Royal Collection Publications</ref> he was appointed architectural tutor to the Prince of Wales, later [[George III]], and in 1766 also, along with [[Robert Adam]], Architect to the King, (this being an unofficial title, rather than an actual salaried post with the [[Office of Works]]).<ref>page 15, ''The Architect King: George III and the Culture of the Enlightenment'', David Watkin, 2004, Royal Collection Publications</ref>  He worked for [[Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha|Augusta]], Dowager Princess of Wales, making fanciful garden buildings at [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Kew]], and in 1757 he published a book of Chinese designs which had a significant influence on contemporary taste.  He developed his Chinese interests further with his ''Dissertation on Oriental Gardening'' (1772), a fanciful elaboration of contemporary English ideas about the naturalistic style of gardening in China.

[[File:Portrait of Sir William Chambers.png|thumb|''[[Portrait of Sir William Chambers]]'' by [[Joshua Reynolds]], 1780]]
[[File:Somerset House.jpg|right|thumb|The central courtyard of Chambers' [[Somerset House]] in London. The pavement fountain was installed in the 1990s.]]
His more serious and academic ''Treatise on Civil Architecture''  published in 1759 proved influential on builders; it went into several editions and was still being republished in 1862.<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/treatiseondecora00cham A Treatise on the Decorative Parts of Civil Architecture]'', 1862 ed, revised and edited by W.H. Leeds</ref> It dealt with the use of the [[classical order]]s, and gave suggestions for decorative elements, rather than dealing with construction and planning; for its  third edition it was retitled ''A Treatise on the Decorative Parts of Civil Architecture''. It included ideas from the works of many 16th- and 17th-century Italian architects then still little known in Britain.<ref>Summerson 1970, p.416</ref>  His influence was also  transmitted  through a host of younger architects trained as pupils in his office, including [[Thomas Hardwick]] (1752–1825), who helped him  build  [[Somerset House]] and who wrote his biography.

He was the major rival of Adam in British [[Neoclassicism]]. Chambers was more international in outlook (his knighthood being originally a Swedish honour) and was influenced by continental neoclassicism (which he in turn influenced) when designing for British clients. A second visit to Paris in 1774 confirmed the French cast to his sober and conservative refined blend of Neoclassicism and [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] conventions.

From around 1758 to the mid-1770s, Chambers concentrated on  building houses for the nobility, beginning with one  for Lord Bessborough at Roehampton.<ref>Summerson 1970, p.416</ref> In 1766 Chambers was elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]. From 1761 he held the unofficial post of Joint Architect to the King,<ref>Chapter 8, ''The Office of Works 1761–96, Sir William Chambers Knight of the Polar Star'', John Harris, 1970, A. Zwemmer Ltd</ref> he was then promoted to his first official post in the Office of Works and was from 1769–82 Comptroller of the King's Works, his final promotion put him in charge, from 1782 being Surveyor-General and Comptroller a post he kept until his death.

When a scheme to unite a number of government offices on the site of [[Somerset House]] in the [[Strand, London|Strand]] was projected, his position did not give him automatic authority over the construction; however when William Robinson, secretary to the board, who had been put in charge of the new building, died in 1775, Chambers became its architect. His initial plans for a great oval courtyard, connected to three smaller, narrow rectangular courts, were soon modified into a simpler rectilinear scheme.<ref>Summerson 1970, p.416</ref>

On 10 December 1768 the [[Royal Academy]] was founded. Chambers played an important role in the events that led to the Academy's foundation,<ref>Chapter 11, ''The Royal Academy, Sir William Chambers Knight of the Polar Star'', John Harris, 1970, A. Zwemmer Ltd</ref> the ''Minutes of the General Assembly of the Royal Academy'' of 14 December 1768 record 'That some time towards the latter end of November 1768, Mr Chambers waited upon the King and informed him that many artists of reputation together with himself are very desirous of establishing a Society that should more effectively promote the Arts of Design'. He was appointed the Academy's first Treasurer.

Chambers died in London in 1796.  He is buried in [[Poets' Corner]] in [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=0Ck9AAAAYAAJ&dq=%22edmund+burke%22+%22william+chambers%22&pg=PT565 Anecdotes of the Late Sir William Chambers, from the European Magazine," The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politicks and Literature of the Year (1796):366.]</ref> His tombstone is inscribed:<ref>Ashton, John Rowland: ''Lives and Livelihoods in Little London, The Story of the British in Gothenburg (1621–2011)'', Warne förlag, Sävedalen 2003. {{ISBN|91-86425-48-X}} (inb), p. 40.</ref>

{{blockquote|
''Sir William Chambers, [[Order of the Polar Star|Knight of the Polar Star]], Architect, Surveyor General of His Majesty's Works, F.R.S., F.A.S., R.S. Died March 8th, 1796. Aged 74.''}}

===Visits by Swedes===
One of Chambers friends, [[James Maule]], wrote in his journal in August 1771: ''I visited the [[London Stock Exchange#Royal Exchange|Stock Exchange]] and met John Wilson. I also met several Swedes at sir William Chambers. I spent the Sunday with sir William Chambers at [[Hampton Court]], where his family lives.''<ref>Ashton, John Rowland: ''Lives and Livelihoods in Little London, The Story of the British in Gothenburg (1621–2011)'', Warne förlag, Sävedalen 2003. {{ISBN|91-86425-48-X}} (inb) pp. 38–39.</ref>

The [[Oriental studies|orientalist]] [[Jakob Jonas Björnståhl]]  wrote after a visit at Chambers house in London in 1775:<ref>{{cite book|last=Frängsmyr|first=Tore|title=Ostindiska kompaniet: människorna, äventyret och den ekonomiska drömmen|trans-title=East India Company: the people, the adventure and the economic dream|date=1976|publisher=Bra böcker|location=Höganäs|language=sv|id=Libris 139572  |page=161}}</ref>
{{blockquote|''He counts himself a Swede and speaks the language just like a Swede. He really honours our Nation; he keeps a fairly beautiful house, where he receives Swedes and entertains them in a princely manner.''}}