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Cultural and architectural historian Dr Steven Parissien explains how Oxford’s dons and civic leaders have invariably sought comfort in the past when planning new buildings rather than embraced radical and cutting-edge design. Parissien examines why private patrons consistently chose proven styles of the past rather than go with the more cutting-edge ideas of their architects.  And he looks at the architectural environment in which individuals and institutions have worked through the prism of Oxford’s principal building contractor and craft practitioner, Symm.

Symm was founded in 1815 and a lot of its work was carried out with the great Victorian architect, Sir Gilbert Scott, including the Exeter College Chapel, which hosts this event, many other parts of Exeter College and Christ Church Cathedral.

Parissien is director of Compton Verney gallery in Warwickshire and has written widely on architectural and cultural history including The Life of the Automobile: A New History of the Motor Car and The English Railway Station, about which he speaks at another festival event.

Sponsored by Symm