Today, search engine cgaint Google is celebrating the 200th birthday of Sir George Gilbert Scott, a British architect who designed the Foreign Commonwealth office in London, with its Google Doodle. The doodle features Sir George Gilbert Scott’s most successful project, the Midland Grand Hotel at St. Pancras Station.
The building’s windows replaces the letters ‘o’ and a statue on the roof replaces the letter ‘l.’ The artwork was drawn by illustrator Satoshi Kambayashi of Brighton.
History
Sir George Gilbert Scott was born on this day in 1811 and was knighted in 1872. Scott died in 1878 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Scott designed 800 buildings, including St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, the Albert Memorial in the Royal Albert Hall and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. More than 600 of his buildings are protected as listed structures – more than any architect today. Scott was also a prolific restorer, having restored 18 of the country’s 26 medieval cathedrals.
In 1865, the Midland Railway Company announced a competition for the design of a hotel that will be constructed next to its railway station that they were still constructing at the time. Of the eleven designs submitted, the company liked Scott’s design, which has 300 rooms, twice the number of rooms they were asking. The hotel first opened in 1873 and was closed in 1935. In 1966, the hotel was planned to be demolished, but was saved by Sir John Betjeman’s campaign.
Google regularly honors important historical figures and personalities through its Google Doodles.
What do you think of today’s effort?
I like the posting, interesting reading about someone, who i must confess, I had nver heard of prior to your article. Well done Google
OK, no problem