Frank Edwin Salmon (born 8 June 1962) is an English architectural historian based at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he was the President of St John's College

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

until 2019. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Trustee of

Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a Historic house museum, house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and ...

and a member of Historic England's Expert Advisory Group.

Biography and works

Salmon was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

and educated at Northgate Grammar School for Boys,

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

, and the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

. He taught at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

from 1989 to 2002 and as Adjunct Associate Professor for Yale University's

Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art is a scholarly centre in London devoted to supporting original research into the history of British Art. It was founded in 1970 and endowed by a gift from Paul Mellon. Since 1996, it has been ...

in London from 2002 to 2006. Since then, he has taught in the Department of History of Art at

, where he succeeded David Watkin. He has been a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, since 2006. He won the Hawksmoor Essay Medal of the

Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB) is a United Kingdom learned society for people interested in the history of architecture. Purpose The Society exists to encourage interest in the history of architecture, to enab ...

in 1992. In 2001 his book ''Building on Ruins'' was joint winner of the Whitfield Prize of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

, and it also won the 2002 Spiro Kostof Prize of the American

Society of Architectural Historians The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the study and preservation of the built environment worldwide. Based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, the Society's 3,500 members inc ...

. In 2006, Salmon was the invited Plenary Speaker in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, Georgia, at the annual meeting of the Society. Salmon's reassessment of

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

's public architecture, including unbuilt designs for new Houses of Parliament of the 1730s, appeared in ''William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain'' (2013), the book that accompanied the major William Kent exhibition held at the

Bard Graduate Center The Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture is a graduate research institute and gallery located in New York City. It is affiliated with Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, Annandale-on-Hud ...

, New York, and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London, in 2014. Salmon has served as Chairman of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (2003–2006) and as Chairman of the Faculty of Archaeology, History and Letters of the

British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is a British interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture established in Rome. Historical and archaeological study are at the core of its activities. History The British Sc ...

(2006–2011). The Rickman Society, a graduate architectural history discussion group named after

Thomas Rickman Thomas Rickman (8 June 17764 January 1841) was an English architect and architectural antiquary who was a major figure in the Gothic Revival. He is particularly remembered for his ''Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture'' ...

, author of ''An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture'' (1817) and designer of the 'Wedding Cake' New Court and the

Bridge of Sighs The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: ''Ponte dei Sospiri'', ) is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (''Prigioni Nuove'') t ...

at St John's College, Cambridge, meets in Salmon's rooms at St John's. He is married to art historian Catharine MacLeod, Curator of Seventeenth-Century Collections at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

, and has two children.

Publications

* ''Building on Ruins: The Rediscovery of Rome and English Architecture'', Ashgate, 2000 *
Summerson and Hitchcock: Centenary Essays on Architectural Historiography
', ed., Yale University Press, 2006 * ''The Persistence of the Classical: Essays on Architecture Presented to David Watkin'', ed., Philip Wilson Publishers, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Frank Architecture educators 1962 births Living people English architectural historians Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Writers from Ipswich People educated at Northgate Grammar School, Ipswich Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London