13
November 2024

Eight buildings for eight faiths in London

The Arts Society Horsham
Wednesday, November 13, 2024 - 10:45
The Capitol
North Street Horsham RH12 1RG
Online Event

Appreciate the astonishing range of signature buildings of faith communities settling in London. New arrivals leave their imprint on a city – nowhere more so than in London where Jews, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Hindus, Methodists, Sikhs, Buddhists and Orthodox Greeks have each added their own layer. Not least, they have all left a remarkable signature. Here are eight faith communities which can each point to a special place they built, not on first arrival, but when numbers and self-confidence had grown in the knowledge they had established themselves for the long term. Crucially, it was when they had the wealth and resources to commission great architecture. So we have a synagogue, a chapel, a gurdwara, a monastery, a couple of cathedrals, a temple and a mosque, permanent markers of the highest quality. Their differences stretch across cultures and 300 hundred years of persecutions and economic crises. But their similarities are also striking.

THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Mr Charlie Forman

As a London walking tour guide and lecturer, I highlight the social, architectural and artistic history of my home city. It is a city I am passionate about, not least because it has a historic core larger and richer than any other world city. A member of the City of Westminster Guide Lecturers Association, my talks focus on the forces that have shaped and changed this multi-faceted metropolis and the artistic and cultural heritage that this has given us. After many hundreds of walks and a four-decade long career in housing and regeneration I have absorbed a deep understanding and appreciation of the capital. I’ve had some fascinating vantage points like the seven years build-up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games where I played a role in channelling potential long-term benefits into surrounding East London communities. My publications include Spitalfields: A battle for land.