What would happen if the history of Chiswick House took a different course? We invite you to imagine alternative futures for this historic house and gardens, rebranded as ‘Cheswick House’.

 

‘Cheswick House’ is a participatory project from University College London (UCL)’s Centre for Critical Heritage Studies (CCHS). Read more about the project below and find out how to take part below.

 

Re-imagining Lord Burlington’s vision

 

Lord Burlington’s inspiration for Chiswick House, his country estate, came from the ruins and archaeological remains of ancient Greek and Roman temple sites, as well as the work of the 16th Century Italian Renaissance architect, Palladio. Villa Rotonda, Palladio’s design inspired by the Roman Pantheon, was a particular reference. We have provided a kaleidoscope of fragments used in the design of the house and gardens here for you to explore and re-arrange, as you consider what an alternative ‘Cheswick’ House might look like, if assembled from a different set of cultural and archaeological fragments from other worlds.

 

Chiswick House is a heritage site of national significance managed by  Chiswick House & Gardens Trust since 2007 with the support of English Heritage and London Borough of Hounslow. However, Chiswick House is also an architectural-archaeological fantasy. It was formed through an 18th European obsession with revisiting, identifying and reinventing the archaeological remains of classical Rome and Greece. This emerged from European Enlightenment thinking and values which provided the framework for the development of the modern era. This continues to shape our lives today, in the social order and political structures of the UK, and in their imprint worldwide through colonisation and globalisation.

 

Alternative scenarios

 

We are curious to think about how the Chiswick House we know might look if Lord Burlington had travelled to south-east Asia for example, instead of Italy on his Grand Tour; a lavish European excursion and rite of passage for 18th-century aristocratic gentlemen.

 

Or, if Attila the Hun, as depicted meeting Pope Leo the Great in Bloemaert’s oil painting in the Red Velvet Room, had conquered Rome with his army of Eurasian Nomads instead of retreating from the Eternal City. Where would Europe be in the 21st Century if Central Asian culture had dominated its historic development? 

 

Or, if you were in Lord Burlington’s shoes today, and a devastating earthquake and tsunami required a rebuilding of Chiswick House - how might you redesign a new ‘Cheswick House’ for a world that reflects your own cultural values and aspirations. 

 

How far can we go to imagine our ‘Cheswick House’ in alternative times and places in alternative universes, where not only historical events are altered, but all conditions are possible? 

 

The challenge

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As a commentary on the social order and values of its multiple times and places, ‘Cheswick House’ offers an intriguing opportunity to engage with a contemporary archaeology of the ‘Coronacene’ phase of the Early Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is a period caused by the human impact on the planet, widely defined as one of historic uncertainty, climate crisis, and confrontation with the unknown. Rather than corroborate, heritage places, we can re-construct pasts that includes more of us, and as a result we can speculate on other possible, plausible and preferable futures.

 

We look forward to having you join and work with us to discover what these alternative scenarios might look like.

 

Sign up to register your interest here, the project will involve four online evening meetings from 7pm on 31st May, 14th June, 28th June and 12th July, followed by in-person workshops at Chiswick House on 10th September. The first meeting will be very informal and a chance for us to explain the process, so no ongoing commitments are necessary.