Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College (founded in 1891 as
Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute) is a college of the
University of London specialising in teaching of and research into creative, cultural and cognitive disciplines.
The college is situated in
New Cross, a highly populated area of south-east
London. The college's main building was originally created in
1843 by the architect
John Shaw Jr (1803-1870). In addition to this the college also occupies many more modern buildings, including the Ben Pimlott Building designed by
Will Alsop and completed in 2005.
In
1891 the
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths set up a Technical and Recreative Institute, using the old
Royal Naval School in New Cross as its base. In
1904 the Institute was acquired by the University of London and re-established as Goldsmiths College. Shortly after the acquisition, in
1907, the college added a new arts bulding, designed by Sir
Reginald Blomfield, to the back of the main building. During the
Second World War it was decided to evacuate the students and faculty of the college to the
University of Nottingham (then University College, Nottingham), a decision that proved wise when the main building was struck by an
incendiary bomb and gutted in
1940 (the building was finally repaired in
1947). During the
1960s the college experienced a rapid expansion in student numbers and the main building was expanded and the Lockwood Building, Whitehead Building, Education Building, Warmington Tower and St James's Hall were all built during this period in order to accommodate the new students. In
1988 Goldsmiths became a full college of the University of London and in
1990 received it
Royal Charter. Among its wardens have been
Richard Hoggart and
Ben Pimlott.
Goldsmiths is best known for courses and research relating to creativity and culture, and has a reputation for producing
visual artists, particularly those collectively known as
YBA. This reputation was largely established by the influence of
Michael Craig-Martin,
Jon Thompson and Nick De Ville as teaching staff. Its
Sociology department has been important in the recent development of the discipline in Britain, with leading sociologists such as
Paul Gilroy,
Bev Skeggs,
Nikolas Rose and
Les Back working in the department in recent years. It is also well-known for its
Cultural Studies, with leading figures in the discipline such as
Angela McRobbie.
Professor Geoffrey Crossick was appointed Warden of the college in 2005 following the death of
Ben Pimlott, who had become Warden in 1998. Alumni are members of the Goldsmiths Society.
The college provides, amongst other things, catering facilities, a gym, a chaplaincy, a medical centre, a nursery and a gym for student use. Additionally, the Goldsmiths Students' Union runs two bars, organises numerous entertainment events, provides student representation and runs both a student magazine (Smiths) and a radio station (wired). All Goldsmiths students are also able to make use of the facilities of the
University of London Union.
The university also owns 7 halls of residence which offer accommodation for students:
* Batavia Mews
* Chesterman House
* Dean House
* Loring Hall
* Surrey House
* Surrey House Annexe
* Raymont Hall
Sports teams and societies are organised by the Goldsmiths Students' Union. The union runs 18 sports clubs, 11 of which compete in either University of London Union or
BUSA leagues. In addition the union runs 35 societies, ranging from political societies (such as the
Liberal Democrats society or the
Respect society) and identity-oriented societies (for instance the
Sikh society and the
LGBT society) to interest societies (the
Music Society, the
Photography Society) and the more eclectic societies (the Made in Goldsmiths Society and the Somewhere Else Society).
*Uzma Ahmed, politician
*
Bernd Behr, artist
*
Terence Besmirch, artist
*
Jack Brymer, musician
*
John Cale, musician
*
Julian Clary, comedian
*
Damon Albarn, musician, frontman of
Blur*
Andrew B. Campbell, artist
*
Graham Coxon, musician, formerly with Blur
*
Alex James, musician, member of Blur
*
Ian Davenport, artist
*
Grenville Davey, artist
*Andrew Fadairo, financier
*Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, artists
*
Anya Gallaccio, artist
*
Niven Govinden, novelist
*Frances Grey, actress
*
Damien Hirst, artist
*
Gary Hume, artist
*
Linton Kwesi Johnson, poet, musician
*
Tessa Jowell, politician
*
Michael Landy, artist
*Michael Lavelle, Managing Director, Head of Equity Capital Markets,
Citigroup*
Sarah Lucas, artist
*Javier Marchán, artist
*
Kerry McCarthy, politician
*
Mark McGowan, performance artist
*
Malcolm McLaren, music manager, notably of the
Sex Pistols*
Steve McQueen, artist
*Lisa Milroy, artist
*
Gladys Mitchell, author
*
Brian Molko, singer with
Placebo*
Cathy de Monchaux, artist
*
Ian Monroe, artist
*
Julian Opie, artist
*
Simon Patterson, artist
*
Richard Patterson, painter
*
Mary Quant, fashion designer
*
Merlyn Rees, politician
*
Bridget Riley, artist
*
Sam Taylor-Wood. artist
*Simon Tegala, artist
*
Mark Wallinger, artist
*
Gillian Wearing, artist
*
Catherine Yass, artist
*
University of London*
Education in London*
1994 Group*
The official Goldsmiths website*
Goldsmiths Students' Union*
More information about John Shaw*
Goldsmiths College on BBC Online
