The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Campbell, Colin
d. 1729, Scottish architect, who, in England, became one of the initiators of the Neo-Palladian movement. Campbell’s most important contribution to this revival of classicizing architecture was his publication of Vitruvius Britannicus (3 vol., 1715, 1717, 1725). These volumes consisted of engravings of classical buildings in England—at first mainly those of Inigo Jones, but the later volumes presented designs by Campbell and other contemporary architects. Campbell’s major buildings were Wanstead House, Essex (1715–20, destroyed), which incorporated what Campbell claimed to be England’s first classical portico; the remodeling of Burlington House, London (c.1717) for his patron, Lord Burlington; and Mereworth Castle, Kent (1723). They derive from obvious Palladian precedents. Through his writings and his executed buildings, Campbell’s influence on English architecture was great.
