Page 42 - Social Science.docx

Principles of social science
the widening of the streets as well as regulating the heights of the buildings and houses. This was a critical part of the new act and had such an immense effect on the city. In addition to the widening of the streets, there was also a restriction put on the materials that were able to be used during construction: "No man whatsoever shall presume to erect any house or building great or small, but of brick or stone." Then, in 1707, Parliament stated that, if it was necessary for a house to have a wooden roof, it must be surrounded by a stone parapet. However, as wood is highly flammable and was a main cause of the spread of the fire, they strongly discouraged its usage. The Building Act of 1667 and 1707 was decidedly the most imperative and crucial factor that went in towards the reconstruction period of London after the fire.3
The King refused to stop there- he next decided to employ a highly skilled architect to completely rebuild one of London's most famous monuments, St Paul's Cathedral, which was partly lost to the flames. In an article by John Summerson, he goes into great detail about the works of one of the architects hired for the reconstruction. Christopher Wren was a talented anatomist, astronomer, and mathematician-physicist, as well as one of the most highly acclaimed architects in English history, with incredible plans and ideas of how he was going to revolutionize the urban design of London. The text describes his step by step plan of how he began to reconstruct; he began with making a precise map of the affected areas across London so he could see where the most damage was caused. After that, he submitted his proposal to King Charles II, which was approved and from there, he began to design. Wren saw this as a great opportunity to build his vision the way he saw it in his mind, from the ground up. He tore
3 Ian Archer, "The Building of London." Georgian Cities: London. Accessed December 2, 2019. 38