Imperial Institute

Imperial Institute

One of the grandest 19th century space of internationalism was that of the Great Exhibition. The successful 1851 London exhibition was followed up in 1862 by a second exhibition in South Kensington. Around this site, museums and institutions of learning were built, partly on the plans of Prince Albert (earning the area the name ‘Albertopolis’). In 1893 the Imperial Institute was opened. It housed a permanent ‘Empire exhibition’ of arts and crafts but, in keeping with the object of the 1851 exhibition of the works of industry, it also hosted information about trade and manufactures and its cavernous hall provided a grand space for social and political events linked to empire. These included the First (and last) Universal Races Congress in 1911, which welcomed more than 2000 participants, and a Round Table Conference reception for up to 2000 guests hosted by the Secretary of State for India in December 1930. The campanile tower of the institute was placed directly on the central axis of Albertopolis, in line with the central hall of the National History Museum, the core of the Albert Hall, and the Albert Memorial. The institute was demolished in the 1950s to make way for Imperial College; only the tower remains.

Historic England Archive
Andreas Praefcke