HISTORY OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE: MID 18 TH TO 19TH CENTURIES

The fundamental of modern architecture born in the late 18th century during the
Enlightenment and in the 19th century.
The modern individual and its built manifestations in mid-18th century
architecture I: Strawberry Hill

Group work |compare the two buildings: what is equal or similar? How do they differ?

Louis Le Vau and Jean Hardouin Mansart, Versailles 1668 Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville 1768-1809

Louis Le Vau and Jean Hardouin Mansart, Versailles 1668

Versailles is considered a pre-modern architecture which was built during the reign of the Sun
King. Versailles in that period was considered as the biggest building in Europe. The
symmetry of this building is used to indicate aesthetic control. The entire building is designed
to be seen in a frontal way through a strict axis. Is an elaborate building through sculpture,
column that came from the basis of the Academy. Also, the garden in front of the entrance
shows the same aesthetic control, pure geometry with symmetrical order to the fundamentals
of the government. And this order does not end at the fringes of the actual garden but extends
also in the landscape.
Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville 1768-1809
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and was the main author of the
Declaration of Independence from England. This is an example of modern architecture. He
needed a small house and he built by himself Monticello and refers to the same classical
architecture but it’s much simpler in terms of form. For example, the capitals are very simple,
no running role Corinthian very ornament. No marble capitals but made of brick and then
plastered and they look like column models. Monticello has humble building material,
because it was common to use in buildings of this period. Jefferson designs the villa. He was
a fan of Palladio works and is considered one of the exponents of new Palladian Architecture
of the 18th century. The scene is seen from a slanted angle so over the corner, and this brings
me to another aspect which is perception. Modern buildings are very often designed in order
to be seen by individuals who also have the possibility to perceive a building on an individual
basis. With the change in perspective, while the people are approaching the building, they see
the building from different controlled angles. Going this curved path and this growth path
results in changing perspectives on the language. It is always seen from an angle, and it’s also
partly covered by this tree, so you can’t even see some part. Architecture is away and so
embedded in the landscape boarded and part of that nature of the surrounding. In this case a
landscape garden has a power: by this architecture nature dialogue as equal partners.
Jefferson was not only a politician becoming the President of the United States and lay
architect, but he was also accomplished if he worked as a farmer and the park, so he himself
was involved in working in the nature that was meant to produce food for himself and grow
with him. Man controls nature and kind of forms nature, but as part of nature in a dialogue
with nature. In the state of nature man lives in a condition of equality and freedom, in society
and with culture he finds himself forced between impositions and inequality. One
philosophical concept is a phrase by Rousseau who described “homme naturelle”. And this is
a portrait of an English painter where he draws a man in free nature inside the forest. He’s
sitting on a tree trunk and he considers himself part of nature. Also, the colors of his clothes
evoked the forest around him. This means also that all people are equal because all are
obliged to the same nature. Other philosophers believe that all knowledge and all ideas
derived from the sensations that man can make while moving. And this goes back to another
philosopher: John Locke, who was a petitioner. His ideas were very important. In his essay
“Concerning Human Understanding” 1689, he describes how knowledge is being built during
the lifetime of people. There are no innate ideas, so when man is born, his mind is like a
blank sheet: we know nothing, we have no preconceptions, but we can develop ideas only
based on sensations. When man sees something has essential perception, he develops a
thought based on this perception and then if he continues watching, having through the
essential experiences, man develops what he called a chain of associated thoughts. In order to
build up complex ideas, memory is important because the memory allows us to collect
experiences made during a timeline.

Strawberry Hill (Horace Walpole)

This kind of architecture addresses the modern individual we can see in Horace Walpole’s
Strawberry Hill (1749-76). Horace Walpole (1717-1797) born in London educated at Eton
College and Kings. In 1739-41 he did a Grand tour with the poet Thomas Gray: a great poet.
He had a lot of friends that were artists, writers, poets, architects, painters and so on. He also
became a member of Parliament (Whig party). And in late 1740, he purchased a house in
Twickenham which was converted to Strawberry Hill. He done by himself, so like Jefferson,
with the support of his artist friends: one was an architect, but most of these friends were
painters or poets and writers and he also was a writer famous for Gothic novel like “The
Castle of Otranto'' and he also published a book “On Modern Gardening”.

His father, Robert Walpole, was quite the opposite of the son. Robert Walpole was Prime
Minister for over 20 years, from 1721 to 1742, a very powerful politician, very successful,
also very wealthy and he also had an art collection which he used for representation:
expensive paintings just to represent his power, but not having any kind of personal
relationship. Built by the leading architect of the English nobility, Colin Campbell and kent.
Robert Walpole also being an example of academic architecture, very rude architecture
following the rules established in the end by the viability, by French Academy and then
adopted by English architects.

Strawberry Hill was meant to be an individualistic solution, an individualistic piece of

architecture. The starting point was the very little house Coachman’s House which was the
House of Coachman of a humble man Twickenham, which is just a small place outside
London. He left the small dimensions, which allow for intimacy of the building and that these
dimensions were also adequate for the private function, so he did not want his private
residence to be also in a public building. Due to his small dimensions with no obvious
regularity and any kind of artistic rules, this house offered the chance for development:
convert the house into something that would correspond to these aesthetic ideas, but not
building from scratch, but connecting back to history. And this is what he sketched for the
conversion of that humble house: he departed from classical architecture. He ended with a
small house with a private character and with individualistic forms. And for him,
individualistic forms would also be not classical forms, but Gothic forms. For this year, the
gothic style was quite unusual. There were almost no models, very few ones, basically in
landscape garden architecture beside a pool.

An example is this Gothic temple at the English garden at Stowe (1741) by James Gibbs. And
another aesthetic frame in which he located his aesthetic ideas was the English landscape
characterized by irregularity which allowed for surprise for the lucky moment.
“Let not each beauty everywhere be spy‘d, Where half the skill is decently to hide. He gains all
points, who pleasingly confounds, Surprises, varies, and conceals the Bounds”- Alexander Pope
A quote taken from a poem by Alexander Pope written down in the form of a letter which
celebrates the idea of the English garden. So, this means it is about not showing everything in
one plan and concealing things, allowing for surprise, allowing for exploring something and
hiding allows for discovering something. And Horace Walpole argued that only Gothic
architecture would be a proper counterpart of English landscape garden aesthetics because it
shared that concept of aesthetic central experience in a timeline so that you can discover all
the aesthetic features of the garden of a house. He started transforming and extending the
small house and the regional Coachman’s house as it was in this area. As for Gothic form the
drawings of the Strawberry Hill made by friends, represents the way how it would like this
building to be seen. The house is like Monticello in the landscape garden, designed by
Walpole, also has trees which partly concealed the shocking plot with view to the building.
As for the Gothic form, he had to define models identifying various ways together with his
friends: for example he looked at some historical books on medieval architecture and he took
from there how to design a window, or doing sketches made by friends during a journey. The
aim was to record the Gothic atmosphere with strong sensations, strong aesthetic experiences,
it also goes back into medieval history, the “Dark Age”, so to say strong asset experiences.
For example, the pinnacles had no structural function like a Gothic architecture, but they
were only decorated elements, which also supported the vertical direction of the building,
which is basically horizontal then we have been the battlements remand to symbolize the
shelter function of the home. In the end we have oriel which were introduced not for having
additional space inside of the building, but basically to have additional windows because
Walpole collected several Gothic stained or painted windows and ordered to have enough
space to put these windows. The building was meant to be experienced as a kind of
discovery; the new building started with the entrance court. To enter the building, you have to
turn around the corner: so it’s kind of intentionally misleading or leading to attracting the
attention of people. If they enter the building, they arrive at the lobby: its entanglement of
spaces, not only in this area, but also in the rest of the building, you only have the building
allows only for partial perception of the spaces. Also, part of the aesthetic experience is the
atmosphere that provokes stronger sensations. Indian bucklers and history is present through
tracery as a decoration on walls: this decoration was not a declaration made of cut stone, but
it was simply more paper. Walpolel combined cut stone. It was not important the material
itself but the visual perception. They were not aiming at reducing as coloring correct graphic
architecture, but they will be collecting features of Gothic architecture and adapting for their
needs, for example they looked at medieval Gothic buildings and they adapted single
individual motives for Strawberry Hill without considering the scale. The doorway function
was ignored because they used the doorway for, and they did not care that they had multiplied
motive for the bookshelf. Another example is the chimney which was designed after the
model of a grave monument in Canterbury Cathedral, which used a kind of inverter failing
way for having the chimney inside. The building had a lot to do with deciding which
direction to take so every move must be decided. The Tribune room was intended as the final
point of the discovery tool through the house end which contained the most precious items of
Walpole’s art collection, which was built up as a personal collection and worked as a final
point of discovery through the English landscape garden. The House and garden provide
spaces for personal, personalized aesthetic experiences.
THE MODERN INDIVIDUAL AND ITS BUILT MANIFESTATION: THE ENGLISH
LANDSCAPE GARDEN
John Locke (1632-1704) wrote an Essay Concerning Human Understanding which became
one of the fundamental texts for the understanding of how the human mind is build up and
that everything is based on sensation, so what we perceive by simply by looking, by sentence,
receiving the mood, and that perception is at the basis of any kind of conception of any kind
of idea and of more complex ideas about the world and culture. Therefore, perception is the
key to building the human mind to build the human individuals and also memory because it
allows us to combine different sensations that we have made during the time combining them
and collect them. To design a garden is fundamental perception which creates strong
sensations and brings memory as a means to metabolize the single perception sensations and
to enrich them by introducing a timeline. As for the landscape garden the direct and
immediate relationship between physical objects and mental states becomes important.
Architecture by producing physical objects or landscape gardening by producing certain
settings, certain scenery can be used to communicate certain meaning.
Architecture can be used to communicate and control certain meanings. And the landscape
garden is also a response to questions concerning the society which is founded on national
roles: every natural law is the basic rule, which is basic for all men and the entire national
word. Everyone is free to make his own experiences to accumulate sensations and build up
character and then it’s nothing controlled by the king. You have freedom to look around and
remove why you want to choose your path through the houses or to choose your path through
the garden.
The English landscape garden begins in the early 18th century. William Kent who is the main
architect who created the idea of the English landscape garden. He built the garden of
Chiswick House which is a combination between the geometric order of the French garden
and typical elements of the English landscape gardens. A winding path which allows one to
take a decision where to go and allows a variety of perspectives, a variety of views into the
garden. There are two gardens. The first one is Stourhead garden in England which is a
classic example of a landscape garden, the garden was designed by the owner with Colen
Campbell. So, there’s strong collaboration between clients and artists. The garden was
opened in 1750. Stourhead house is the typical Mansion House. There is a lake in the center
that is very natural because it has irregular form with a small river which was used to create
this lake. Also there is a cottage and miniature temples. Benches are an important element
sitting down while looking around for enjoying the views: a circle bench which allows us to
choose which way you want to look: you can see the bridge and the buildings present in the
park, a miniature copy of Palladian Bridge. This is designed to deepen the feelings to allow
us then sensations and for an accumulation of experiences in a timeline. What is interesting is
the Stourhead village: a medieval village with King Alfred’s Tower (Henry Flitcroft), as an
object of aesthetic experience. Timeline experience made in the course of time, the park also
allows to experience nature in the changing seasons, and they preferred to plant vegetation
which will change in during the seasons. Also, Natural History was included into the garden
architecture and basically by means of an artificial grotto for the “genius of the place” which
was the river god. The statue of the river god was meant to represent the genius of the place
which marks the supposed source of the river Stour, which allowed for the creation of the
lake and the park.
In Germany the very first English garden was realized in Worlitz close to Dessau, designed
by the duke Leopold III, Friedrich Franz of Anshalt-Dessau together with architect Friedrich
Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff. In this case the idea was influenced by Rousseau promoting his
idea that small estates have basic advantages in comparison to big estates because small states
are closer to nature.
The first building in the garden of Worlitz has classical schemes, new Palladian architecture.
It’s classical architecture, but it’s not as monumental as clients are quite simple in its
interventions and simple in the amount of decoration is simply in terms of materialization and
it’s also meant to be a building which can be approached from different angles. Two pavilions
are part of the building and they contain the Public Library and a Graphic Museum which
report on that educational program in order to allow the people to educate.
The duke then built a dam which protected this area from the flooding coming from the river
Elbe. In order to oversee the dam, he built a guard tower which was called Venus Tower.
The guard tower is designed in a very particular way: it’s basically a combination of two
architectural languages, classical language in the basement and the other one is the timber
frame architecture with these structures filled with bricks which is connected to a German
vernacular architecture.
Another building is the Villa Hamilton, which is the smallest scale copies of various
buildings and in this case the pavilion is a small scale copy of the villa Hamilton at Naples.
William Hamilton was a collector of Ancient Arts. He was an important collector of the 18th
century. The Villa was on top of an artificial amount of rocks. The volcano Vesuvius was one
of the main attractions for those visiting Naples in April. The volcano was produced in an
artificial way: inside of the artificial rock mountain there was a machine which allowed for
fireworks.

UTOPÍA IN THE ANCIENT REGIME AND BEYOND: BOULLÉE, LEDOUX

Boullée
Etienne- Louis Boullée was an architect of the early 18th century started his career as an
architect of the Parisian mobility, he also assumes some functions becoming the “Contrôleur
des bâtiments à l'Hôtel Royal des Invalides et à l’Ecole Militaire”. A teacher at the World
Academy. He interpreted architecture so that it’s not necessary to build to realize something,
but the main thing is to design, to figure out the concept, to be creative, and then to design in
order to represent what one has in mind.
“In order to execute, it is first necessary to conceive. Our earliest ancestors built their huts
only when they had a picture of them in their minds. It is this product of the mind, this
process of creation, that constitutes architecture…”
-Boulée,Architecture, Essai sur l’art,1794
He was convinced that one can perfectly represent the project in a drawing, and that this
drawing would have the same impact on the builder. One very famous is inside of a series of
utopian projects: Cenotaph to Isaac Newton. Is one of the most elaborate paper projects that
Boulée produced. Boullée started from this scientist in order to celebrate him as an important
man and his knowledge important for our understanding of the word, designing this cenotaph.
Boullée designed a spherical building, which was a strange type of building for that time. It’s
also a very pure geometric form. also we can observe the vast scale of the building
representative in the drawing by looking at the very tiny people here. He fully works without
recourse to common elements of architecture, not only the form was strange, but there are
also no elements which people: there is no add conventional ornaments and the columns were
substituted by these trees which connect the artificial building with the idea of nature, and by
this also referring to Newton role in the natural sciences. In the center there’s some smoke
which indicates that there is a religious ritual, and transforms the entire building into a sacred
sphere. The last important element is the light/shadow. The intention was to connect to
nature, it’s a supernatural light which contributes to the connection between the real and the
supernatural. And all this was meant to create a very strong, big effect of the building and of
the volume. The paper project includes 2 sections. The first section shows the room that can
be reached by using letters but the top of the sphere is out of reach even if you have some
kind of scaffoldings and this contributes to disorientation. The huge object in the center is an
astronomical model and it serves as a light source. The entire building makes various strong
sensations.
The second section shows the building by day. Outside there is natural light but inside is dark.
Inside there are other light sources which imitate the starry sky as a product of nature.
“O Newton! With the range of your intelligence and the supply major of your Genius, you
have defined the shape of the earth; I have considered the idea of a well enveloping you in
your discovery.”
The most important natural law which Newton described was gravity which determines the
path of the stars. Newton discovered single fundamental rules of nature and Boulléè
responded to this by the simple but commanding form of the building.

Ledoux
Ledoux was a famous architect of the 18th century and one of his famous projects was the
Factory village Chaux realized in 1774-79. He created a semicircle to evoke strong feelings
and also communicate meanings by this form and to affect the behavior of the people.
The Pavilion for Madame Dubarry (mistresses of the French King) at Louveciennes was one
of his early buildings. Is a small building but is really important for the client. She was the
most powerful woman in France at the time. Ledoux had a chance to be introduced to the
French king and this really changed his career because the year after the inauguration, he was
commissioner charged with the oversight of the saltworks of Franche-Compté, Lorraine and
the Trois-Eveches. He also became a member of the Academy Royal and assumed the title of
the architect of the King. The saltworks were in the western part of France. and was famous
for the salty water and was one of the most precious commodities in that time, because it was
used for the preservation of meat and fish and for the production of cheese. Was strictly
controlled by a royal monopoly: who were involved in producing and trading sort have to pay
high taxes called Gabelle. Ledoux when became the worker of the saltworks was confronted
with the major problem of being able to boil the water to get the salt, they had used charcoal
produced from burning wood. In that time most of the production of charcoal had gone, so
there were no more trees to produce the charcoal and have the energy to boil the water. The
first thing Ledoux had to do was to analyze the situation and to propose an infrastructural
improvement: he moved the factory to another place where there is still enough wood. This
was the starting point for the project of the factory village of Chaux: he created an aqueduct
to bring the saline water to a place 20 kilometers away from the actual sources of the saline
water in order to have the energy for boiling the water.
One of the first plans illustrates his idea to have a saline factory semicircular which is
completed by an empty a half and this within between two existing historic villages which are
Arc et Senans. Ledoux did a series of plan, one is the plan finally approved by royal: there are
two factories where the saline water was boiled in order to get the salt; in the center we have
the Directors house and then two lateral inspectors houses, there was a gatehouse, 4 houses
for the workers (200 workers), prison, a place for the judge, gardens for food and recreations,
walls that surround the entire village.
- The first meaning of this semicircular form is that the village is part of the natural
order. In the 18th century people were living together so why did this semicircular
form: to allow the workers and the families to experience their living together to build
a society. Another interpretation that is also related to the idea of society is an
interpretation of looking out the layout as a kind of theater of production.
(Metaphorical meaning)
- There are some urns including rocky grotto that are not a natural source. The
Gatehouse was the only way to get into the village making a strong effect on the
people by combining classical artificial architecture and artificial nature with
undefined rocks and by this nature man made architecture. The factory building and
the worker’s house share the same architecture, the same ornaments and the same
materials. (Literal meaning)
- Ledoux also argues for the semicircular scene layout together with his decision to
have individual buildings with empty spaces in between as an improvement in terms of
functions because this open space in the single buildings would allow better
 circulation of air and the semicircular layout would allow for short ways.
(Functional effects of form)
- Another possible interpretation is that layout allowed for creating an optic system of
observation with the Directors House in the center who have the power of
supervision. Like the Gatehouse it has strong columns, a narrow doorway, so the
director is able to see any single building. The huge oculus in front of the gable,
which can be interpreted as a huge eye which allows one to observe the environment.
(Functional effects of form and meaning)
The gatehouse included the laundry and bakery, rooms for the guards and two prison cells.
The idea of the king was a supernatural figure who receives his power from nature.
Another series of buildings of Ledoux is a series of 45 pavilions which were built in order to
improve the control of the limits of Paris: taxes.
After the French Revolution he lost all his public commissions, became poor and ended up
prisoner in 1793-1795. After he was forced to be a paper architect because he couldn’t built
anymore, however use the chance to be detached in order to design an ideal architectures and
he published in 1804 “Architecture considérée sous le rapport de l’art, des moeurs et de la
législation” which included a development of the factory of Chaux.
The project shows an ideal society, without the restriction that he faced with the king, without
restriction of politics. He believed that this is an ideal to reach harmony. The entire project is
embedded into nature, radiating into the surrounding territory. There’s free access to this
saline community architecture: no anarchies, all people can go into the buildings, have 4
equal facades and all buildings can be approached in all directions, all buildings have a
central community space. We can also find Maison d’union, community architecture with
Doric columns surrounding is important to describe the meaning of the building by
contrasting the single trees that are about to die with the mass of vital trees that surround
Maison d’union. Ledoux in his project also included structures, buildings and infrastructure
that were enveloped in terms of communicating, before we saw metaphorical meaning and
here we have a more literal meaning. To modify the trunked the wood was cut in the house of
the woodcutter built of wooden boards. The house of the Copper is made of rings where
inside the salt is stored. The house of the keeper of the river dam and the last example of the
ideal project is the house of the keeper of farmland represented by a globe eluding the surface
where the people plant. This is also extended to the community of the dead which surrounded
silverback catacombs as a symbol for the universal fate of humans. (Literal meaning
“architecture parlante” - each building must show its character).
JOHN SOANE AND KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL HISTORY IN THE SERVICE
OF THE FUTURE
History became part of common sense around 1800 when people started to experience time in
terms of history, not as abstract time, but as history. Around 1800 it was most received as a
positive concept: people have the ability to go ahead in history in the sense of making
progress and the present was considered as a product of historic development.
The idea of history emerged in the 18th century and developed in the 19th in different fields.
History is to be understood as something opposed to the old concept of timeless Natural
History. In the 18th century, the old concept that nature doesn’t change, it doesn’t change in
also in terms of the species (animals, plants) illustrating in “Systema Naturae” (1735) by Carl
von Linné Every who shows that every plant have a position in nature with no development
and no evolution. Evolution was introduced by Charles Darwin; he believed that nature has a
history and that there is an evolutionary process which allows for the creation of new species.
“Sketch on the idea of a gradual transmutation of species”(1837) is a famous sketch where he
shows the concept of the development in time. Geology was considered to have history, it
was no longer considered to be a divine creation.
Between the 18th century and 19th century is known among historians as the age of
revolutions. Revolutions mean that people started to become aware, they can change the
systems which determine their lives, the ruling system, the economic resistance and that they
can produce progress. The first event where people became aware that man produced history
was the French Revolution.
They make history by for example imprisoning and then even killing the French king,
creating a new calendar formally establishing the in 1792, the year of the official abolishment
of the monarchy. Architects of the 19th century used history as a concept which allowed us to
differentiate between past, present and future in the sense of producing progress like:
architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel with his Nue Wache building in Berlin. Karl Friedrich
Schinkel (1781-1841) is regarded to be the most important architect based in Berlin. He
traveled to Italy which was crucial for any architect who wants to work with monumental
architecture. In Berlin he worked also as a painter and stage designer. He became the Prussian
building administrator and a Professor of Architecture. The most important building he
realized was Neue Wache in Berlin. It was meant to be the place where the Royal Guards
have their officers. It was built in a prominent place commissioned by the Prussian King.
When commissioned in 1815 he put forward the argument that this building is not only
important because it is building for the Royal Guards, but also for the time when he received
the commission: Napoleon was beaten for the second time in Waterloo. Karl Friedrich
Schinkel explains his design theory describing how architects have to react or include history
into the design practice related to text. When an Architect designs a building he has to ask
himself what our present time demands on architecture. So the Neue Wache should also be a
victory monument which commemorates the Prussian victory over Napoleon.
Karl Friedrich Schinkel argued that first we have to define what time is about and how we
can include this implementation in our design. Secondly one has to look back into history in
order to study what our ancient ancestors already achieved in similar situations and what
could be useful for us to adapt two main features: one was the portical which can be
considered as an abbreviation of the Greek Temple (Parthenon). A second reference adopted
by Schinkel was the Roman fortification standing for Roman military power, combining
military architecture with monumental architecture used for the embellishment of buildings
and also introducing festive motifs into the building. The building was covered by Roman
brickwork.
“Thirdly one has to decide what has to be modified concerning the historical examples, and
fourthly fantasy has to take action in order to create something totally new out of the
modifications.”
Karl Friedrich Schinkel, notes for an exercise book on architecture, 1835

He had to adapt to the actual use of the building: the pragmatic design of the plan according
to the actual use of the building. There were also aesthetic interventions, for example, he
decided not to change the proportion of the columns which were more slender in order to
have a more elegant appearance and to better meet the taste of the people. In favor of
celebrating the victory, he gave a festive character and introduced dancing victories. Schinkel
did not only synthesize the Roman and Greek reference in the entire building, but he also
synthesized two types of orders in the portico: the doric and ionic features. He put an
architrave. On top of doric columns he did not adapt the typical Doric Frieze, but decided to
have a typical Ionic Frieze. Also he merged the typical ornaments of the Doric with Ionic.
The victories are meant to be sculptures on the metos on top of the columns. Victory is the
strongest element of the Greek Temple. So when he moves the e victories from between the
two columns to on top of them he puts in the place of the structure key element of the temple.
They assume a symbolic meaning reminiscent of history, the victory over Napoleon and
remind of Prussia.
Another important building is John Soane’s Bank of England in London (1788-1833). The
role and the importance of the Bank of England is to be understood in the context of English
industrialization which started in England in the 18 century changing not only the urban
environment but also ruining the countryside. He drew a lot of sketches when he was
traveling. Therefore the Bank of England assumed a key role for the financial market and for
industrialization. The first building of the Bank of England was raised in 1732-34 in order to
respond to his growing importance for financing industrialization. The architect responsible
for these extensions was Robert Taylor, John Soane finished the work in 1788-1833.
Joan Soane born in 1753 was the son of a bricklayer. As an architect, a large part of his
activities were concentrated in the Bank of England and he did not build many other
buildings. So many people participate in the share market and trading market and the bank
developed into a place of daily business and of the daily economic life of people. Shortly
after Soanes appointment as an architectural survey and 1788, the French Revolution started
which resulted in a major financial crisis. The Bank of England had to suspend the gold
standard, so the bank could not guarantee the development of the money and the shares at
issue. This led to a crisis of trust into the public financial system so people wouldn’t trust
anymore that their money would keep its value.
To react to the financial crisis architects introduce a new architectural language: classical
language. Soane decided to go back to Roman antiquity to introduce this new kind of
historical reference in order to meet the present day needs, which was again to regain trust of
people into the financial system represented by the Bank of England. Basically on the level of
materialization to represent the internal classical architecture, but was made in material terms
of wood and plaster. In his architecture he built his space with brick and stone. There was a
clear reference to Roman architecture during the Romans Empire. There was also that by the
use of stone the risk of fire could be minimized.

Bank Stock Office

The bank stop office which is the earliest design. Is basically a simple rectangular space with
a huge area for the customers. The reference for the Bank Stock Office was the Basilica of
Maxentius in Rome, he adapted by introducing different proportions, also reducing the size of
chapels. There is the main cupola which contradicts the aesthetics of the rest of the building
because it is very light which defines the spatial units. It also contributes to a certain supply
appearance of these office spaces because the light comes from outside. As for the adaptation
modification of these sorts of references extend also two ornamental details.
Consols Transfer Office
The space is again maximized to allow more movement and then we have the visibility of its
large open spaces for the staff whether trading takes place. All the drawings and rendering of
these spaces were made by Joseph Gandy.
Rotonda
This room was rebuilt to evoke the Roman Pantheon. We can observe the free interpretation
of the ancient model. It’s a very simple plain architecture, not including columns, the
structure is stable by the use of only one material.
Exterior Bank of England
His idea was to create a facade which unified the different spaces built over the time. This
perimeter building was challenging not only because it was hard to bring together and to be a
facade for different buildings, but also for security because he wasn’allow to create windows
on the facades so he had to create cupolas to bring the light inside the Bank. He separated the
exterior rapping from the interior planimetry.
Tivoli Corner
Tivoli was a corner designed to have a meaning to the facade. He interpreted this name from
the Tivoli Temple which was a reference to many English people and he realized it was in a
key location between the financial district and the residential area.
The design of the facade was a sequence of nieces and doors and porticos which made up the
entire facade.
BATTLE OF STYLES
The 19th century was the century of nation States and evolving nation States and empires, but
one important type of political unit disappeared, which were the city state’s.
The characteristics of the nation state defined by its borders. The most powerful nations were
France, Britain, Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Their aim at representing their national identity
by cultural terms (poetry, literature, music, architecture) resulted in questions of style,
discussions about what would be the true national style and a battle of styles, which took
place within the same nation state. Architecture being representative of a national culture and
a national identity is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s text: “On German Architecture”.
Germany during this period was split into a very large number of political units and they had
to find a kind of common basis for their argument that Germany would be a nation: we have a
common language and a common culture.
One of the first architects to promote Gothic architecture as an expression of national genius
was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Both the Italians and the French have borrowed ancient architecture, from the ancient
Romans and from the ancient Greek, only the Germans have produced their own architecture.
In the late 18th century Gothic was meant to be the true expression of National German
genius. And people also believe that Gothic would have the capacity to force national
identity. Schinkel's most important paintings were: Gothic Cathedral with Imperial Palace,
1815 – Gothic Cathedral at Waterside, 1814. He contributed to the Gothic cathedral in the
setting of cities and of the world environment of cities. He represents the castle, the place
where the ruler is kind of marginalized.
Schinkel couldn’t realize this dream of Gothic cathedral, but he could realize only a small
monument to the wars of liberation in Berlin.
Schinkel drew many sketches of unfinished cathedral: the most famous unfinished Cathedral
was Cologne Cathedral which was completed by other architects and it became one of the
most important iconic symbols of German Gothic. Sulpiz Boisseree was an important figure.
In 1880 he started to survey and measure the finished parts of the building; he asked Goethe
for help with editing his work.
Another architect who was important in the history of the Cologne Cathedral, was George
Moller who, as an architect, discovered some of the medieval plans, including the elevation
of the Gothic Cathedral.
There was a lot of evidence that Gothic Cathedral wasn’t an invention of Germans and wasn’t
invented by what was considered to belong to, but it was invented in France creating a lot of
discussion. Some argued that Cologne Cathedral was dependent artistically on the Amiens
Cathedral some others argued that Cologne Cathedral is not coping dependent from Amiens
Cathedral but is evidence of the vital influence of dramatic civilization in France.
Cologne Cathedral was completed after almost 60 years of work in 1880.
While Prussia was paying for the reconstruction of the Cologne Cathedral by Schinkel,
Bavaria was aiming to have a competing project: Walhalla by Leo von Klenze, built close to
Donaustauf which was a medieval city.
In Cologne Cathedral, the preference of Schinkel for Gothic forms was regarding national
monuments, while in Walhalla the preference for classical forms.
Walhalla became the main project for the National Monument, promoted by Bavaria. The
Bavaria King had the ambition to realize the Germanic Pantheon for cultural heroes, so it was
not for soldiers killed in the war, but for cultural heroes (painters, poets, philosophers...).
Schinkel proposed a building in medieval forms, whereas Klenze proposed a Greek temple
designed according to the model of the Athenian Parthenon.
In England we also can see debates on styles between medieval styles and classical styles.
One example of classical style was the British Museum realized in 1823-46. The British
museum was built to host the ancient marbles from Athens. At the same time, we have also a
strong campaigning for Gothic. One project was the extension and decoration of Windsor
Castle. Pugin argued for a national Gothic Revival to do social reform. August Welby
Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) was an architect, painter, architectural draftsman, Gothic
specialist. He also became a designer, architect, architectural and religious polemicist and
started his career at Windsor castle (furniture design). His approach illustrated in his book
“Contrasts” that is published in 1841: was composed of paired illustrations of the same
situation, one in the present time, one in the Middle Ages.

This is a pair which is made in the context of a program for a public building program for
parish churches which were started in the 1820s to have more parish small churches all over
the country. This program was directed by the Church Building Commission. These new
churches were meant to maintain a social order, which had become frail, weak under the
pressure of urbanization and industrialization. More than 200 churches were built in the years
between 1920, early 1930 and most of them in Neo Gothic. So, there was a discussion going
on at that time taken up by Pugin who included one of these Commissioner churches and
contrasted it with a Gothic parish church in Yorkshire. Picture (1) is a bad example of a very
bad quality of not paying enough money for these important buildings of having Gothic
elements only not integral parts. He argued in favor of a better new Gothic architecture, but it
was more about it in his book contrasts he abandoned a purely antiquarian study in favor of a
polemical use of the historical argument: he used Gothic Revival as a mean to address moral
decay, social analyst, poverty as a result of modern economy. He argued that we can use
Gothic as a universal national style which is appropriate for all kinds of building types not
only for churches and he would consider Gothic as an embodiment of Christian and National
and moral values.

This is a series of Contrasts comparisons of medieval application, which was buildings from
the 15th and 16th century. These structures were compared stylistically and in terms of the
aesthetic outcome as a result of the moral and social background of the respective time. From
the picture we can see that he compares the medieval Windsor castle with the Royal Chapels.
The altar in the Windsor is in the center and not the pulpit like in Royal Chapel; in the
Windsor is about celebrating a ritual whereas in Chapel is a protestant ritual in a theatrical
show. The first occasion for Pugin to realize his ideas about Gothic revival in building, which
was and for following a building type which was considered to be a Typical building type for
classic architecture was the Houses of Parliament. The Houses of Parliament was devastated
by fire in 1830 and 1835 a Parliament was established to govern the reconstruction of the new
building of the Parliament and the building should be rebuilt in Gothic style. There was an
open architecture competition in which Pugin was asked to do the detailing of the
competition project by another architect Charles Barry who was an exponent of classical
architecture so he asked Pugin to do Gothic detailing. The actual construction started in 1840.
Pugin was responsible for the design of the Big Bang and he was also responsible for all the
Gothic ornamentation for the document detailing and for the interior design of the Houses of
Parliament. He designed all the furniture, the stained glass, windows, doors. He considered
the Houses of Parliament to be proof that Gothic style would be really universal, national
style, universal meaning for any kind of building type. The most important national
monument in France became Notre Dame related to national identity. Eugène-Emmanuel
Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879) was an architect, theorist, restorer. Was responsible for the
construction of a large number of restoration projects for medieval monuments in France and
abroad, for example the restoration of the Cathedral in Lausanne. In 1844-64 did the
restoration of Notre Dame. He said that the French people were characterized by reason, the
used intellect. In contrast to the sensation, he indicates that reason is the most important
thing. The reason was the main approach to the architecture. This monument was well
described in the manuscript “Notre Dame de Paris” by Victor Hugo 1831 where he celebrated
the Cathedral as a French genius, a symbol of emancipation and autonomy. Unfortunately
Viollet-le-Duc did not finish his idea of reconstructions but he did interior reconstructions
and on the exterior the pinnacles and spire made of iron are considered as a material that
creates a connection between past and present. Victor Hugo believed that the organizations of
the masons’ lodges during the middle age (workshop of craftsmen building the medieval
cathedral that work as a collaborative group) are also in the present in the industrial building
where we can find collaborative work. In the Middle Ages there was standardization and
prefabrication and can be compared also in the present. This cathedral was realized in the city
during the middle ages and commissioned by civic and not by the king and corresponds to
modern society. Viollet-le-Duc argued that rationality was part of the national character of
French and according to French architecture embodies rationality and there are key
requirements to which architects have to respond: functionality and rational construction. The
entire Gothic cathedral was a response to functional demand for light and air. In order to have
this light and air they introduced huge windows and they faced a problem that the exterior
wall ran the risk of being pushed out of vertical by thrust of the cross ribs. To solve this
problem he put a gable on top of the window to stabilize the exterior wall. In order to
transmit the forces on the ground he created buttresses and flying buttresses. He added
pinnacles which are not only ornament but have a structural function of stabilizer. Thanks to
the vault they save materials and cost. Iron helped to reduce the cost. He proposed how to
introduce iron in architecture.
BUILDINGS MATERIAL AND BUILDING CULTURE
The 19th century was the period of industrialization where they started to use new building
materials. There were a lot of modern materials in the 19th century prefabrication.
Prefabrications were used in the colonial contest because the elements of the house were
produced in a European factory and then sent to the colonial. Prefabrication was used also in
industrial environments for cabins for the workers. In industrialization they also used
different materials like steel and concrete.
The materials define style and create debates. Heinrich Hubsh who built the Institute of
Technology in Karlsruhe published his text in order to connect the debate of national
architecture to national history. He thought that they should be built in specific forms and
ornaments and he decided to use brick as the principal material’s style in German. From brick
construction created the round arch which was the most logical form. Round arch was cheap
and it was an economical style. Friedrich von Gärtner used the idea of Heinrich Hübsch to
propose developing his own version of round arch and introduce the round arch as the main
features and brick in different colors. Unfortunately he spent a lot of money to create the
facades. Another architect who used brick was Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
Viollet-le-Duc proposed innovative materials and used iron in an everyday approach.
The substitute wood of iron frame. Iron frame houses were spread in the 19th century. An
example is barracks rue de Schomberg Paris by Jules Bouvard. Also in Nuremberg
Trodelmarkt we can find apartment houses and office buildings with steel frames.
“Iron house” in Austria 1846 by Graz was completely built with iron and glass and has the
ambitions to integrate the historical environment by historical forms like columns. Crystal
palace was the most important building that created debates on this material because it was a
vast building. Another debate was to use iron for the Tour Eiffel which most people criticize
as was completely different from the context.
There are many architects that try to mix the material construction with an attention to the
surrounding context. An example is Leo von Klenze who built the Royal Residence in
Munich where Franz Jakob Kreuter decided to build a greenhouse on the top. and he moved
after to connect the Royal palace to the Royal theater. This form is partly justified with iron
and has a form which could refer to Pompei architecture. His proposal was successful and the
final structure was completed by August von Voit.
In the Walhalla Leo von Klenze proposed an iron roof for the risk of the fire and wanted to
have light inside the Walhalla and we put skylights thanks to this material. He proposed to
have the iron construction inside the roof: this iron is carried by the walls and uses additional
support through cariatidi.
We have a similar situation on a huge classical church with a central plant: Nikolai Church.
He designed his church with a central dome. The design supports the structure of the cupola
and creates an iron cupola inside and covered with metal copper.
Whereas other architects were much more to integrate iron into the aesthetic architecture as
part of aesthetic design. An example is Friedrich August Stuler’s Neues Museum. The use of
iron was a logical consequence of the building ground because it was soft: the foundations
were made with iron instead of wood trunks. It also helps to have the capacity of modern
industry. They introduce prefabrication. The iron construction and technical innovation:
combination cast iron bow (comprehension) + wrought iron string (tension). Jean Nicolas
Louis Durand wrote a theory of the rational logic of design. Durand was expected to provide
future engineers with rudiments of architectural training. In his book Durand’s Precis he
revised the classical premises of architecture. He started from a basic element of design:
column or support of the structure and created a rational grill which responded to the logic of
construction and designed the position of the columns until you assemble the plan, adding the
structural elements (stairs), from the ground plan you create the elevation arriving at the
building assembled. However his idea to start from a structural grill was abstract and he
contradicted a classical model which was considered to be the organic vitality of the column
according to classical theory of the past. This theory meant that each column could be
considered an equivalent of the human body and the space between the two columns was
intercolumniation. Durand however in his schemes the space between two columns was
determined by the intersection of two beams. The human scale was translated into the
constructional scale. Durand decided to integrate the classical aesthetic related to the
representation of the organic nature into the iron construction: he wrapped the iron
construction with another metal creating decoration and converting the structural form into
organic form.
THE MOST INVENTIVE CENTURY:NEW BUILDING TYPES IN MID-19TH
CENTURY
In the 19th century the architects always tried to create something new related to the past.
The 19th century was important for industrialization, urbanization and popular cultural and
public life. In this period there were new building types: railway stations, shopping arcades,
department stores, public museums, exhibition halls, high rise office buildings, courthouses.
The major contributions to existing building types were: parliament buildings, schools,
universities, theaters, libraries, hospitals, hotels and factories.
Railway stations
Railway stations were new urban infrastructures that were born when new buildings were
built. The first railway station was Euston Stations in London 1839 by Philip Hardwick.
London was the capital of England and the first region that was industrialized. It’s a portal of
an ancient temple and was meant to be a portal to the city. They designed the portal in this
way to look back to history and he has been influenced by the portal of the Acropolis of
Athens and by Brandenburger Tor in Berlin.
The next rail station was in Paris Gare de l’Est 1847-52 by Francois Duquesney. The glass
and iron shed of the structure provides the main motive of the facade which is a semicircular
window. It’s a window with ornaments due to the Gothic treasury. Another feature is the
porch which is important for transition zones.
We can find the circular window also in King’s Cross Station in London 1851/52 by Lewis
Cubitt with a double wall to sustain the heavy windows. He connects the building to
architecture history thanks to the central tower which alludes to the ancient Roman
architecture. Cubitt designed the building that created the best possible efficiency and
characteristic expression of this efficiency. In this period they eliminated ornament and they
started to use brick on the facades.
King’s Cross Station (1863-74) St. Pancras demonstrates that stations were really
complessive. Thanks to the advance of the technology there was only one curve on the shed
and is not a functional architecture but is related to Gothic forms. The innovations of a bigger
shed responds to requests to have more trains. It was one of the biggest stations. The shed
was made by an engineer. Attached to the Station we can find Midland Grand Hotel in Londo
1868-74 by George Gilbert Scott. He designed the buildings in New Gothic form. There were
two ideas: one was that the Gothic form was ispirating in Medieval German architecture for
civics buildings which are built in the context of the Hansle (association of merchant).The
second argument for Gothic argument was the aesthetic forms.
Library
The Bibliothèque Ste-Geneviève in Paris 1838-50 by Henri Labrouste, who was an important
architect because he believed into the innovative power and create a new approach to
architecture and architectural design: he wanted an evolution of architectural form in relation
to society ( building must bear imprint of social use) , architecture should have highly
innovative approach (material, form, type, decoration), he wanted to challenge academic
standards of universal rules. He designed the bibliotheque starting with the idea that there
must be an evolution of architectural form in relation to society and he did this by a design
strategy: the design has to respond to specific conditions (place, time, function). The design
has to respond to the place: it is situated close to the Francois Marie Arouet’s Grave
Cathedral so the structure should be a backdrop cathedral. He took some motifs from the
cathedral and he repeated them on the facades. To respond the design to the function by two
definitions: the first function of the library was bookstorage and the second one is the reading
room. The public library is a meating place for intellectual and social life.
The plan is simple with a central colonate that divides in two spaces and looks back to history
to be influenced by the temple in Paestum with central colonnade used as civic meeting
spaces and we can find these double spaces also in monasteries. At the end, to respond the
design to the time he used a modern material: iron structure which allows big windows, light
space. Iron was used with ornamental form symbolizing the industrial era.
Henri Labrouste aimed at taking the facades as something which communicated the function
of the building. He displayed the iron structure on the exterior which was the metal anchor of
the iron structure and they were underlined by ornaments. Furthemore we can find under the
windows some writings as ornaments with the name of the author of the books.
Victor Hugo criticized the biblioteca: the medieval buildings like Notre Dame and the Gothic
Cathedral had facades as a storyboard while the building of Henri Labrouste created a mute
facade. So Labrouste introduced the name of the author to allow the building to speak once
again.
Department stores
Department stores have a huge impact on the environment. Before they didn’t exist. They
became a permanent feature and their characteristics were that they have fixed prices, no
obligation to buy, and leisure spectacle. They were big buildings and the common struction
was an iron frame which allowed huge display windows. The facades have motifs from
monumental architecture.
The main Entrance was designed to invite people inside: projects towards pavement, gilded
canopy to attract attention to the entrance, sculptures and huge arched windows to allow for
luxury. The structural system was extended step by step until it became a huge building.
Au Bon Marchè by Boileau and Effeil who remodeled the interior: huge courtyards which
became skylated through the lanterns and huge stairs with galleries. Shopping became part of
spectacles. With the birth of Department stores women have the possibility to be more free to
walk alone. The space offers an aesthetic experience in terms of light inside.
Magasins au Printemps in Paris by Sédille was particular because it combined monumental
architecture with industrial architecture, with huge windows displayed not only for interior
functions but also for structure because they were made of iron.
Wetheim department store was a response to the risk of fire so they did not allow anymore
glass facades and they built a department store with stones.

NEW BUILDING TYPES IN MID-19TH CENTURY II

The history of architecture through building types it’s another way to see the history of
architecture. The idea of the history of architecture through building types tries to deal with
both styles which is a matter of architecture history and also deals with how the function
influenced the building which is more a matter of cultural history.
Universities
University wasn’t a new building type of the 19 century. University was founded in the
middle ages between 12 and 13th century and the first was a group of people of singular
individuals that decided to build a community with educational purposes to increase their
knowledge. The term university comes from Latin and means community. While the first
universities were built inside the cities which belonged to the normal evolution of the urban
fabric, in the 19th century there is an appearance of a new way of thinking this university
buildings with a declination of the building type university through the ideas and the
realization of the of the campus: Thomas Jefferson renewed education by not only creating
the first public university (University of Virginia), but also established the idea of how the
university should be built where singular buildings were embedded in the nature following
the idea of Locke that education was based on sensation.
Bauakademie by Karl Friedrich Schinkel was one of the first buildings for a school of
architecture. Was built in Berlin in the middle of the city. The Bauakademie was a
multi-functional building: it didn’t contain only the School of architecture but there were also
the building administration of the Russian state, Schinkel’s flat and on the ground floor there
were shops that were supposed to finance the building. The mixture between private and
public interest between shops for everyday and educational facilities was a discovery.
Bauakademie is located in the middle of Berlin in front of the island of museums with the
river which cuts into two parts the island. It was directly related to the main palace of the
Prussian king. Before the architectural schools were spread around the city's with anelphy
conditions. The idea was to renovate the whole area. Schinkel did some very important
buildings like the Altes Museum or the Neue Wache. Bauakademie should be a catalyst for
transforming the urban context, reorganize the street alignments, the public squares, should
be a model quarter of wide streets with healthy spaces and the view on the river should be
free. The building was realized as a cube with an interior courtyard. It was one of the first
frame constructions. Schinkel’s design was both conceptual and programmatic at the same
time, and it was considered the first example of modern architecture: it was a skeleton
structure made of bricks which were used also for the facade and was a monumental building.
Cley was a common natural resource for buildings in Russia, Germany, and Schinkel as a
member of the official building offices argued that brick architecture would be a catalyst for
the brick industry Prussia. Schinkel before the Academy building did a study trip to England
studying industries for the Prussian government: learn construction methods to introduce
them in Prussia.The interest of Schinkle was brief construction, typical for English factories,
especially for textile spinners. Factories in England were built of bricks and this was the main
inspiration for Schinkel. The Stanley Mill, which was built 1813 was the direct reference for
the design of the Academy.
The use of clay was diffused also in Prussia. From his idea of Factories he built a school of
architecture as a place of production (of knowledge). The structural architecture and its
artistic representation are combined through its design. From the planimetry we can see the
module taken from the structural system and repeated and the perfect square. Inside there is a
courtyard in the middle and the roof has an impluvium construction. The facade is composed
of windows with segmental arches,pediments closed to classical elements, the visible
structure skeleton and the tectonic grid over the facade.
Construction Process
The first step of the construction process was to build the frame: the pillars were built
singolary. Secondly there were the brick vaults which connected each pillars and defined the
different floors. the third part was wall infills which don’t have a statical structure made of
bricks and finally the structural frame was covered by refined bricks in order to design the
facade for decoration. At the end they put terracotta reliefs as decoration elements on the
windows pediments and parapets. The facades represent the construction process and the
structural system. In the wall infills the bricks are not the same colors: there are layers with a
horizontal band of glazed bricks. The horizontal bends pass through under projecting
pilasters creating a vertical series of frames which indicate the floors and position of ceiling.
The building was addressed not only for the user but also for the passerby.
There is a dialectic between philosophy,like education and the technique, so how it was built,
it's a dialectic between humans searching for order and physical laws. On the two levels were
these pediments decorating: on the upper ones there are stylised plants and on the lower one
there is a frieze with the genius of the arts and the representation of the development of the
building. Looking at the building we can see that there is no dominant main facade because
all the sides are the same, there is no central spatial axis which was very common for
monumental buildings with two main entrances (one for the school, one for the offices).
This building Schinkel takes distance from all the historical references and built something
which could be understood as modern uses the languages of industry factories for
monumental building, it doesn’t cover the brick and thanks to the construction. It was built in
1830 to 1835, resisted the Second World War, it was demolished after and was an office
building of the GDR until 1990, today the idea is to rebuild the Academy.
19TH CENTURY GLOBALIZATION I: WORLD’S FAIRS
There was an economic competition between countries in the 19th century that also led to
national competition in terms of style. The British Empire was the leading nation in that time,
and with France being the main competitor of Great Britain in that time. The British Empire
in the mid 19 century was the only one which was a global empire, which spanned all five
continents (Europe, India, South Africa, Australia and Canada) which created a global sphere
of influence in political and economical terms for Britain controlling global trade. England
was the first country to be fully industrialized due the material resources in particular cohal
which provided the energy. The mass production of goods which developed from the
beginning in the late 18th century also included building materials like iron and glass which
was an important precondition for the great exhibition. Industrialization means thousands of
people moved into the bigger cities in northern England in order to work in the factories and
create a middle class. There was at the same time an increase of the number of workers living
in the city, but at the same time an increase of middle class people administering and offering
supply for the workers. People became consumers of commodities produced for the market,
also the workers were forced to become consumers. Industrial society resulted in a need of
transportations and effects on how the city looked with display windows. Industrialization
creates a mass of consumption and a competition in the economy to get attention from
people. Many designers deal with the problem of poor quality of the design by the fact that in
the industries there were a lot of unlearned designers leading to the creation of exaggerated
shapes. Henry Cole was one of the protagonists of the design reform: functional element with
the reduction of ornaments. Henry Cole was a civil servant who was concerned with
commerce but also with education, he launched a series of design schools. He did one of the
most important design reforms. In order to promote his reform he started to organize national
exhibitions of commodities in 1840 to provide models for the designer’s measuring pictures.
He got the support of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert to organize the Great
Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations. He created an International exhibition
with unprecedented scale. The building Commission organized an international competition,
an international application competition in 1851 of the first big international competitions.
But despite the large number of entrie no project was regarded to be suitable for building to
the exhibition, therefore the building Commission proposed his own design. The building
was built in Hyde park, so close to Buckingham Palace. In the center there is a huge
monumental cupola. When the building Commission published the project the response
complained about the design: they complained that the design was too monumental, that it
looked like a building which would stand there for hundreds of next 100 years, and used
monument features instead of being a much more simple building. Joseph Paxton proposed a
solution for the design of the building with some sketches. The model of this construction he
had found in a garden in nature by looking at water relief which was translated into the
construction of the greenhouses demonstrating the stability of construction. When he started
to develop his design he faced a number of challenges: the size of the building which was
uncertain because he did not know the number of the products, he also had a very tight time
frame so it had a nine months and a quiet budget. He attempted to profit to the maximum
from industrialization. He enjoined collaboration with building contractor folks and Anderson
pushing technical innovation on the construction side using.steam engines for the preparation
of the wooden roof beams machines. By realizing lots of prefabrication they succeeded in
employing large quantities of iron and glass. Despite the fact that they have engines on the
construction site, there were a lot of people combining manpower with machine power.
There were also innovations on the construction site like the glaziers’ wagon: tracks useful to
put the glass panels. The new project called Crystal Palace was really successful. Inside was a
container allowing for flexible spaces, vast space. This building also had lots of criticism by
people: Semper described this building like a glass covered vacuum, or Boucher German
journalists described the disturbing effects of the building in terms of the aesthetic and the
perception of the building. He put the focus on the impossibility to charge on the dimensions
of the building and on how the building was made. Out something that was the challenge
from last adding challenge to the people. The container building allowed for flexible
disposition of sections which measured 1851 feet. It was a problem to bring order into these
goods into these exhibitions so he started with exhibits with Raw materials, after the
machines, products which are commodities like still designs, and fine art. It offered different
experiences: one was a great marketplace, green house. Industrial history can be compared
with Natural History. Visitors were spectators who participated in the global production. The
exhibition allowed for experiences in terms of the clash of countries: India and Turkey, North
Africa, Canada. Allowed perception of the aesthetic relationship of far-flung cultures.
American read all the Crystal Palace and the exhibition. In the 19th century world fairs were
organized all over the world: in Europe there were two main competitors Britain and France,
Vienna and in the United States. The second world fairs was in 1855 in Paris. Outside it was
monumental architecture, while inside was an engineering architecture. This one was smaller
than the Crystal Palace, with stones with a glass and iron construction inside. Pavilions were
built in the surrounding park to exhibit their national architecture. An example is the Pavilion
of Japan or the pavilion of Sweden-Norways. We can find in Paris also the Egyptian temple
to create an historical dimension. Also in Vienna we can find world fairfair and Pavillons.
The first of the worlds to take place in the United States was in Philadelphia in 1876 because
it was the 100th anniversary of the declaration of the American Independence.
In 1878 in Paris there was the second exhibition building: the building of a new bridge, Torre
Eiffel and Trocadero. They did the exposition to celebrate the french revolutions. They
realized Eiffel Tower: a central building, based on modern engineering. It was meant to be
demolished after. The construction started in 1887 built by steps to create a countdown of the
exhibitions. From an official album we can see the workers that are described as heroes and
how people have to experience the structure throughout the climbing. Offers a new kind of
aesthetic experience and printers and seurat paint a lot of paintings. The Tower was used as a
means to have artificial lighting and natural spectacle. Another important building in Paris
was Galerie des Machines by Dutert and Contamin realized as an exhibition for machines.
Was an engineering building with ornamentations in the iron construction. The size of the
building have the the same size as the Crystal Palace. Inside there were mobile lookout
bridges allowing a new way to experience the exhibitions. The visitor could listen to music
without musicians being present and they were„introverted“ within the crowd.
19TH CENTURY GLOBALIZATION II: COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
The colonial colonies were located in Africa, India in regions with tropical climates. In order
to deal with the climate they created punkah to have fresh air. the main protagonists of the
colonias: punkash, thermantidote (interior air conditioning) and verandah. The European
rules in India behnevis the soldier from Senegal and the servant behaves more than the
European terms. The colon behavior was represented also in pictures showing the Western
master’s composure: colonial style. Colon has an effect also in architecture. The Viceroy’s
family had struggled for British composure. An early example of European architecture in
India was the Factory of the East India company which colonized India in the early modern
period. In 1862 The Indian was colonized by the British with Presidenzez connected with
transportations system, infrastractions and military control. The New House, cartoon
published in 1853 shows the difficulty of Britain to build in India. The design becaeìme
house which responds with the climate through windows, height to protect from animals and
from indians. The Indian supervisor proposed another project. The Indian builders with the
first project didn't know how to start the work while the bungalow (second project) was a
success story. Banggolo was a peasant’s hut of rural Bengal with a central plan, umbrella roof
by bamboo and this form of the roof allowed the hot air to go up. The East Indian Company
The idea where seem like enemies so they created a fence to defend the european. He built in
European form with adaptation to the climate. They adapted the type of Bangalore in order to
have small houses for Asia, for Country Life, for spending the holidays. In the hot summer
months, especially in the northern part of India, where it was colder in the Himalaya hillside
in this case. Looking at the history of Banggolo is a feedback process: first he England
adapted northern India adapting bungalows and then the local people learnt from this model
by modifying the original Bangaloo by having a platform by opening windows and by having
the porch. And in the course of time, there was the Bangalore type. That was diversified, so
to say. Another example of the development was the hardening of the Bungalows substance.
Magistrate’s bungalow was an official government with a tiled roof so that Indian people
would attack the bungalow of that official government. Another example shows how the
bungalow was adapted by the military: was much closer to European models, Aesthetic
elements to demonstrate European rule, classical building having the flat roof which is
designed according to the classical models, added raised central hall with windows at ceiling
height which allow to improve ventilation. Last example shows the success story of the
Bungalow becoming the main type of house for the Europeans living in India regarding
luxury. In Africa they became the tropical house suitable for Europeans similar to India, in
the United States, where it became a typical family house, household in Asia, in Germany
became a luxury. The monumental representational buildings realized by the East India
Company in the Presidency. Their company was a trading network, very successful in
economic terms for a long time. But in the 18th century century, the East India Company had
serious financial trouble. So that was kind of economically miss trading and the company had
to be bailed out by the British government, which gave money to the East Indian company in
order that they would economically survive. And from that point they substituted greater
regulation by the British government. They also built their buildings in a different way and
they decided for another kind of representation of the company in India by building a series
of governmental houses. So each of these capitals we became. An old Government House and
in those years, at the end of the year of the 18th century and these government houses were
built according to European models.The Government House in Calcutta was designed after
following the model of the mansion houses in England. But also in the case of the
government houses models cause problems in terms of climate challenge and. A Government
House, which was released shortly after the computer one is the one in Marcus cell which
responded to the climate. The challenges of climate then this is the Government House: he
wanted to remind a bit of the Bungalow but also include European power. Argentina and
therefore knew about how to build colonial buildings. In the mid 19th century there was a
challenge of british authority to defeat the English power in India: resulted in the destruction
of buildings. They reacted by building Revenue Board building combined with Indian
features architecture with European Features. This building was responsible for collecting
taxes.The ornaments came from India while the simple plan and the tower came from Europe
in order to demonstrate the superiority of the English over the Indians. Indo-Saracenic offered
maximum freedom to mix with other styles: New Gothic elements met India.
ART AND CRAFTS
Is a movement of the 19th century which evolved only formally in the late 19th century. The
art Craft movement was a response to working and production conditions which were
partially successful and partially was the main cause of important problems. The benefits
were that there was an increase of production, but on the other hand the working conditions
and pollution. Another ebenefit was new building materials and techniques, acceleration of
building process, but there was machine work which resulted with the phenomenon of
alienation. There were new building types with vast spaces but created an inhuman dimension
losing the sense of spaces. Thanks to industrialization there were advances in
communications (materials, infrastractures), but at the same time the city has been crowded.
There was an increase in consumption, but there was an increase of pauperism and urban
slums.
Augustus Pugin was a Gothic architect which was made in a time of history when people
were led in strong belief in God with good morals while in the present there was a decline
morally, socially due the industrializations. He thought that we have to look back in gothic to
produce better art. Pugin wrote the principles of Gothic Architecture applied to architecture in
general: subordination of ornament to structure, accordance of construction with material and
accordance of features with function. One example was St.Marie's Grange (own house): a
brick building with no plaster that covers the brick, the form follows the material quality of
brick, the form responds to the complexity of the program of the building through the stricase
in the tower that create a separate volume, the ornaments are secondary that work with the
construction.
William Morris, is the main spiritual father of the Arts and Crafts movement. Formally it was
founded only in the later 19 century. He was a designer (in particolar textile, wallpapers) and
poet, novelist, socialist activist. He came from the middle class. He studied at Oxford to start
in classics, but then when he was in Oxford, he developed that interest in medieval history
and architecture and became tired of the romanticist medievalist movement, that particular
movement was very critical of Victorian industrialization capitalism. Morris was befriended
with Edward Burne Jones, who later became an artist and designer and Dante Rossetti.
Industrialization results in a general loss of artistic capacity because in the factories there was
a loss of quality in design (in terms of function, but also in terms of the moral context). He
was a strong critic of the wrong logic of machine production, again with which he considered
it against the nature of the material and was needless products for the consumer market.
Industrial production results in the division of labor and alienation of workers from their
labor and its products. William Morris had the chance to practice their ideas of decoration
with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Jones for the Oxford Union Society. They design the
cupola and they consider design and artistic production as a collective collaborative work.
Integrates art and architecture. He became an apprenticeship with George Edmund Street
based Neo-Gothic architect, and was befriended with architect Philip Webb. After his
marriage decided to build a house as a model house, a manifesto of their movement. The Red
house was built by a community involved a number of women and men who contributed to
the design, creating a collettive design and a social space (the L form of the plan which
allows to have a countryards). To adapt Pugin’s principles of architecture they did a
subordination of ornament to structure, according to construction with materials and of
features with function. The Pugin project was also complemented in the design: provides
shelter and is able to revive the community spirit of the Gothic epoch. All the spaces were
individualized at human scale. For example the two secondary roofs indicate two bedrooms.
Community as design principle extends the fact that all the elements were individualized
even in the facades with his own design. The brickwork was adequate for the ornament. The
interior design was made of collective art. Pinnacles inside the building were to relate to
Gothic also the discharging arch in order to expose the constructional function and an
ornamental element. After they had finished the Red House they realized the textile printing
atelier called Faulkner & Co (Morris & Co) produced handicraft. They created wallpapers,
“Morris Chair” (medieval and vernacular model). They also published a catalog of Morris &
Co. Hand product unfortunately was too expensive so they started to integrate the machine
without changing the design.
HAUSMANN
Colonne Morris di Jean Beraud è un quadro che rappresenta una colonna cilindrica alta 5
metri con una cupola che accoglie cartelloni pubblicitari nei viali sulle piazze e non nei
parchi. Nel 1868 il tipografo Morris ottenne la concessione di queste pubblicità che
ospitavano pubblicità di teatro e spettacolo. Già nella Parigi degli anni 30 dell'Ottocento
erano stati introdotti chioschi ottagonali in legno o colonne in muratura per le affissioni. Le
colonne, in particolare, erano cave all’interno e ospitavano un gabinetto pubblico aperta verso
la carreggiata. La colonna Morris era un intervento lanciato dal comune per rimediare alla
pubblicità selvaggia e dava una misura di ordine pubblico. E un elemento di arredo urbano
molto diffuso ancora oggi. Nella parigi nel 1871 si incontravano 8500 esemplari della
cosiddetta Panchina Davioud che diventa il simbolo della Parigi Post Hussmann: un sedile
fisso con doppia seduta e uno schienale solo disegnato da Gabriel Davioud. Ha le gambe in
ghisa e le doghe in legno, la forma allungata è stata scelta in modo che la panchina si adatti
meglio, come nel caso della colonna mores nella fila di alberi. Un altro elemento che
caratterizza Parigi si tratta del lampione in forma di candelabro in zone socialmente esclusive.
Successivamente hanno invaso le strade. Erano fatti in ghisa, aveva la forma di una colonna
con una decorazione a motivo vegetale intorno al fusto che si rifanno, evidentemente, a una
colonna. L’artefatto tecnico dà importanza alla serialità e non alla unicità.
Nel cuore di Parigi troviamo anche un orinatoio fotografato da Charles Marville demolito
negli anni 70 del 900, aveva lo scopo di risolvere i problemi igienico sanitari in questa zona
centrale e la città che ha solo uso maschile perché era reato urinare contro gli alberi. Offriva
posto in piedi a sei persone contemporaneamente, sotto c’era un canale di scolo. Importante
era la pulizia. Aveva una pianta rettangolare realizzata in lamiera di ferro dotato di una
lanterna senza copertura per permettere una buona aerazione. Tra le altre invenzioni troviamo
la griglia circolare per gli alberi e il paracarro.
Il boulevard incarna gli ideali di ordine, sicurezza ed efficienza della città moderna. Sotto
Napoleone terzo ci furono delle immense trasformazioni urbane parigine: l'obiettivo era la
modernizzazione, Haussmann erano consapevoli di programmare gli interventi in maniera
sistematica in grande scala: fognature, la rete viaria, i monumenti pubblici e arredo urbano.
Alcune linee di Haussmann: fa espropriare parte degli immobili e costruisce nuovi grandi assi
viari (Avenue de l’Opera) per migliorare le condizioni igieniche sanitari e per sventrare l’area
popolare potenzialmente pericolosa. Gli immobili da costruire dovevano avere delle facciate
in pietra e dei piani di altezza analoga. Rispetto alle vecchie vie controllava il movimento.
Considerando il fatto che la popolazione parigina aveva vissuto e che infatti viveva ancora in
quartieri distretti in ambiti circoscritti, la monumentale rete era un proprio stress test. Per
questo motivo troviamo le doppie panchine come luoghi in cui fermarsi e parlare nei
distributori di informazioni e le colonne pubblicitarie e diventano strumenti per adattarsi alle
dimensioni non abituali. Accelerare la circolazione di persone, merci, capitali: sinonimo di
libertà.
HAUSMANN ENGLISH VERSION
Columns Morris by Jean Beraud is a painting that represents a cylindrical column 5 meters
high with a dome that houses billboards in the avenues on the squares and not in the parks. In
1868 the printer Morris obtained the concession of these advertisements that hosted theater
and entertainment advertisements. Already in the Paris of the 30s of the nineteenth century
octagonal wooden kiosks or masonry columns for billboards had been introduced. The
columns, in particular, were hollow inside and housed a public toilet open to the roadway.
The Morris column was an intervention launched by the municipality to remedy the wild
advertising and gave a measure of public order. It is an element of street furniture that is still
widespread today. In Paris in 1871 there were 8500 examples of the so-called Davioud Bench
that becomes the symbol of Post Hussmann Paris: a fixed seat with double seat and a single
backrest designed by Gabriel Davioud. It has cast iron legs and wooden slats, the elongated
shape was chosen so that the bench fits better, as is the case with the mores column in the
row of trees. Another element that characterizes Paris is the lamppost in the form of a
candlestick in socially exclusive areas. Later they invaded the streets. They were made of cast
iron, it had the shape of a column with a decoration with a vegetable motif around the stem
that refer, evidently, to a column. The technical artifact gives importance to seriality and not
to uniqueness.
In the heart of Paris we also find a urinal photographed by Charles Marville demolished in
the 70s of the 900s, it was intended to solve the sanitary problems in this central area and the
city that has only male use because it was a crime to urinate against the trees. It offered
standing place to six people at once, underneath there was a drainage channel. Important was
the cleanliness. It had a rectangular plan made of iron sheet equipped with a lantern without a
cover to allow good ventilation. Among other inventions we find the circular grid for trees
and the curbstone.
The boulevard embodies the ideals of order, safety and efficiency of the modern city. Under
Napoleon III there were immense Parisian urban transformations: the goal was
modernization, Haussmann were aware of planning interventions in a systematic way on a
large scale: sewers, the road network, public monuments and urban furniture. Some lines of
Haussmann: he expropriates part of the buildings and builds new large roads (Avenue de
l'Opera) to improve sanitary conditions and to gut the potentially dangerous popular area. The
buildings to be built had to have stone facades and floors of similar height. Compared to the
old ways he controlled the movement. Considering the fact that the Parisian population had
lived and that in fact they still lived in districts in limited areas, the monumental network was
its own stress test. For this reason we find the double benches as places to stop and talk in the
information distributors and the advertising columns and become tools to adapt to the unusual
size. Accelerating the movement of people, goods and capital: synonymous with freedom.