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Palace Westminster/ Houses of Parliament (1836-68 A.D.) Designed by Sir Charles Barry, this building was in the Gothic revival style. The old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by a fire in 1834. Sir Charles Barry obtained the expert assistance of A W N Pugin for the Tudor details of the building, which reflects the character of the contemporary Gothic revival. Few can deny the brilliance of Barrys plan, with its lucid hierarchies that differentiate between public & private areas & the grandeur of the approaches to the great octagonal hall that separates the Houses of Lords from the House of Commons. i. ii. iii. Formal planning but not symmetrical All subsidiary suits arranged around a series of courts showing Gothic monastic planning influence Heating through air flowing through duct spaces specially built the floors, walls & roofs, the lantern over the central octagon acting as an outlet for the ventilation system.
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iv.

Constructed with iron joists & roofed over with cast iron plates (use of cast iron led to wider spans, lighter weights & speed of assembly & cheapness of columns & beams) A.W.N Pugin made the design & supervised the work for all interior wall decoration, the decorative art stained glass, the fittings, furniture & all the ornaments An internal spine, which allows for a special sovereigns entrance at one corner of the building, was buffered by various open-air courts that allowed light into surrounding offices, libraries, & meeting rooms. The exterior-done almost uniformly in a soft, yellowish limestonedesigned in a Perpendicular Gothic style that replicated the taste of the 15th century. Despite the monotone treatment of the buildings external mass, Barry was able to introduce picturesque elements to the skyline by the asymmetrical positioning of the vertical elements- the Victoria Tower (102m), the lantern over the octagonal room(& the intermediate fleche or spire), the Big Ben(36m), Parliaments nowfamous clock tower. The river front arrangements of the rooms create a prolonged dignified faade.

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The Crystal Palace, London (1850-1851) Paxtons idea arose from his experience at Chatsworth & was to build a giant conservatory with a cast iron frame & ridge & furrow glazing system which he had developed earlier. Crystal Palace in 1851 is an example of construction of exhibition pavilion in modular units of iron. . The Crystal Palace was a landmark in construction during those days for its size & the speed of construction.

Following are its characteristics.

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Complete vocabulary of iron & glass structure & elements displayed with iron girders, columns, trusses, gantries & movable cranes The roof appears to consist of a number of span roofs joined together Introduction of a transept at a larger stage having a barrel vault. composed of thin, relatively lightweight elements that were mass produced & assembled on site. Tension wires kept the structure from falling over. The effect was of a building that seemed almost to be woven, with compression & tension forces brought into the open as no other building had ever done before.

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Paxton also understood that the structure had to be tall & inspiring & so designed its central element in the form of a long nave filled with exhibits, trees, & gardens. Under the crystal palaces roofs there was the 1st public display of English mass-produced machines & products. The colonies & distant lands were also represented, but their displays emphasized handcrafted products & raw materials.

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Initial Sketches for Crystal Palace by Paxton

Ridge & Furrow glazing system (sketches only for reference. Do not draw)

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RAILROAD STATIONS Britain took the lead in the introduction of railways during the mid 19 th century. By 1850, nearly 11,000kms of railway lines linking different neighbouring cities was already laid along with the national & the international routes. The provision of railway stations from small buildings on the branch lines to the metropolitan terminus was one of the most revolutionary among the 19th century communication structure. St. Pancras Station, London (1864-68) The height of the tracks was to be adjusted as it came 5m above the height of the existing street. Filling up the street would lead to the loss of profit making commercial space along the street & hence the tracks were lifted on the floor of wrought iron girders (for tensile strength) & cast iron columns (for compressive strength) with immense foundation of bricks. This provided around 4 acres of floor space at the street level. The tracks were covered with wrought iron truss. It was designed by engineer William Barlow along with R.M Ordish. It was the largest & the most spectacular of the High Victorian Period.

St. Pancras Station in London (1863-76), contained a volume of space within its 80-meter span that defied anything architecture previously could have striven for. The large steel members were brought to the construction site by the railroad itself. In front of the shed, facing the city was a building that contained baggage facilities, waiting rooms & offices of various sorts.

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St. Pancras Station... Axonometric view France Biblioteque St. Genevieve, Paris (1843-50) Designed by Henri Labrouste

Ground Floor stacks

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Upper Floor Reading Room

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Biblioteque St. Genevieve, Paris (1862-68) Also designed by Henri Labrouste this structure shows further shows further advances in planning & structure over the Biblioteque St.
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Genevieve. The reading room is well known for its remarkable interiors. Its features

The room is divided into 9 equal compartments each covered by a pendentive dome of terracotta, each pierced at its crown with an eye providing natural top light

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Slender, delicate iron columns & arches of cast iron with tiny Corinthian capitals carrying the roof Delicate decoration on the vaults, arch soffits & the wall surfaces of the book stack

Galerie des Machines, International Exhibition, Paris (1889, demolished 1910) This was designed by architect Charles Louis Ferdinand Dutert (18451906). The engineer for the project was Victor Contamin. The following were the characteristics i. Support span of unprecedented 114m
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Use of iron on a large scale Four centered arched hinged at the apex & the base

The Eiffel Tower was also deigned & erected at this time by Gustave Eiffel as the entrance archway to the exhibition. The following were the characteristics of the tower i. ii. iii. Worlds tallest structure at that time & was so till 1930 Total height 300m Stands on 4 legs, presence of hydraulic jacks inside the base of each leg enable the raising & the lowering of the structural elements so that they could be perfectly aligned

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12,000 iron pieces designed independently to reflect the variable inclination & to bear different loads.

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Palm Houses & conservatories Palm Houses & conservatories were designed as an early venture in iron & glass. Some of them are The Conservatory, Chatsworth, Derbyshire (1836-40, demolished) An early venture in iron & glass by gardener Sir Joseph Paxton, assisted by Decimus Burton. Following are its characteristics i. ii. iii. 84m long, 37m wide, rising to a height of 20.4m in the centre Use of laminated timber Arrangement of glass in ridge & furrow system

The Palm House, Kew Gardens, London (1845-47) It was a joint venture by Decimus Burton & Richard Turner. Following are its characteristics i. 110m long, centre rises to a height of 18.9m, span of 32m
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Double vault section in the centre of wrought & cast iron, covered by glass

The Opera House (also called Academie Nationale de Musique) (1851-74) A competition was held for this venue of opera, ballet & concert. 171 entries were received & the final winner was Jean Louis Charles Garnier. It was the finest design of the Period identified with the Second Empire Style (High Victorian phase in Britain). He was from the Ecole-des-Beaux arts school in Paris, France. Its features i. The auditorium is horse shoe shaped, consisted of 4 tiers of boxes with a seating capacity of 2000 people, covered by a half dome elevated on a drum The auditorium dome is externally flanked by two smaller domes over shoe entrances Behind the half dome (roman) of the auditorium rises the rectangular pedimented (Greek) form of the stage. The front, when taken as a whole, could also be seen as a very wide triumphal arch. In that sense the building successfully negotiated the complex political situation in which it was situated without referring to Rome or Greece in any direct way. (As desired by Napoleon III)
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The staircase that lies between the entrance narthex & the theatre is itself a three dimensional theatre intended to allow ____________ to see & to be seen, the encounters themselves becoming an elaborate social _________ at the time. The building is characterized throughout by opulent grandeur, internal lobbies & foyers has many sculptures, an elaborate staircase being the main feature of the interiors & externally it is treated in sculptural way making use of many classical details in the form of polychromatic ornamentation enriched with gold mosaic. Structurally the building is of Steel, rendered invisible by stone & brick The interior consists of interweaving corridors, stairwells, alcoves and landings allowing the movement of large numbers of people and space for socializing during intermission. Charles Garnier Eugene Emmanuel Viollet le duc

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Architectural Change after the Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in the United Kingdom, and then subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. Technological innovations brought about a great deal of change in the work of an Architect. This was the period of expansion of creativity and brought about various Architectural Transformations. Cultural Transformations The period before and of the industrial revolution, i.e. 17 th & 18th century is easy to comprehend as Architectural design was seen as one single whole design Methods of design & cost varied according to time and place but were within the limits of the established framework (1800-1830 : Classical revival (Greek, Roman & Egyptian; bold clear buildings using the Greek Doric Order & sometimes the ionic order, Roman & Egyptian architecture. Architects took ideas & initiatives from the past styles with decreasing regards to their faithful reproduction.
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Hence architecture then was extravagantly ornate (decorated). Numerous new projects were undertaken to cover greater spans & erect taller buildings 1840 onwards: Industrial Revolution & Gothic Revival; 1 st in England but later spread all over the world) Urban population grew tremendously owing to better job opportunities in industries & overall improvement in health & hygiene owing to introduction of sewage systems Marked by religious tolerance, decline of power of the religious leaders as well as demand for churches & prayer houses but all increase in demand of other type of public buildings like Houses of Parliament, Administrative buildings, stations, hotels, exhibition halls, theatres etc. Vernacular character of buildings lost due to the extensive use of cheap & standardized building components

Some of the characters of the Neo-classical style are mentioned below:

Clean lines Massing of simple form Decisive detailing Careful proportions Skilful use of light sources

Technical transformations in Architecture. With the advent of the industrial revolution the relationship between society & architecture began to change. In Europe, Britain was 1 of the 1 st few countries to get industrialized, as it was rich in minerals like coal & iron, required by the industries of that period Iron was used for brackets, trusses, cantilevers & all other purposes from train shed roofs to supports & decorative details.
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 Effects of climate on architecture diminished owing to hot water heating systems for buildings etc... Glass was the next material. Both the materials revolutionized the approach to architecture

Territorial transformations Extensive development of transport networks like roads, railways & canals made easy distribution of building materials, thus elimination sharp differences between regional architecture Exploration in the fields of town planning & transportation.

The royal Albert Bridge (1859) Eg. St. Pancras Station... By 1800 many types of tropical plants had been brought to grow in Britain. These plants needed a great deal of light & warm & damp air. some of the revolutionary glass houses were designed by Joseph Paxton & Decimus Burton.eg... i. The Conservatory, Chatsworth, Derbyshire (1836-40)
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The Palm House, Kew Gardens, London (1845-47)

The French used ferrovitreous for a variety of buildings. Notable among them are the libraries by Henri Labrouste (National Library & the Library at St. Genevieve).( Iron was also used as a structural material in church design especially in Gothic buildings & commercial structures as the International Paris Exposition. (Galerie des Machines, International Exhibition, Paris) The most famous iron monument in Paris is the Eiffel tower, designed by Gustave Eiffel, an engineer. It was 300m high & then the tallest structure in the world.

An example of this is the use of iron in the Westminster Palace, which is a Gothic Revival building. Iron was also being adopted as a suitable material for complete staircases/ Gothic vaults. eg Biblioteque St. Genevieve, Paris

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