Nineteenth Century Architecture

Classicism, Gothic, Eclecticism: Old styles and New Technologies in European Architecture 1790-c.1860

• On one hand, eclecticism is a rivival of the past, of different pasts and imperial expansions. On the other hand you have new technologies because of the industrial revolution - cast iron, glass and concrete.
• New materials of the industrial revolution allowed for new huge structures, with less structural elements.
• Obsession of the past comes as a consequence of the terrifying advancements in new technologies. This counter-balances the uncertainty of the future.

John Foulston: Ker Street, Devonport, Plymouth, 1821-4
"A series of edifices illustrating the various features of the architectural world"

Eclecticism. Ker Street is a good example of Eclecticism as it has a classical interpretation of a Doric temple (no pediment), a huge Doric column, a Gothic church, an Egyptian temple (the tapering of facade was typical of the Egyptians). In the same square you have Greek, Roman, Gothic and Egyptian. The age of eclecticism. All of a sudden European architecture allowed the revival of all different pasts not just the Classical one. This demonstrated a gigantic shift in western culture.

The dominant language was of course Classical, as the ancients were a constant reference for the western world. So far we’ve only seen classical buildings, even Bernini and Borromini, although distorted, had the same classical grammar. Why is there more than one reference now? Classical is rationality. All the others are nonsensical. With Romanticism this explodes with the avant-garde. Classical in a way becomes obsolete, the west is in search for alternatives. Why should Germany etc. build in the Classical style?!

Romanticism movement rejected of the Classical values of Classicism. They embraced local cultural heritage as opposite to the universal.

Classical style at beginning of 19th century loses its claim and universality and eternal values. Before that was the order of architecture, but then different cultural references began to compete with Classical. Juxtaposition of different pasts. Eclectic use happens for the first time in Germany and England - never in Italy - France caught up much later. This was a result of the rise of nationalism and expansion of the empire (Protestant countries).

C. R. Cockerell, The Professor's Dream, 1848

Cockerell's print juxtaposes all of the different styles. It goes up in layers starting with Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Renaissance, Baroque, etc.

New technologies had a huge part to play in this change. Different styles were associated with different typologies. Army of engineers who didn't care about high brow architectures, were focused on building functional bridges, dams, roads etc. Everything that was a ‘building’ had to have a facade in a different style.

Architecture of the industrial revolution will emancipate itself. It represents much more of the modern world, or urban, industrial life.

Classicism: Primitivism and the Greek revival.

Classicism is inevitable, after 500 years of the Greek revival and fascination of the grammatical language of the architecture. However, reference is more Rome than Greece. Fascination of Greece grew as the essential logic was discovered by the Greeks.

One of the most important styles that developed in the 19th century is the last phase of the Neoclassicism - The Greek Revival, lasting 100 years. Glasgow, Edinburgh, bath etc. are all composed of Greek revival buildings.

At the same time, beginning of 19th century, (with roots in 18th century) was the equally powerful, Gothic Revival. Greeks vs. True French/English/German.

A legendary figure of this period was Augustus Pugin. His ideas were characteristic of all revivals but especially of Gothic, the style of the nation (England), the style of Victorian Britain. This style is associated with Queen Victoria, and not by chance is associated with peak of Britain’s wealth. It fashioned itself in a public point of view, that was 1000 years old.

A. W. N. Pugin, St Giles, Cheadle, England

A. W. N. Pugin, St Giles, Cheadle, England

Augustus Welby Pugin, the architect of St. Giles in Cheadle, was one of the strongest proponents for the picturesque, he took a critical view of industrial society and portrayed pre-industrial medieval society as a golden age. It was his belief that man and nature could live together, he hated the industrial revolution as it had destroyed the natural fabrication. He illustrated a modern, 19th century town juxtaposed with its imagined medieval equivalent. In this comparison he aimed to show how society had changed over the years and the effect it had on its surroundings. You can see that in this medieval illustration there are a series of church spires, creating a sense of verticality and spaciousness. Whereas in the modern illustration, there is a clear overcrowding, the skyline dominated by factories chimneys, suggesting trade had become more important than religion.

Pugin's juxtaposed townscapes

"This country, however it may excel in mechanical contrivances, has so little to boast on the score of improvement in art."
- He was insistent that although the new machinery was an important tool, it had not made any improvements in the arts, in fact that arts were severely suffering as a consequence. As a result of industrialisation and mass production being focused on making money, not only did the architecture decline but there would also be societal consequences.

"Were it not for the remains of the buildings produced by the Middle Ages, the architectural monuments of this country would be despicable in the extreme."

To use the Gothic Revival as Gothic Style is anachronistic.

To Pugin, Gothic architecture was infused with the Christian values that had been replaced by Classicism, and were being destroyed by Industrialism. 

Pugin and Barry, The Houses of Parliament, 1836

Inspired by Medieval architecture, he collaborated with Charles Barry (who was typically a classical architect) in designing the Houses of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster in the Gothic Revival style. He expressed his admiration not only for medieval art but the whole ethos, claiming that the Gothic architecture is a product of a purer society.

The Houses of Parliament was criticised for being a classical building with a gothic decor. The overall logic is the logic of classical architecture. In some elements it is a stereotypical classical building, the piano nobile identifiable with the pediments on the windows and reminiscent of a classical renaissance palazzo. 

George Gilbert Scott, Cologne Cathedral, completed 1842, Nikolaikirche, Hamburg, 1845-63

Cologne Cathedral, is a gigantic Gothic structure. Germany often opted for the Gothic style for their Religious architecture. Cologne Cathedral is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world. 

Violet Le Duc, studied and published the logic of Gothic cathedrals, gothic armour and chateaus.

New technologies started to manifest themselves. First used for bridges, roads, dams, infrastructures. Then little by little used on interiors - never exteriors, e.g Oxford Natural History Museum. Neo-Gothic created with cast iron rather than stone to allow for the opening up of the ceiling. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève also uses cast iron internal piers, allows for all of the weight of the roof to be supported by thin columns. There is a combination of Byzantine and Romanesque influences. Everything with cast iron, allowed for opening up of spaces. Huge interiors could be built with the weight distributed on little columns instead of having walls. 

Oxford National History Museum

Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève

Bibliothèque Sainte-Genevieve, cast-iron allowed for gigantic room to be spacious and airy. Reminiscent of Romanesque barrel vaults.

Old & New styles. 

George Gilbert Scott, The Great Midland Hotel, St. Pancras, London, 1873

St. Pancras, The Shunting Yards, 1863-72

St. Pancras Station, built with cast iron point arch & glass. When it was built this was the first interior space. Functional elements of the new technology had to be presented on the exterior, choice combination of the German, English style. Aesthetic of the new materials need to hide behind the styles. The Shunting Yards are made up of FERROVITREOUS ARCHITECTURE!

 

Lewis Cubitt, King's Cross Station, London, 1851

St. Pancras is fanciful castle whereas King's Cross station is a very modern station compared to St. Pancras. Interior expressed in the facade, doesn’t hide the shape of the interior functional structure. Not concealed like in St. Pancras. These stations speak two different aptitudes. One hides the modern, the other reveals the modern.

Joseph Paxton, Crystal Palace. Hyde Park, London, 1851

Triumph of this kind of functional architecture, is the temporary structure for the great exhibition. Crystal Palace. The great technological and industrial advancements in Britain. Completely built in cast iron and glass. Built with these materials to show the achievements. It was ephemeral, temporary. (Intended to be at least, kept until mid 1930s), moved to south London in 1930s but destroyed in a fire. Absolutely enormous. Followed some classical rules, barrelled vaults like a Romanesque cathedral, cannot avoid introducing elements from the past. Looked at the past to create something new - cathedrals were the biggest structures available.

Louvre, Paris

In France at the same time, the logic of the styles and tension between the antique and modern styles was apparent as well. The Louvre is second empire architecture, architecture of styles.

Garnier's Opera, Paris, 1861-75

Garnier’s opera, has some elements of the Louvre, e.g. int the columns, entablature and pediment but inside it is completely modern. The classical facade masks the modernism inside - just decorative details. 

Gustave Eiffel, Construction of the Eiffel Tower, 1887-89

At the same time, this tension between modern architecture and the styles, is expressed best in France and England, leaders of the industrial revolution. In France the Eiffel Tower. Hymn to the industrial revolution, tallest building in the world by far when it was built, only possible thanks to cast concrete. For an international exhibition to celebrate the industrial revolution, was meant to be temporary, but remained. French thought it was abominable, but common aesthetic and taste changed and it was embraced. 

Louis H. Sullivan, Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building, 1899-1904, Chicago, USA

Louis H. Sullivan, Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building, 1899-1904, Chicago, USA

Scott and Company Building. Modernism - born in opposition to classicism. It is without style. Buildings that actually expressed the inner grid of the interior materials (cast iron/cast concrete etc). Long march, constant struggle between new and old. Architecture expresses this nature of the 19th century in a very clear way.