The Great Exhibition - Assignment Example

Architecture History 4. We have looked at buildings from three major exhibitions—the 1851 in London, 1889 in Paris, and 1893 in Chicago. Discuss the prominent architectural features of each exhibition. What was architecturally important? Were the buildings technologically advanced? How were the exhibition buildings regarded by architects of their day? Introduction Through the second half of the nineteenth century some of the most technically advanced and architecturally prominent structures were featured at World’s Fair exhibitions. In addition to being one of the primary means for society exhibit and discover the day’s most cutting edge inventions, the fair often functioned to celebrate notable features of the host country. In this regard, the structures they featured came to be symbolically aligned with the host’s culture and history. This essay considers three of the most prominent of these exhibitions, the 1851 London, 1889 Paris, and 1893 Chicago, and considers there important architectural features, technical advancements, and historical critical reception. London 1851 The Great Exhibition was held in London in 1851 and was in large part designed to display the imperial majesty of the United Kingdom’s empire. As the industrial supremacy of the United Kingdom was the underlining motivation for this Hyde Park exhibition, it followed that an equally splendid building would be necessary to house these wonders. Joseph Paxton’s unsolicited Crystal Palace design for this exhibition would revolutionize architecture. The building was constructed entirely from iron, wood and glass. Its dimensions north and south measured 456 feet, east and west it measured 1,848 feet, and it was three stories high. The design included a transept so that a number of elm trees did not have to be destroyed. There were no interior walls, so the building was supported by a series of cast iron columns that divided the building into galleries 24 ft. X 48 ft. wide.1 Without impeding walls the structure allowed for scenic depictions of the exhibitions housed inside. As Paxton was originally a landscape architect, numerous fountains and garden arrangements, terraces, and cascades were featured in and around the structure. The structure technologically advanced for its use of prefabrication (preassembled material), which has now become a common practice of building construction.2 The building’s large use of glass and iron was also technologically advanced and it led to the widespread acceptance of these techniques among future architects. During its day, the building was perceived as a resounding success and it was viewed by a significant portion of the London population. This public acceptance contributed to future architects adopting elements of its design. 1889 Paris In celebration of the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution, France held the 1889 Exposition Universelle. The entrance arch to this World’s Fair was constructed by Gustave Eiffel and it is now famously known as the Eiffel Tower. At the time the building was the tallest structure in existence and to this day it continues to exist as the largest structure ever composed entirely of iron. The structure measures 1,063 feet tall and consists of 18,038 pieces of puddle iron. The primary concern in its design was wind resistance, which contributed to the structure’s shape. In order to ensure that the structure has a uniform appearance from the ground, three types of paint were used along separate levels of the tower. The tower consisted of entirely structural components with the exception of four decorate grill work arches that were added to assure visitors of the tower’s stability.3 Outside of its unique structural form, the tower included the first large-scale implementation of the passenger safety elevator; the elevator was based on the Five Lille lifts principle. The structure was famously derided by artists and architects of its day. Many criticized its shape and doubted its artistic credibility. A letter signed by many famous such individuals stated, “And during twenty years we shall see, stretching over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates.”4 As citizens became used to the spectacular views it offered from above it was gradually accepted and today it stands as emblematic of Paris and France at large. 1893 Chicago The 1893 Chicago’s World’s Fair was held in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ expedition. The fair featured over two-hundred temporary and newly built buildings of classical architecture. One of the primary architects of the fair was Richard Morris Hunt. Under the leadership of Daniel H. Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted, Hunt directed the entire exhibition to be constructed with the French Beaux-Arts style.5 The major buildings featured different architectural forms and surrounded a large Court of Honor. The Court of Honor featured a domed Administration Building and “an open peristyle by Charles B. Atwood terminating the vista out to Lake Michigan.”6 In an effort to create a unifying effect among the newly designed structures that surrounded the Court of Honor, building designs followed the style of the Italian Renaissance. These buildings also featured, “a common material, stucco (plaster), painted white; and would maintain a uniform sixty-foot-high cornice line.”7 The exposition was regarded as an enormous success by the architects and visitors of the day and the white stucco used in the buildings stood out against the Chicago tenements, leading to the structures being referred to as the White City.8 As a result of the exposition’s critical and popular success, the ornate Beaux-Arts style was adopted by many American buildings and civic projects including trains stations, art museums, city halls, post offices, and churches. In great part the success of the exposition overshadowed the fact that the buildings it featured weren’t notably technically advanced and one architect was quoted as saying that it set American architecture back fifty years. Conclusion It’s clear that the structures featured in these World Fair expositions demonstrated significant advances in architectural form and greatly influenced future architectural designs. The Crystal Palace’s use of prefabrication and iron and glass were widely adopted by architects and engineers who continue to implement such elements today. While the idiosyncrasy of the Eiffel Tower featured at the 1889 Paris exhibition makes its largely unique, the structure has become emblematic of France. Finally, the implementation of Beaux-Arts style in the creation of the White City at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair set the tone for many similar creations in American architecture. References Burg, David F. Chicago's White City of 1893. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. Frampton, Kenneth. (1883) Modern Architecture 1851-1945. New York: Rizzoli International Publications. Fazio, M. Moffett, M. Wodehouse, L. (2008) Buildings across Time. McGraw Hill. Strickland, Carol. (2001) The Annotated Arch: A Crash Course in the History of Architecture. Andrews McMeel Publishing. Watson, William. (1892) Paris Universal Exposition: Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture Washington: Government Printing office. 2. The Industrial Revolution resulted in unprecedented changes in the urban environment in the U.S. and Europe. Select three examples of how designers addressed these changes at the urban scale. What were the main aspects of their designs and what were they reacting to? You may select either proposed or constructed works. Introduction Due to advances in production mechanisms that incorporated machinery the Industrial Revolution demonstrate vast changes in architectural design. Concurrently, the rising real estate values and the need for businesses to remain in proximity to metropolitan areas required architects to develop a response for the urban landscape. With developments in steel frame construction, fireproofing, and elevators, skyscrapers emerged that adorned the urban landscape, changing metropolitan areas in drastic ways. This essay considers these unprecedented changes in the urban landscape brought on by the Industrial Revolution through the examination of three seminal buildings of the era: the Home Insurance Building, the Reliance Building, and the Monadnock Building. Home Insurance Building One of the most notable constructions that emerged as a result of changes in the urban landscape brought on by the Industrial Revolution was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago. The structure was constructed within a wave of building that commenced after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Today many historians consider this structure the first appearance of the skyscraper. While the buidling was originally constructed in 1885 as a 10-story building, 138 feet high; in 1890 two more floors were built on top.9 As the building was constructed in response to the fire, architect William Le Baron Jenny included in the design fireproofed metal frame construction.10 The skyscraper concept was a response to challenges to preserve space within an urban landscape which had become increasingly limited. Past efforts at developing taller buildings built out of wood resulted in progressively thicker and darker buildings that alienated potential tenants.11 The steel foundation of this structure was a revolutionary response to this architectural problem. While it’s recognized as the first existing skyscraper, “the Home Instance Building is not entirely metal framed as the first floor contains sections of masonry bearing wall.”12 Above this first floor construction the masonry exterior was held up by shelf-angle supports that were connected to the frame. Also, above the sixth floor, steel instead of iron was implemented. The building is also notable as the first tall structure to include numerous windows. Reliance Building Constructed between 1890 and 1895, the Reliance Building in Chicago has come to stand as a preeminent example of the Chicago School of architecture. The ‘Chicago School’ refers to urban skyscrapers that were constructed from 1875 to 1925. These buildings generally do not display their metal frames on their exteriors. These buildings are generally covered in masonry to give the impression that this is their structural composition. While the Chicago School facades were developed from classical examples, one of the challenges of incorporating these style for the new urban landscape was that past buildings and structures were designed out of predominantly horizontal perspectives. As the shrinking urban landscape demanded more compact buildings, problem the Chicago School architects faced was aligning the past horizontal structures of classical design with the new vertically oriented urban skyline. The Reliance Building was a notable example where architects developed a suitable response to this challenge. The Reliance Building includes, “decorative terracotta cladding” and it “repeats the same exterior elevation from the third floor to the attic story, expressing in the process the slenderness of its metal frame columns and the depth of the beams supporting the floors.”13 Because of these features the building has been referred to as an extremely early example of modernism. The building was the first to include large plate glass windows -- encased in-between with a tiled surface -- for the majority of its exterior. This feature would later come to be adopted within many architectural designs.14 The idea for these designs was developed from the United Kingdom where a previous building called the Oriel Chambers implemented a number of oriel windows. The design of the Oriel Chambers has been said to have greatly influenced the design of the Reliance Building. Monadnock Building The Monadnock Building was constructed between 1899-1891. The north half of the building was designed by Burnham and Root (the same architects who designed the Reliance Building) and the south half was designed by Holabird and Roche. Standing 197 feet tall, the building is the largest structure with mason load-bearing walls. The mason walls are cover an interior iron frame that supplies, “lateral bracing through riveted girder-column connections.”15 When the building was constructed it was so heavy it sank into the ground, so designers had to include steps to make up for the disproportion. Also, the walls of building curve in towards the second story and then expand towards the top. The buildings north half includes the load-bearing wall construction, making it the last skyscraper to employ such a technique. The southern half of the building was constructed using the steel frame that had recently emerged as a viable alternative to the load-bearing walls. The steel frame allowed for the building to include larger windows and more narrow piers.16 The unique structure of the building, combining both traditional and modern engineering methods, makes the building notable as standing at one of the predominant crossroads of urban architectural development. Conclusion While the Industrial Revolution brought on significant changes and demands for metropolitan areas, it also resulted in advanced in production and design tools that were implemented by architects to develop viable responses to the challenges posed by this new urban landscape. The Home Insurance Building implemented the first use of a partial steel frame in the construction of a skyscraper. The Reliance Building foregrounded the use of terracotta exteriors. Finally, the Monadnock Building moved from load-bearing wall construction to steel frame construction, making it a unique testament to the unprecedented changes of the nineteenth century urban landscape. References Colquhoun, Alan (2002). Modern Architecture. Oxford University Press. Condit, Carl, The Chicago School of Architecture, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1964 Fazio, M. Moffett, M. Wodehouse, L. (2008) Buildings across Time. McGraw Hill. Read More