Reflections:: Summary

[The Crystal Palace: a beginning in using new materials and a doorway to future ideas in design.]

For the unit of reflections, the major idea behind the designs and structures would have to be the continuous change of style and historic influence from other countries such as Asia and that of ancient times. Newly formed trade routes, revolutions, and revivals of ancient styles helped to contribute to new junctions of ideas and stylistic elements as well as pave the way for the idea of should architecture be revived in old styles for the sake of revival as a leading idea for the new section called explorations.

The section begins in France with Place de Vosges in 1605, the idea of a middle class is a relatively new concept in the world. For this design, the middle class homes in the area unified their frontal façade to make their home seem more like one big palace like that of the grand Versailles. This alignment of the all facades to look like a big palace of the middle class was called lenfilade, it also incorporated the idea of public and private space with the apartment homes and the public square it was built around. Classical revival was still in full force in France, yet Jacques-Germaine Soufflot built another replica that mirrored ideas from the Pantheon called the Panthéon. The structure was more about structural ideas rather then that of design ascetics.

Moving from France with the revival of the classical and middle class grandure ideas, England was experiencing similar epiphanies as to using classical influence with an English twist to it. Palatio, using his influence with the classical world, helped other architects like Indigo Jones and John Vanbrugh re-worked the idea of landscape architecture with the Queen’s House and landscapes of Castle Howard. The English idea was to use the natural part of nature to create beauty in design rather then make nature more ornate then it really was. This less formal idea was also transferred to the United States because of its simplistic appeal. In the United States, revolution had spurred change like so many others, though this revolution was that of independence from Britain rather than an industrial or intellectual revolution. Parson Capen House [1683] and the home of Paul Revere were just a few of the examples of 18th century architecture and design with the ideas Palatio perceived from Europe. In visiting Thomas Jefferson’s house and UVA we as a class got a better understanding of the architecture up close and a better feel for the stylistic period.

Revolutions continued in many different forms in the 19th century, iron became a new form of building material and design element accompanied with glass. This new material also created new building forms such as greenhouses, arcades, train stations, factories, and exhibition buildings. The Crystal Palace created by Joseph Paxton was a modern marvel of the time it was created, people didn’t know whether to even categorize it as architecture because the material was so new to them. The Crystal Palace was an exhibition building for the World Fair, countries and cultures from all over the world came to exhibit their works and riches, spurring an interest in foreign ideas that would later affect the design world itself.

Going further into the 19th century, the tail end of gothic revival was being used in New York with the creation of the Trinity church by Richard Upjohn and then the second Trinity Church in Boston by Henry Hobson Richardson. This revival style was that of a Romanesque feel and was a linking of the past as well as a creator of questions as to how and when ancient styles and revivals should be made in architecture itself. The 19th century principles as it progresses were that of social changes, the need for meaning, romantic pasts, and new materials. Going into new materials in the United States lead to the creation of early skyscrapers as the architects built upward, which in a way rivaled the reaching heavenward idea that the Europeans used when building bigger and more ornate cathedrals. The only new difference was the glass and steel used, which was especially important to the big city of Chicago after the fire of 1871.

Overall this section was about revival style influence and new materials that would lead to newer ideas and designs for the budding country of the United States and the always-prevalent European nations. While history was important it was not the most important thing as nations striven to move forward in design and their own history.