The Crystal Palace is a massive and very impressive building in London that was constructed from iron and glass in 1851 in Hyde Park in London specially for the Great Exhibition of that year. The Palace received its name from the magazine Punch, in which the playwright Douglas Jerrold called it in 1850 as “a palace of very crystal” . Though the building was very beautiful and seemed to have a promising future, after the end of exhibition the Crystal Palace was taken down and moved to Sydenham Hill, the place not far from London. The building there was kept until 1936, but then it was finally removed because of the fire and never rebuilt again. Though the history of this unique London’s attraction is not very long, it played a very significant role for the city of that Victorian time.
The idea to build up the palace appeared, when the husband of Queen Victoria Prince Albert, who was also the president of the Royal Society of Arts, decided to conduct the International Great Exhibition in London and invite exhibitors from other countries in order to give them a chance to present their achievements in various spheres of life, including manufacture, art, education and some others. Since there was no proper venue for such a large event, it was suggested to build up the palace. It was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, who did not have any special education in construction, but was though a qualified landscape gardener and had experience in building hothouses. The Chrystal Palace consisted of combination of walls of clear glass and slender iron rods. The length of the main body of the building was 563 metres, the width – 124 metres and the height was almost 33 metres. The total area that the Palace occupied was approximately 990 000 square feet, which is equal to 7 hectares. A great amount of material was used in order to construct such a large building. For example, only for the making glazing wagons on the roof, 300 000 panes of glass were used. The building of the Palace was so big that even had two trees that grew on the plot. Though the design of the Chrystal Palace seemed to be complicated and very innovative, it did not take much time to construct it - only nine months, which can be explained by the fact that Paxton used prefabricated and modular design. The expenses were also not very high – around 80,000 British pounds. While designing and building the Crystal Palace, Joseph Paxton used the same construction system and techniques as with building of hothouses. Everything was similar: the roofing system, the method of enclosing the sides of the building, the conception of a framework and a covering, the principles of roof drainage through the hollow structural columns, the slatted floor and etc. The only one difference between a hothouse and the Crystal Palace was size. But there were similarities between two buildings not only in terms of the construction, but also in terms of their functions. For example, the main function of hothouses constructed by Paxton was to create an artificial environment in order to enjoy nature in a controlled and comfortable fashion. Regarding the Crystal Palace, Paxton also created there an artificial environment inside the palace that allowed visitors of the Great Exhibition to enjoy it in the comfort and safety. However, Paxton himself did not like the comparison of the Crystal Palace with a hothouse or a greenhouse and considered it as an insult. He wanted this grand building to be seen as a proper masterpiece and to be perceived himself is an architect rather than a gardener or a builder of greenhouses.
When the Crystal Palace was finished, its ground floor consisted more than 8 miles of display tables and galleries. The Chrystal Palace itself was not just a very beautiful and grand building, but also a symbol of developing cultural life of London and Britain’s commercial and industrial might due to the conduction of the Great Exhibition in 1851 that attracted hundreds of exhibitors not only from neighbouring countries, but also from other continents. (Misa, 2004)
The Great Exhibition and its organization played a very important role both for the United Kingdom and for the whole world, which can be proved by the fact the Exhibition received the title of “the best documented event of the nineteenth century”. It became the first international exhibition of manufactured products and contributed enormously to the development of many aspects of society, including foreign relations and international trade, art and design education and even tourism. In total there were approximately 100,000 objects presented in the exhibition, and the number of contributors was around 15 000. In total, 32 nations participated in the exhibition from such regions as Europe, Africa, Far East and America. As the host, Britain occupied a half of the space in order to demonstrate products from the whole Empire. One of the most significant inventions presented by British was the massive hydraulic press developed and constructed by Stevenson. Other industrial inventions also included different machines such as steam engines, big railway locomotives, sophisticated carriages and etc. This all demonstrated and proved the world success in manufacture. Other displays also included medical artefacts, arts and photography, labour-saving devices and etc. Officially the Great Exhibition was open on the 1st of May 1851 and began with the first ever royal walkabout of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, which is considered to be an important historical moment. The Crystal Palace remained opened for 6 months until the 11 of October 1851, and during this period of time approximately 6 million of quests visited the exhibition, including the court of Queen Victoria, diplomats, government ministers and etc. Only during the first opening day of the Exhibition approximately 25,000 people came to the Crystal Palace. (Burlington 133) It was a very profitable event for Great Britain because it brought to the Kingdom around 186,000 British pounds, which is equivalent to tens of millions pounds today.
The Great Exhibition was not just a cultural, but also a very important and very valuable scientific event that contributed to the developed and science in the future. Such innovations as steam locomotives, printing machines microscopes and etc. have entered a human life and changed it forever. Moreover, the Great Exhibition allowed many scientists and inventors to present their innovations that probably would have been unnoticed and unknown for the public without the Exhibition. Thus, since the Great Exhibition had such an important influence on culture, science and the society as a whole, it is possible to say that the Crystal Palace itself also played an important role because without the Palace, as the venue, the Exhibition would not have been conducted at all, at least not on such a scale.
After the end of the Exhibition in October 1851, it was needed to return the Hyde Park, where the Chrystal Palace was constructed, to its green state. Since the Crystal Palace was associated with the Exhibition and was constructed mainly only as the venue for this international event, a controversial question after in October 1951 was posed by the government the designer Sir Joseph Paxton: “What is going to happen to the Chrystal Palace?”. Since the Palace became so popular and looked very beautiful, Paxton did not want to destroy it and wanted to keep it as a new tourist attraction – Winter Park under the Glass. However, in 1852 the decision by government was taken, according to which it was decided to replace the Chrystal Palace. Despite the fact that replacing the building would lead to the loss of the building, its designer Paxton, decided to find a new location for the Palace, even though it would be temporary. Soon after the Exhibition closed, the building was quickly dismantled, shipped and placed on the outskirts of London, in the place called Sydenham. However, an interesting fact is that this procedure was not a simple transplantation of the Palace because for the rebuilding of the Chrystal Palace in Sydenham twice more glass was used in order to accommodate an increase in size of the building, and with the purpose to add a barrel-vault transept at two ends of the nave. Thus, it might be concluded that replacement the Chrystal Palace to a new location can be considered as a construction of an absolutely new building with a modified design. Moreover, the Crystal Palace ensemble in Sydenham also had new landscape gardens with two big water towers designed by Islambard Kingdom Brunel. During the next decades of existence of the Palace it was known as one of the main venues for different events an various London’s exhibitions, as well as one of the main attractions that brought there thousands of tourists. One of the most significant events in the Palace was a weekly firework display that was ceased only in 1935, and also the Festival of Empire for George V’s Coronation held in 1911. According to the historical records, annually around 2 million of people visited the new Palace. (Dubost and Gonthier, 1996)
Unfortunately, the Chrystal Palace did not have a long history and was not saved until the modern times, though it could have definitely become of the greatest architectural wonders. On November 30 1936 the building was totally destroyed by flames one of the greatest and the most serious fires in the history of the United Kingdom. The fire started around 7 PM in one women’s cloakrooms and the spread throughout the whole building very quickly. Since the Penge Fire Brigade was not called until almost 8 PM, the Palace by that time had become an inferno and it was almost impossible to fight with fire. In total 88 fire appliances and 438 members of the fire brigade were fighting with it, however the construction could not be saved. The cause of the fire still remains unknown, however there are several hypotheses. One of them claims, for example, that the most possible reason of the disaster is very old and bad wiring. Though almost the whole Palace was destroyed by the fire, two towers were saved but several years later were dismantled. There also some steps and statues were also left, however in 1960s they were also removed after the construction of the sports stadium started on that place. An interesting fact is that it was not the first and the only one fire in the Crystal Palace. The first one happened 1866, but the Palace was saved, though the north transept was lost. (Early, 2015)
The fact that despite its short history and life the Crystal Palace is still alive in memories of people, means that it had a really great impact on the history of the United Kingdom in general and its culture and particularly on architecture of the Victorian Era. It can be definitely considered as one of the architectural wonders of 19th century because it was designed and constructed by a gardener – a person who did not have any qualification in architecture or engineering, and had knowledge and experience only in building hothouses. Moreover, the building of the Crystal Palace introduced new and absolutely unique construction techniques that allowed to complete construction in a very short time: mass production, on-time delivery, prefabrication and efficient methods. Nowadays these techniques are already well known and widely used, however in the middle of 19th centuries there were considered totally unique and amazing. (Jones, 2005) Moreover, Joseph Paxton allowed to see the architecture from different perspective because the Crystal Palace became an example of the merge of architecture and engineering – two professional field that had been fragmented before because of the industrialization processes: while architecture was more associated with art, culture and craft, engineering was considered more as an expression of machine and manufacture age. It is also important to note that Paxton became the first architect who used both glass and iron together in the construction of such a massive and grand building. Architecturally, the Crystal Palace also played a very important role. It was the first building in the history of architecture, when its volume was greater than its mass. Also, because of the iron of the building that was painted light-blue, the airy effect was created, and the Palace itself was almost indistinguishable from the sky and the glass, which is one of the most typical characteristic of Bauhaus architecture of the 20th modern architecture. Furthermore, the Crystal Palace became the first building in the history of architecture that called the fairy and even mysterious because of specific atmosphere inside of it. It was noticed not only by the Queen Victoria herself, who described the Palace in her diary as a fairyland, but also by many other visitors and quests. For example, the German critic Lothar Bucher pointed out: “To say that the spectacle is incomparable and fairy-like is the soberest understament. It is like the fragment of a midsummer night’s dream seen in the clear light of the day”. Such adjectives and words as magical, fairy or dream were often pronounced by the visitors and critics, who attended the Great Exhibition. (Lopez, 2014) Therefore, it is even possible to say that the building itself was much more remarkable than the Exhibitions and displays presented there.
Besides architectural significance, it is also important to note, that the Crystal Palace can be also considered as a symbol of dynamic, progressive and forward-looking British nation. With the help of the greatness and beauty of the Crystal Palace and the scale of the Great Exhibition, the Victorian State attempted to place itself as an advanced and powerful institution that was moving rapidly to industrializing and fast-developing society. (Delanty and Isin, 2003) Moreover, it is also interesting to note how materials used in the construction of the Crystal Palace also symbolized the power and the strength of the British nation. For example, iron can be considered as a symbol of the literal growth of English cities, their improvement and progress. Also, there is an association between iron and railroads that play an important role in the growth of British Empire, its expansion, communication and imperial “unity”.
Summarizing all the written above about the Crystal Palace, it is possible to say that it was definitely a unique building – not only because of its beauty, massive size or materials used for its construction. It was unique in terms of development of people’s culture, industrialization, globalization and, of course, in terms of changing people’s perspective regarding architecture. The Crystal Palace is basically the only one building with such a short history and such a serious influence on human society and culture. Despite the fact that the Palace was destroyed many years ago, it still remains a subject of many discussions and one of the best and the most interesting examples of architecture of the Victorian Era. Though it is already destroyed and nothing is left after the Palace, it is still alive in people’s minds and memories, and there are still discussion regarding a possible future rebuilding of the Crystal palace that had been an art, educational and cultural institution for many decades. Despite the fact that for some people the Palace seems to be just a large copy of an ordinary hothouse constructed by an unqualified gardener, it s one of those unique buildings that contributed to the establishment of positive relationships between nations at that difficult time and changed the foreign relationships and international trade. Therefore, it is possible to say that Crystal Palace is not just a venue or an interesting and beautiful construction of the past. It is a significant building that has changed the course of the history of not only the United Kingdom, but also of the whole world, and it will remain the most magnificent example of the Victorian architecture of the 19th century.
Bibliography
Delanty, G. and Isin, E. (2003) Handbook of Historical Sociology. London: Sage Publications. p.306
Dubost, J. and Gonthier, J. (1996) Architecture for the Future. Paris: Terrail. p.206
Early, C. (2015) November 30, 1936: The Crystal Palace is destroyed by fire. BT [online] Available at: http://home.bt.com/news/world-news/november-30-1936-the-crystal-palace-is-destroyed-by-fire-11363947170210 [Accessed 21 March 2016]
Jones, N. (2005) Architecture of England, Scotland and Wales. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 91
Lopez, I. (2014) Reading Imperialistic Space: The Crystal Palace. Reviste de Lenguags Modernas. pp. 95-120
Misa, T. (2004) Leonardo to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Reinaissance to the Present. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 92
