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In 1851 Great Britain was arguably the leader of the industrial revolution and feeling very secure in that ideal. The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London was conceived to symbolize this industrial, military and economic superiority of Great Britain. Just representing the feats of Britain itself would have excluded many of the technological achievements pioneered by the British in its many colonies and protectorates, so it was decided to make the exhibit truly international with invitations being extended to almost all of the colonized world. The British also felt that it was important to show their achievements right alongside those of "less civilized" countries. The prevailing attitude in England at the time was ripe for the somewhat arrogant parading of accomplishments. Many felt secure, economically and politically, and Queen Victoria was eager to reinforce the feeling of contentment with her reign.
It was during the mid- 1850 s that the word "Victorian" began to be employed to express a new self-consciousness, both in relation to the nation and to the period through which it was passing. The exhibition was also a triumph for Victoria's German husband, Albert, whom she had married in 1840. Despite outbursts of opposition to Albert by the press the family life of the Victorian court began to be considered increasingly as a model for the whole country. Albert had appreciated the achievements of Prime Minister Robert Peel's political and military advances and publicly advocated the advancement of industry and science. These facts began to sway opinion in his favor as respectable foundations of family life and industrial supremacy were becoming rapidly acquainted with the monarchy of Victoria and Albert. Conceived by Prince Albert, the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park in London in the specially constructed Crystal Palace.
The Crystal Palace was originally designed by Sir Joseph Paxton in only 10 days and was a huge iron goliath with over a million feet of glass. It was important that the building used to showcase these achievements be grandiose and innovative. Over 13, 000 exhibits were displayed and viewed by over 6, 200, 000 visitors to the exhibition. The millions of visitors that journeyed to the Great Exhibition of 1851 marveled at the industrial revolution that was propelling Britain into the greatest power of the time. Among the 13, 000 exhibits from all around the world were the Jacquard loom, an envelope machine, tools, kitchen appliances, steel-making displays and a reaping machine from the United States. The objects on display came from all parts of the world, including India and the countries with recent white settlements, such as Australia and New Zealand that constituted the new empire.
Many of the visitors who flocked to London came from European cities. The profits from the event allowed for the foundation of public works such as the Albert Hall, the Science Museum, the National History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. This "bigger and better" building was divided into a series of courts depicting the history of art and architecture from ancient Egypt through the Renaissance, as well as exhibits from industry and the natural world. Major concerts were held in the Palace's huge arched Centre Transept, which also contained the world's largest organ.
The Centre Transept also housed a circus and was the scene of daring feats by world famous acts such as the tightrope walker London. National exhibitions were also staged within its glass and iron walls, including the world's first aeronautical exhibition (held in 1868) and the first national motor show, plus cat shows, dog shows, pigeon shows, honey, flower and other shows. The Crystal Palace has been called "proto-modern architecture, " and was widely imitated in Europe and America. At the time, however, it was not even accepted as architecture. Pugin called it a "glass-monster, " Carlyle a "big glass soap bubble, " and Ruskin a "conservatory. " Ruskin's term, albeit somewhat mischievous, held an element of truth: the building had been designed by Joseph Paxton, using his experience in building a gigantic greenhouse for the Duke of Devonshire. Other plans had been entered in competition, but at a point of impasse Paxton published a drawing of his building, and it was accepted with enthusiasm.
In the building, pioneering use was made of cast-iron structure, pre-fabricated units, and a precursor of the glass curtain wall. After the exhibition closed, the building was re-erected in South London, and continued in active use until its destruction by fire on November 30, 1936... you had better keep to building green-houses, and I will keep to my churches and cathedrals. Augustus Pugin, medievalist architect, to Joseph Paxton, architect of the Crystal Palace Joseph Paxton was born in Milton Bryan, England in 1801. A farmer's son, he was apprenticed as a gardener to the Chatsworth estate where he eventually attained the position of head gardener. In 1832, Paxton was appointed Manager to the Duke of Devonshire's estates.
He designed large greenhouses for the Duke at Chatsworth (including one for the Giant Water Lily), and these were used as the basis for his successful design of the Great Exhibition (1850 - 1851) building, the Crystal Palace, which used the idea of a simple repeating motif to achieve an economical yet harmonious building. Over 233 designs were submitted for the building to house the "Great Exhibition of the Works of All Nations. " Joseph Paxton produced his design for a Crystal Palace on a piece of blotting paper, and then submitted the final design in less than 9 days. The building itself was erected in just six months, a remarkable building with 293, 655 panes of glass, 330 huge iron columns, and 24 miles of gutters He continued to work on landscape gardening and laying out of public parks, but also designed various country houses and other domestic buildings. One of the major advantages of Paxton's "ferro-vitreous" iron and glass design was the building's extreme simplicity. The arrangement of all the principle elements of the building in multiples and sub-multiples of 24 feet not only facilitated and economized all the building operations (it was erected in seventeen weeks), but also produces perfect symmetry in the building. In 1800 Penge Common was thickly wooded, with a few cottages and farmhouses.
One of the houses built in the next few years on the newly enclosed common was Penge Place, owned by Leo Shuster, set in a park of 280 acres. Shuster sold the land at the bottom of his estate to the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, one of London's first railways, of which he was a director. When the original Palace in Hyde Park was closed in 1852 Paxton bought the building for his Crystal Palace Company and also the estate of Penge Place where he proceeded to re-erect and extend his building. Despite its popularity the Palace was losing money.
In the 1880 's land was sold off for the building of Crystal Palace Park Road and by 1909 one third of the land had gone to developers and there were plans to sell the rest for housing. In 1911 the bankrupt company put the entire site and the Palace up for sale. The Duke of Plymouth, wanting to save it from the developers, bought the whole concern but he was re-immersed by the King Edward National Memorial fund started by the Lord Mayor of London. The site was finally bought for the nation in 1913. The Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire in 1936 The London County Council succeeded by the Greater London Council then managed the 200 -acre park. In 1950 most of the statues were sold off and the transmitting station and TV mast were built.
The 1951 Crystal Palace Act gave the responsibility for the site to the LCC and required them to develop the site for purposes of education and recreation and the furtherance of commerce, art and industry. The High Level Station was demolished three years later. In 1961 the National Recreation Centre was planned, to be paid for by the GLC and covering 36 acres. It opened in 1964. In 1981 the GLC restored the terraces.
The park passed into the hands of Bromley Borough Council when the GLC was disbanded in 1984 and now consists of 90 acres of open space. The Museum was opened in 1987 by the Crystal Palace Foundation in the former Palace School of Engineering, the only surviving building constructed by the Crystal Palace Company. The park should be guarded by three layers of protection. It is a Grade II it is entered in the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens as being of special historic interest.
It is also designated as Metropolitan Open Land, that is, an open green space of significance to the whole greater metropolis. It also abuts onto the Crystal Palace Conservation area. The dimensions of the Crystal Palace are 456 feet in a north-south direction and 1, 848 feet in an east-west direction. The total height from the ground floor to the top of the barrel vaulted transept roof is 108 feet and 62. 25 feet to the top of the nave, making up three stories. The transept was added to the design to help enclose some 90 -foot tall elm trees whose fate was a great concern of some environmentally minded Londoners.
The completed structure covered over 19 acres (almost 750, 000 square fee t). Without any interior walls, the size of the Crystal Palace allowed for some very beautiful vistas which could be seen between the columns in every diagonal direction as well as in longitudinal and transverse views of the 100, 000 exhibits in the Great Exhibition. Columns. Heights range from 16 '- 7. 5 " to 18 '- 8 ", with the taller versions on the ground floor. The external diameter of all the columns is 8 inches on their square face.
Each column is formed of four flat and four cylindrical faces. They are constructed of cast iron because of its strength in compression, and are hollow for the moment of inertia with wall thicknesses varying from 3 / 8 " to 1. 25 ." The base of the columns were affixed to a flat plate two feet long by one foot wide which was fixed on a mass of concrete 2 ' x 3 ' and varying in depth from one foot to four feet. Girders and Trusses. There are nine varieties of girders and trusses each three feet in depth. There are three different strengths of 24 -foot cast iron girders (also used for its strength in compression). One strength of 24 -foot wrought iron trusses (wrought iron is used for its tensile strength).
One strength of 48 -foot wrought iron trusses. Three strengths of 72 -foot wrought iron trusses, and 24 -foot wooden trusses (oak). The vertical load-bearing system took up the dead loads of the building as well as the live loads of the many people who would tour the exhibition. Exhibits would probably tend to be quite heavy since the palace was to show off new industrial machinery. The building loads themselves were not as significant as another form of construction might have been, since the glass only weighed in at one pound per square foot.
A vertical load applied at the roof peak would be distributed through the roof frame members to one of the upper trusses made of either wrought iron or wood. The truss was designed to be stiff in bending, and would carry the load directly to the girders w hitch would transfer the load to the outer columns. The trusses were also diagonally braced so that tension loads induced by the triangular roof could be resisted. The most significant lateral load to be resisted by the structure would be wind.
This would be a live load, as would any horizontal forces generated by any machinery. These lateral loads would be taken up along the length of the facade by the regular spacing at al floor s of the girders and trusses described above. All of these floor and roof members were diagonally braced to be strong under these axial loading conditions. Additionally, the trusses and girders were cambered to resist buckling when loaded at their ends. In section, the girders had extra mass at their neutral axis at the midpoint to resist torsion. The horizontal members were also utilized to diminish the buckling length of the columns.
Installation of tie-rods at certain intervals would also prevent the shearing of the walls much as drywall does in stick-frame construction. The horizontal girders and trusses were quite sizable to take the many loads that would be exerted against the walls and vertical support members. Wind loads would be distributed onto the trusses by a frame system hung between the trusses. Today it is sport with which the name of Crystal Palace is most closely connected, but this is not a modern development. Important sporting events were staged there from the Palace's very early days.
The Crystal Palace was built at a time when sporting activity was becoming more popular and more formally organized. Though Paxton's original design did not include any accommodation for sports, it was not long before all kinds of sports were being played in the name of Crystal Palace. As early as 1857 an area in the lower park had been designated as the cricket ground. The London Borough of Bromley, who own the park today, together with the Crystal Palace Foundation, have recently submitted an outline proposal the National Heritage Lottery Fund to restore much of the park to its former glory. The proposals covered by this application aim not only to improve the park as an amenity, but also to restore a number of its major heritage features. This will include restoration of the Grand Central Walkway, which originally ran the length of the park, the preservation and restoration of the terraces, and the restoration of the geological islands.
Worked cite: Ray Sacks, Chairman, Crystal Palace Campaign, 29 March 2004 A Whiff of Archaeology in the Air Tom Levitt, MP for High Peak - Society Guardian 14 April 2004 The Write Way to Get Noticed John Greater 26 Feb 2004 THE PAXTON CRYSTAL PALACE CORNER PROJECT Wide agreement over future for Crystal Palace Park web web web
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