UOB- Department of Architecture and Interior Design
ARCG221- HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE II
Dr. Abdurrahman Mohamed
Architecture of the 19th century
Changes in society and the built
environment
The spread of factories as giant buildings
blowing steam and smoke in the skies of
towns and cities.
These factories attracted increasing numbers
of workers who left their agricultural
professions in their villages in favor for
higher wages and social life in cities.
Crowding, poor housing and health hazards
became evident features of these
developments.
Trains played a vital role in the movement of
people and goods between these cities.
New generation of architects began to lead building
industries with new visions separated from the
religious ideals of the church and the monarchy.
Industrial development paved the way for great
inventions in building materials and construction
systems supported by the scientific developments in
mathematics, physics and chemistry.
The first project to use iron as a structural material
was the bridge over Severn River near
Coalbrookdale in England, 1775-1779 which was
constructed with five cast iron arches.
New developments
The increasing power of science and
scientists against the ignorance and errors
of the church.
The rise of a middle class faction against the
power of the nobles and the monarchies.
The spread of secular culture against the
theological teachings of the church.
The slogans of the French revolution and the
birth of the united states in the new world.
The invention of the machine and the steam
trains.
Neoclassical architecture
All the above developments provided the foundation
for the birth of an architectural direction that began
in the mid-18th century as a reaction against Rococo
and Baroque styles. It is principally derived from the
architecture of Classical Greece and the Palladian
architecture. It emphasized the geometrical qualities
of buildings
Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were
influenced by the drawings and projects of Claude
Nicolas Ledoux who concentrated on reflecting the
function of the building to the viewer.
Leo von Klenze 1784 - 1864
A German architect, painter, and
writer, designed streets, squares, and
numerous monumental buildings that
set the scale and tone of Munich, the
Bavarian capital. He also had other
European commissions from Athens, to
Saint Petersburg in Russia.
Glyptothek Museum, Munich, 1816-1830
The building has no windows but rather it uses blind aedicules
containing sculptures. The building is considered a good example of
New Gothic with its details and decorations. It is one of the main
components that gives Munich its very special image.
Glyptothek
Museum plan
Propyläen, Munich, 1860
The building evokes the monumental entrance of the Propylaea for the
Athenian Acropolis.
The gate was created as a memorial for the accession to the throne of Otto
of Greece, a son of the principal King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
Thomas Ustick Walter (1804-1887)
American architect who designed several buildings
including Founder’s Hall at Girard College,
Philadelphia, 1833-1847. After this commission he
designed the dome of the United State Capitol in
Washington and later he became a founding member
of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
It is one of the finest examples of American GreekRevival architecture. School founder Girard specified
in his will the dimensions and plan of the building
which was designed by Thomas Ustick Walter.
Founder’s Hall at Girard College,
Philadelphia, 1833-1847,
Creative Eclecticism
Thomas Ustick Walter
1st Presbyterian Church on Miner Street, 1832
Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival or The Neo-Gothic is an architectural
style began in the 1840s in England. It grew rapidly
as a development of the neoclassical styles. The
style became widespread for its intrinsic appeal in
the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
It spread rapidly to parts of Europe and beyond in
Australia, South Africa and the Americas.
As industrialization progressed, reaction against
machine production and the appearance of factories
and huge buildings increased where proponents as
Thomas Carlyle and Augustus Pugin believed that
pre-industrial medieval society was a golden age.
Sir George Gilbert Scott 1811-1878
English
architect, one of
the most
successful and
prolific
exponents of the
Gothic Revival
style.
St John's
College Chapel,
London,
Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin
Palace of Westminster
Creative Eclecticism
By mid 19th century, the architectural thought was
developed further to see that referring to complete
examples from certain previous classical
architecture no longer was acceptable.
The ability of societies to accept and interact with
more progressive directions in design and
architecture was increasingly improving, driven by
the continuous innovation of architects and the free
competition between the elite to acquire higher
levels of these innovations.
Therefore, architects began to develop a new
movement by selecting certain elements from
diverse styles for their designs.
But it is important to notice that Eclecticism never
formed a precise movement or style in itself like
mannerism.
Jean Louis Charles Garnier
(1825-1898)
He learned at the École de Dessin, the
atelier of Louis Hippolyte Lebas, and
the École des Beaux-Arts in 1841. He
also worked for Eugène Emmanuel
Viollet-le-Duc
Paris Opera
Paris Opera – The grand staircase
Paris Opera- The grand foyer
High Victorian Gothic 1865-1900
Perhaps the most famous example of High
Victorian Gothic architecture is Victoria
Tower at the royal Palace of Westminster in
London, England. Victoria Tower was named
after the reigning Queen Victoria who took
delight in Gothic Revival architecture. Unlike
the Early Gothic Revival, the High Victorian
Gothic style was mainly inspired by Venetian
Gothic architecture rather than English
Medieval buildings.
Features High Victorian Gothic
Masonry construction
Patterned brick and multi-colored stone
Stone carvings of leaves, birds, and gargoyles
Strong vertical lines and a sense of great height
Realistic re-creation of authentic medieval styles
Polychrome decoration
Varying texture
Gothic details
picturesque facades
heavier detailing
complex massing
pointed arches, tracery, grouped colonettes
Heavy stone and brick work
Bold forms; towers, massive hip and gabled roofs
Larger scale than Early Gothic buildings
St Pancras Railway
Station and Midland
Hotel, 1865, London,
England by George
Gilbert Scott
Natural History Museum, Oxford, 1855-1860, by
Irish architects Thomas Newenham Deane and
Benjamin Woodward
The exterior and interior are Venetian
Gothic.
Venetian Gothic arches are grouped
together and tinged with colour.
The roof is constructed from cast iron
and glass with Gothic style.
New Haven City
Hall and County
Courthouse
1871-1873, New
Haven, USA, by
David R. Brown
Architecture of steel and glass: Mechanization
and dehumanization of architecture
Developments of 18th and 19th century politics,
economy, technology and culture brought great
changes to architecture.
One of the most striking developments was the
Industrial Revolution which started to revolutionize
architecture since the mid 18th century.
The technologies and industrial materials, especially
iron, steel and glass, brought spanning changes to
societies.
Architectural commissions no longer remained
ecclesiastical, royal and noble patrons who were
replaced by new public authorities and middle class
industrials and merchants.
New types of buildings became important for
the new social structure of the industrial
societies: government offices, banks,
hospitals, theaters, libraries, educational
institutions, museums, railroad stations,
factories, warehouses, commercial buildings
and new types of housing.
These types required innovative engineering
and architectural solutions.
The main concern shifted from religious and
national manifestations to more functional
requirements and economic feasibilities of
the new buildings.
Lighting, ventilation and environmental
control in addition to the functional
requirements of the new type of industrial,
social and cultural activities became the
main important factors directed the
development of architecture.
Crystal Palace, London, 1851, by sir
Joseph Paxton
The Crystal Palace was ordered by Prince Albert,
Husband of Queen Victoria in order to compete with the
successful French Exhibition started in 1841 and ended
in 1849.
Sir Paxton was responsible for the gardens of the Duke of
Devonshire and experimented several attempts to build
large glass houses using the development in iron and
glass industry.
The cast iron and glass building was originally
constructed in Hyde Park, London, England. final
dimensions of the palace were 563 m long by 139 m wide
and 41 m high with area of 92,000 m2
More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world
participated to exhibit the latest innovation in Industrial
Revolution.
After the exhibition, the building was moved to a new
park in London called Sydenham Hill.
The Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire in 1936.
Main Reading Hall, National Library,
Paris, 1862-1868 by Henry Labrouste
It is one of the important examples of
the architecture of steel and glass. The
roof consists of a series of domes
supported by cast iron arches and thin
cast iron columns. Each dome has a
wide oculus to bring enough light to
the hall.
Arts & Crafts Movement
With the development of machines and
factory culture, the main drive of the
economy was the “production”.
Serious deviations from the old classical
forms of art and design made the new
products as bad incoherent mixtures of
classical and medieval forms.
Artists and architects started to seek
freedom of the control and exploitation of the
production machines.
William Morris (1834-1896)
He was a poet, artist and writer inspired by the writing of John
Ruskin and the return to gothic architecture.
He “attempted to correct the dehumanizing effects of the
Industrial Revolution by proposing a form of society in which
people could enjoy craftsmanship and simplicity of
expression.”
He designed his own house (1859-1860) (the Red House) with
the help of the architect Philip Web and designed every detail
and the furniture of the house to reflect the strong relationship
with nature and natural materials and to oppose any
mechanization processes.
He then established a design firm which laid the foundation for
the Arts and Crafts movement.
The designers of the Arts & Crafts period not only designed the
interior spaces but they also created the furniture and accessories.
The Arts and Crafts style has two directions:
The cottagey look begun by Morris and Webb
and evolved by Voysey, and afterwards, the
more simple , more modernist feel of
Mackintosh and Lutyens.
The inevitable use of ideas by small-scale
builders making patterns of porches and
doors migrating into the informally designed
houses.
Red house floor plans
Red house floor plans
The Red house
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)
Mackintosh reflected the relative styles at the end of
the late 19thCentury/ early 20thCentury.
His designs incorporated elements of both the Arts
& Crafts movement as well as Art Nouveau. He
completely avoided any historicism in his work.
His work even hints toward early modernism with its
strict geometries. Mackintosh is widely known for
his furniture designs.
He often used simple geometries and then
exaggerated the features.
Mackintosh was one of the founding members of the
Glasgow School of Art .
Charles Rennie
Mackintosh
Hill House,
1902 -1903
Glasgow School of
Art,
Glasgow, Scotland,
UK, 1897-1909
The Art Nouveau movement
Organic and curvilinear forms become
prominent and exaggerated.
The forms copy those of nature as well as
abstract forms.
Art Nouveau resulted in the combination of
modern sculpture and architecture.
It was the rejection of both the Gothic and
Classicism, and the organic nature of the
ornament creates the character of buildings
and interior details.
Eugene Vallin
1856 - 1922
Masson
House
(1903 1914)
Victor Horta (1861-1947)
Horta
House
(1898
-1911)
Antonio Gaudi (1852 -1926)
Casa Batllo (1904-1906)
Louis Sullivan (1856 -1924)
Sullivan’s designs match those of the Art
Nouveau as well as modernism. They are
very organic and layered. The abstract
natural forms heighten the level of scale
within the space. The ornament was either
produced in metal or in cast Terra Cotta. His
buildings became framework from which he
could display his ornament. Sullivan is
known for the statement, “form follows
function.” Sullivan was also the mentor to
Frank Lloyd Wright.
Louis Sullivan and
Dankmar Adler,
Guaranty
Building (1894),
Buffalo, New
York