WK4: NINETEENTH-CENTURY CITIES/ARTS AND CRAFTS

Key projects

Arts & Crafts / 19th-Century Cities

Definition / Context:

• Reaction against industrial mass production; focus on handcrafted, honest construction.

• Gothic Revival: moral, Christian architecture; inspired by medieval buildings.

• Cities grew with railways, department stores, and sanitation reforms; rise of middle class.

Key Terms:

• Craftsmanship – skillful handmade work.

• Anti-industrial – against mass production.

• Gothic Revival – return to Gothic architecture.

• Prefabrication – factory-made parts assembled on site.

• Modularity – repeated units in design.

• Exhibition culture – public display of innovation.

Main Projects & Architects:

• Crystal Palace, London – Joseph Paxton

• Opéra Garnier, Paris – Charles Garnier

• St Giles’ Church, Cheadle – Augustus Pugin

• Palace of Westminster, London – Augustus Pugin & Charles Barry

• Red House, Bexleyheath – Philip Webb & William Morris

• All Saints Church, London – William Butterfield

Crystal Palace, London, UK, 1851 (not extant)
Architect / Designer: Joseph Paxton

• Architect / Designer: Joseph Paxton

• Movement / Style: Industrial / Exhibition Architecture

Three Points of Significance / Main Idea / Innovation:

• Prefabricated iron and glass; modular construction.

• Break from traditional masonry; demonstrates industrial progress.

• Created for the Great Exhibition; symbol of British empire, innovation, industrial culture.

Materials / Ornament: Iron, glass; almost no ornament; transparency as design feature.

Comparison: Contrasts with Opéra Garnier – ornament and spectacle for elite rather than mass exhibition.

Key Terms: Prefabrication, Modularity, Exhibition culture

Opéra Garnier, Paris, France, 1875
Architect / Designer: Charles Garnier

• Architect / Designer: Charles Garnier

• Movement / Style: Beaux-Arts / Historicist / Neo-Baroque

Three Points of Significance / Main Idea / Innovation:

• Highly decorative; integrates sculpture, painting, and architecture.

• Continuation of neoclassical/baroque traditions.

• Represents elite culture; focuses on spectacle and ornament.

Materials / Ornament: Stone, marble, bronze, gold leaf; lavish decorative elements.

Key Terms: Beaux-Arts, Historicism, Spectacle Architecture

St Giles’ Church, Cheadle, UK, 1841–46
Architect / Designer: Augustus Pugin

• Architect / Designer: Augustus Pugin

• Movement / Style: Gothic Revival

Three Points of Significance / Main Idea / Innovation:

• True Gothic style for moral and religious expression.

• Reaction against neoclassicism; craftsmanship reflects Christian values.

Materials / Ornament: Stone, wood, stained glass, pointed arches, carvings

Key Terms: Gothic Revival, Moral Architecture, Craftsmanship

Palace of Westminster, London, UK, 1840–70
Architects / Designers: Augustus Pugin & Charles Barry

• Architect / Designer: Augustus Pugin & Charles Barry

• Movement / Style: Gothic Revival

Three Points of Significance / Main Idea / Innovation:

• Symbol of English national identity; moral and religious architecture.

• Reaction against neoclassicism; emphasizes craft and Gothic details.

Materials / Ornament: Stone, stained glass, pointed arches, heavy ornamentation

Key Terms: Historicism, Gothic Revival, Moral Architecture

Red House, Bexleyheath, UK, 1859–60
Architects / Designers: Philip Webb & William Morris

• Architect / Designer: Philip Webb & William Morris

• Movement / Style: Arts & Crafts

Three Points of Significance / Main Idea / Innovation:

• Handcrafted materials; honest construction.

• Reaction against industrial mass production; emphasis on craft and design integrity.

Materials / Ornament: Brick, timber, stained glass, wallpapers, embroidery

Key Terms: Arts & Crafts, Craftsmanship, Anti-industrial

1. All Saints Church, London, UK, 1859
   Architect / Designer: William Butterfield

All Saints Church, London (1859)

• Architect / Designer: William Butterfield

• Movement / Style: Gothic Revival / Ecclesiastical

Three Points of Significance / Main Idea / Innovation:

• Polychromatic brickwork; structural honesty; religious symbolism.

• Inspired by Pugin; high Victorian Gothic style.

Materials / Ornament: Brick, stone, tiles; colored walls and floors

Key Terms: Polychromy, High Victorian Gothic, Moral Architecture