Missing image The New York Crystal Palace: The End of an Era So bursts a bubble rather noteworthy in the annals of New York. To be accurate, the bubble burst some years ago, and this catastrophe merely annihilates the apparatus that generated it. -George Templeton Strong It is unfortunate that the wonderful lithographs in our collection which depict the burning of the New York Crystal Palace are not in this online exhibition. They include a color lithograph by Currier & Ives which truly captures the excitement and confusion of that fateful night. However, the bird's eye view of the New York Crystal Palace exhibited here does justice to this amazing structure. The lithograph by Frank Leslie shows the extensive use of glass panes for which both the London and New York Crystal Palaces were given their names. It also shows the throngs of people that must have visited the New York Crystal Palace during the Exhibition, even though they were not numerous enough to make the building profitable for investors. The lithograph duplicated on this web site is about 20 x 13 inches. One is able to see the details much more clearly by viewing the original itself. As opposed to those lithographs which showed only a building with no background and no people, this image shows not only the city behind the Palace, but also the city within the Palace. In the background, one can see the various modes of transportation that visitors must have used to get to the Exhibition. The railroad runs across the top of the image, with a train in the upper left. Sailboats and steamboats move along the river, and horse-drawn carriages pull up to the front gates, unloading passengers into the crowd. The buildings behind the Palace fade away, but t... ... middle of paper ... ...nd 2,000 people were in the building, but they were all evacuated in time by a heroic fire department that put saving life ahead of saving merchandise. Having been constructed almost entirely of iron and glass, with only a little wood near its base, and having been called "fireproof" at the time of its construction, the Palace faced the same sort of irony which the "unsinkable" Titanic faced in 1912. The enormous building burnt to the ground in less than half an hour. The building itself, though no longer standing, remains one of America's first and most interesting examples of glass and iron architecture. The exhibits of industrial and artistic objects, whether huge steam-powered machines, intricately decorated home furnishings, or marble statues, attested to the high degree of invention and skill that characterized the artistic expressions of ante-bellum culture.
...afety should have inspected the building prior to issuing permits for further renovation, especially knowing this structure was going to be housing 124 residents. It seems that lack of knowledge from prior owners and lack of responsibility of city officials are responsible for this collapse and sadly, the loss of 9 brave men in the line of duty. The Boston Fire Department could have worked closer with the owner/ construction crew at the Hotel Vendome, and the deficiencies would have been found, and they would have known the instability they were walking into on June 17. At that point, firefighting operations would have more than likely been defensive. The firefighters did not conduct pre-incident planning which would have let them know they were going to face the construction barriers while attempting to lay hose, maneuver hose, and get the hose to a water source.
To describe the 1933 Chicago World's Fair in a word, one might choose, "modern" or "dazzling," perhaps even "outrageous." The fair experimented with modern architecture, dazzling electric illumination, and a daring color scheme meant to reflect the scientific content of the fair's exhibits. The fair featured advancements in all fields of science, ranging from the inner-workings of the automobile engine to the most recent theory on the structure of the atom. Entitled "The Century of Progress," it used these vivid colors and impressive exhibits to create a light-hearted and uplifting experience intended to distract the nation from the hardships of the Great Depression. The viewbook featured here provides visitors with a souvenir of this striking event and a way to remember the exhibits and buildings after the exhibition was over and the fairgrounds returned to a public park.
The Vestibule leading to this entrance hall is identical to the entrance of the Temple of Erectheus on the Acropolis of Athens. The statues in the deep niches, carved by Frederick MacMonnies, combine “American idealism with the elegance of Second Empire Style and is in advanced realm by their lack of enframement or paneling.” The vaulted entrance hall, which leads to the grand staircase, is segmented into three aisles and is clad in Iowa sandstone. The arched central aisle has the names of prominent Bostonians inscribed on them.
The actual building itself appears similar to a castle. The architecture had royal features due to the triangular points on the top of the building. There were three open doors; one big main entrance in front, two small side doors, and all the guests entered through the main entrance. Once I walked in, a big gold Buddha was centered in the back surrounding multiple iconic religious statues. There seemed to be about a hundred religious statues highly dazzled in silver or good.
The Titanic was built to be unsinkable, with 16 watertight compartments to help keep it afloat. Many people called the R.M.S. Titanic “unsinkable”, because of how large it was. To many the Titanic, being the biggest ship, also meant it was the best. Publishers Weekly; 3/19/2012, Vol. 259 Issue 12, p30-32, 3p. The ship was advertised as “unsinkable as reasonably possible,” because of it’s numerous safety features. These features included automatic watertight doors, watertight bulkheads and compartments throughout the ship, the most powerful marconi at sea and the Titanic was so large, that it was thought that anything large enough to damage it would be seen in time. They were wrong. Courier Mail, The (Brisbane). 04/03/2012, p38-38. 1.
...ise architecture at the time is undoubtedly one of his greatest achievements. Louis Sullivan gave light to the phrase, ‘form follows function,’ however, one could argue this to be hypocritical coming from the man who focused to heavily on ornamentation. Through in depth research, this discussion successfully concludes that, as Sullivan himself stated, a building that bears no decoration could be a magnificent building. Then again, in terms of the Wainwright building, when the ornamentation and construction turn into one, the building is likewise magnificent.
On 30 of November 1936 a fire brought the final catastrophe. Sir Winston Churchill in 1936 said ‘’this is the end of an age’’. A manager Sir Henry Buckland said ‘’ in few hours we have seen the end of the Crystal Palace. Yet it will live in the memories not only of Englishmen, but the whole world.’’
Contemporary architectural commentary has iconized the fountain as an example of Postmodern architecture, primarily for its adaptation of historical architectural ornament (4).
The Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (I.M) is known as one of the greatest architects of the Twentieth Century. His long, brilliant career was highlighted by several internationally famous structures. While many of Pei’s buildings were generally accepted by the public, some of them precipitated fair amounts of controversy. The most notable of these controversial structures is his Glass Pyramid at the entrance of the Louvre in Paris. For these reasons, I.M. Pei seems to be an architect who exhibits interest in the avant-garde through both the creative design and aestheticism of his architecture.
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, serves as the meeting place for the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Old Palace was a medieval building that was destroyed by fire in 1834. After the fire, a competition was held for architects to submit plans for the new building that should be in a Gothic or Elizabethan style hoping to embody the conservative values of England. A Royal commission chose Charles Barry’s designs for a Perpendicular Gothic palace. Barry’s own style was more classical than Gothic, which is why Augustus Pugin’s involvement was so crucial in Barry winning the competition.
One of the great things about America is the fact that it echoes previous centuries in ways that not many people would expect. Due to its diversity, it is thought of as a melting pot because it is filled with all kinds of culture and people from all over the world. But instead of this stereotypical metaphor, America can be thought of as the place where world architecture has not died, but instead has continued to thrive in a way that makes it suitable towards modern expectations. Greek architecture has been one of the most commonly used within this context. Although it emerged almost 3,000 years ago, the application of their architecture is still widely used today in places that aren’t Europe. We can see evidence of this through America’s government and financial buildings such as the Georgia’s Chamber of Commerce, the Capitol and even more commonly known, the White House. The White House is a major symbol of the United States and when bystanders observe its white walls, they not only a building of high status among the American people, but they also catch a glimpse into the past of centuries worth of influential architecture.
The engineering discoveries of ancient Rome have played a key role in the history of architecture and engineering. Many of Rome’s roadways, bridges, and aqueducts have been in use from the first century until the twentieth century. Many American buildings have used the Roman dome. Several major structures from early Rome still stand, including the Collosseum. These remnants of feats of Roman engineering stand as a monument to the ability of ancient Roman builders.
During the 1800’s Great Britain’s empire stretched around the world, and with raw materials easily available to them this way, they inevitably began refining and manufacturing all stages of many new machines and other goods, distributing locally and globally. However, despite being the central ‘workshop of the world,’ Britain was not producing the highest quality of merchandise. When comparing factory-made products made in England to surrounding countries, most notably France, those products could not compare as far as craftsmanship and sometimes, simply innovation. It was suggested by Prince Albert that England host a sort of free-for-all technological exposition to bring in outside crafts into the country and also show their national pride.
Anderson, A. "The Paris Exhibition Buildings." Architectural Review. Vol 7. Jan - June 1900. 28-37.
Many of these concepts we still see today in modern and minimalist styles. The simple and open plan has been replicated an uncountable amount of times. In keeping with the theme “less is more” Mies only used stone, steel, and glass. “The columns were shiny chromium-plated steel; the walls were polished book-matched marble in deep shades of green and red; the floors were Roman travertine; and the onyx and gray tinted glass contributed to the feeling of sophisticated taste and luxury” (Fazio, Moffett, and Wodehouse p.490).