Modern History: 19th Century Architecture
Terms:
Revivalist Architecture
Gothic Revival
Neomedievalism
Arts and Crafts Movement
wainscoting
gesso
cast iron
girder
terracotta
base
cornice
Revivalists
Gothic Revival
In the U.S
James Renwick, St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, 1858
James Renwick, Smithsonian "Castle", Washington D.C., 1855
clear association with Amiens Cathedral
In England
Charles Berry and W.N. Pugin, House of Parlament, London, 1835
In France
Charles Gamier, The Opera, Paris, 1861-74
Arts and Crafts
Focused on hand-made objects and natural motifs
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Ladies' Luncheon Room Scotland, 1900-1912
Exoticism in West
John Nash, Royal Pavilion, England, 1815-1818
Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1889
Architecture of Louse Sullivan
Guaranty, Buffalo New York
Richard Morris Hunt
The Breakers, Newport Rhode Island
John Augusts Roebling
Brooklyn Bridge, 1883
William Morris, Green Dining Room, 1867
"bringing back historical styles"
"pushing architecture in new directions"
also "pushing architecture in new directions"
work reevaluated issues of space and decoration
New technology = used to ease challanges of urban life
first Suspension Bridge to use steel for its cable wire
first to also use explosives underwater (caisson)
Lot of fucking problems (John actually died, so his son had to take over, who was then bedridden with a disease called "the bends"
14 years to build
commemorated the French Revolution
World's tallest building at the time
finished early and under-budget
nicknamed "magician of iron"
wind-resistance
one of the first to have passenger elevators
French Scientists are inscribed on the sides of first platform
"Triumph of Technology"
Materials
engineering methods
monuments as National symbols
"Triumph of Technology"
Iron
So?
Well, it's Wrought Iron
SO?
it's a alloy of carbon and cast iron, and it's apparently easier to manipulate, but is also very sturdy and corrosion-resistant
endcap of Wrought Iron in architecture; replaced by steel by 1890
made using the Puddling process
so?
more efficient refining process for Iron = big step forward in Industrial Revolution
artists didn't like it - petition against it "Artists against the Eiffel Tower"
pretty radical, comparing the tower to a "black smokestack"
they basically had no effect (and no argument aside from extreme skepticism)
tied into contemporary politics (Guillaime Apollinaire's a calligram) as a political statement about the war in Germany
Eiffel countered - tower's size was an advantage to the aesthetic, comparable to the Pyramids of Giza
Caisson structure (Roebling's invention(?)) used to construct two legs closer to the Seine river
Caisson - basically makes a hug ditch that can keep water out and allow construction possible in areas of water
pre-assembled parts (designed by Eiffel and made in factories) were delivered on site and joined together with rivets
part of the fair celebrating anniversary of French Revolution, Eposition Universelle 1889
Why wasn't it torn down after the exposition?
because of it's use as a big ass radio station, and this became important for transmissions involved in WWI
Counter
COUNTER
Iron was not new. Like, at all. It was being used even before the Industrial Revolution. The earliest known evidence of iron was some beads around 3200 BC.
As far as it's use in architecture, there's not tremendous novelty there either. There are examples dating back to the late 1700's using cast-iron to make bridges. (Abraham Darby's grandson, Iron Bridge, 1779)
Dare you to name three more.
So, there's *The Crystal Palace* in 1851
But wait, is this engineering or architecture?
There's even a fucking period in history called "The Iron Age"
You could argue that the specific alloy and refinement process used to make the Eiffel tower, but this isn't a strong case either. The process (Pullinging? Puddled iron! Like puddle) was actually kinda on the decline as steel production became more refined.
aaand most examples actually are around mid-to-late 1800's. So, got me there.
What IS so triumphant about the tower's technology?
Triumph is not = new.
Combination of existing technology (puddled iron, caisson structure, scaffolding,) is what made this thing.
The actual mechanics of making this isn't whats technologically significant here, but more of Eiffel and his ambitious design choices. If he didn't make it as tall as he did, it wouldn't have been as impressive. It also probably wouldn't exist anymore.
Because of it's use in radio transmissions during the war.
His design choice in the lattice pattern was functional as a means to counter the wind resistance.
For cast iron, it goes back to ancient China.
Iron Pagoda, 1029 (Song Dynasty)
When was puddled iron first used?Well, it was invented in 1784 by Henry Cort.