The
Crystal
Palace:
The
Beginning of
Iron & Glass
Architecture
References:
Hix, John: The Glass House
McKean, John: The Crystal
Palace
The
Crystal
Palace:
The
Beginning of
Iron & Glass
Architecture
References:
Hix, John: The Glass House
McKean, John: The Crystal
Palace
The Great Exhibition;
London, 1851
•
A “Great Exhibit of the Works of Industry
of All Nations”
•
The building was the epitome of England’s industry, vision,
determination, wealth, technical knowledge, and powers of
production.
Charles Dickens
said of the project,
“Two parties in London, relying on the accuracy and good faith of
certain ironmasters, glass-workers in the provinces, and of one
master carpenter in London, bound themselves for a certain sum
of money, and in the course of four months, to cover eighteen
acres of ground with a building upwards of a third of a mile long
(1851 feet- the exact date of the year) and some hundred and
fifty feet broad. In order to do this, the glass maker promised to
supply, in the required time, nine hundred thousand square feet
of glass (> 400 tons). The iron-master passed his word in like
manner, to cast in due time 3300 iron columns; 34 miles of
guttering tube, 2224 girders. The carpenter undertook to get
ready within the specific period 205 miles of sash-bar; flooring
for a building of thirty-three millions of cubic feet; besides
enormous quantities of wooden walling, louver work and
partition.”
The Building Delivery
Process
•
01/1850 The Royal Commission, Chaired by
Prince Albert
•
03/13/50 Competition announced for
temporary exhibition building
•
240 entries, none chosen, instead
committee offered it’s own design
•
A brick structure with an iron dome - dark,
heavy, permanent
Fears Abound
•
protectionists
feared foreign
goods
•
environmentalists
feared destruction
of elms
•
the press feared
foreign visitors -
Papists, thieves, &
syphilitics
Problems with the
Committee’s Design
•
17 million bricks, 200ft dome, extensive
foundations, a permanent structure
•
By 06/50 things looked bleak
Enter the “White Knight”:
Joseph Paxton
•
founded newspaper, wrote books on
horticulture, wrote articles on greenhouse
design
•
knew several people on Royal Commission
•
they found loophole to allow design
submission
Architectural Conservatory;
Prof. Richard Bradley , 1718
•
School of Botany at Cambridge
•
conformed to rules of arch., but considered welfare of
plants.
•
glass dome, thin Corinthian columns., white tile walls
Great Conservatory;
Paxton, 1836
•
Longest glass building in the world
•
277’L x 123’ W x 67’ H.
•
Laminated wood beams, cast iron columns along the
nave, ridge & furrow glazing system
Great Wall at Chatsworth;
Paxton, 1848
•
330’ long enclosure of an exist. masonry wall
Victoria Regia House;
Paxton, 1850
•
cultivating a growing Victoria Regia Lilly
from S. America
•
leaves supported by thin cantilevers
•
first “flat roof” installation of ridge &
furrow glazing system
•
two tilted 49” glass panes + sash equals
81”, c/c.
•
24’ girders + deep gutters + trussed
Paxton gutter
Victoria Regia House;
Gutter Details
•
external & interior waterways
•
change of depth
•
trusses with “pretensioning”
For the Crystal Palace,
Paxton…..
•
promised a full set of drawings in 10 days
based on a sketch during a RR board
meeting,
•
he & estate staff produced drawings in
seven days - almost exact to what was
actually built
After Paxton’s First Sketches
Were Accepted….
•
Fox Henderson & Co. undertook
calculations and the prep of detailed
drawings.
•
bid of £150, 000 - if left standing
•
bid of £79,800 if leased
•
now the building committee needed to
approve the plans
Paxton Leaked Design to
Illustrated London News
•
cheaper, quicker, assemble/ disassemble,
no brick, stone, mortar, light foundation,
day lighting, no interior walls, 25% greater
area
•
committee was furious
•
public overwhelmingly positive
On 07/15….
•
Royal Commission
rejected Building
Committee’s design
& accepted Paxton’s
lower bid
•
added transcept to
save the elms
Construction Drawings
•
Fox - 7weeks, 18hrs/ day to produce
drawings
•
as soon as drawings were finished,
Henderson set up production schedule
•
small crew installed drainpipes & light
foundations
Exterior:
•
Overall Building: 1848’ x 456’
•
Nave: 72’W x 64’ H
•
Transcept: 408’ x 104’ H
Modular, Hierarchical
Cast Iron in Buildings:
•
Crystal Palace
•
3,300 columns from 14 1/2 to 20 ft tall
•
34 miles of guttering tube below grade
•
2,224 girders
•
Cast Iron Applications in Buildings
•
1796 - Shrewesbury Warehouse
•
1809 - cast iron dome in Paris
•
1849 - cast iron facades by J. Bogardus
•
1851 - Crystal Palace
•
1855 - Bessemer Process for steel making
•
1884 - Home Insurance Building, Chicago
Cast Iron in the
Crystal Palace
•
Column ends
were lathe
turned
•
Canvas gasket
dipped in white
lead at the joints
•
3’ deep collar
with connecting
lip
•
Girders secured
with wrought
iron wedges
Column Schedule
Strength Testing:
•
several iron bridges had failed in the
1840’s
•
for public assurance:
•
marching soldiers and rolling cannon balls
•
for the engineers:
•
hydraulic press tested 214 girders with 24’ span
•
tested at 15T and 22T
•
first private testing laboratories & concept
of factor of safety
Wood
•
600,000 cu ft of wood milled into >200
miles of gutters and sash bars
•
milling operation input rough beams and
output finished profiled gutters
•
dipped in paint trough and run across
fixed brushes to remove excess
Glass
•
Chance Bros. & Co.
won the contract
•
from 08/50 - 02/51,
they produced:
•
>300,00 sheets
•
>900,000 sf
•
>400T
•
largest sheet ever made,
10” x 49” from the
cylinder process
•
this contract equaled
1/3 of England’s total
prior production
Ridge & Furrow Glazing
Daylight
•
suffered from
excessive light and
heat gain
•
canvas was stretched
from ridge to ridge
with drain holes over
the furrow
•
sprayed with water for
cooling
•
also included a
mechanical ventilation
system
Transcept
•
laminated wood beams reinforced with
iron rods
•
sloping sash bars for the glazing system
Time & Budget
•
9/26/50:
•
First column on site
•
Columns placed just 18 hrs after casting
•
01/51
•
Structural frame completed
•
Bid: £79,800
•
Change Orders: £27,980 + £35,000
•
Total Cost: £142,780
The Exhibition:
•
By 9/25/51: £451,000 in receipts
•
On 10/7/51: almost 100,000 guests
•
On 10/11/51: closed to the public
•
On 5/12/52: Sold for £70,000
After the Crystal Palace
•
Lyndhurst by Lord & Burnham
•
Hothouses for the millions
Horeau & Turner:
•
Prize Winners for
Exhibition
•
Paris & London
proposals, Paris
executed
•
Train stations,
other exhibitions,
NY etc.
Hot Houses for the Millions
•
Residential Greenhouses
•
Winter Garden in the Anglo-Japanese Style
Glass House by Bruno Taut
•
“Expressionist”
architecture
•
Built at the
Cologne Werkbund
•
Concrete lamellar
structure
•
Glass ceilings,
walls, floors, tiles
Outcomes
•
professional A/E jealousy and fear
•
shift from A/E to design/ build
•
concern that modular buildings could not
be suited to individual sites/ needs
•
search for an appropriate aesthetic
Influences on Today’s
Building Practices
•
structural frame
•
standard rolled shapes
•
standard details
•
strength testing
•
prefabrication
•
assembly/ disassembly
•
published w/ enough detail to allow others to build
•
project management