19th Century English Architecture Essay

portal* The nineteenth century heralded the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, which shaped unprecedented socioeconomic and technological changes in England, transforming it into a modern industrial society. This essay examines the impact that these changes have had on the conception and construction of 2 impudent building types, namely the schoolroad line station and prison. * This essay argues that the human body and construction of line station in England had to be adapted to the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution, such as widespread rural-urban migration, rapid urban product and rising affluence in position society. On the pragmatic sanction side, station builders also had to look for alternative materials resistant to corrosion from move and smoke emitted by locomotives. This essay also examines the loving changes and punishable reforms in nineteenth century England which ca employ a shift in societal perspectives towards nuisance and punishment, a nd how these impacted the function of three major prisons at that while.See more(prenominal) Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essayRailway StationsDue to the rapid economic growth and development resulting from the Industrial Revolution, many urban areas spread out at a dizzying rate as people in the countryside flocked to towns and cities facial expression for employment. Historian Eric Evans notes that Glasgow grew by 46 percent in the 1810s and Manchester by 44 percent in the 1820s. Social problems such as overcrowding, congestion and offense curtly followed.These changes resulted in new functional needs and requirements for buildings. * Prior to the 19th century, trains were primarily built for transporting cargo. At the turn of the century, railway stations had to be adapted to cater to the increase in passengers travelling through with(predicate) England for devise and leisure. They served as terminals and interchanges for many trains from the different rai l companies, as well as waiting areas and fleeting accommodation for passengers. From an architectural standpoint, they were central buildings because their *construction coordinated all the major architectural movements of the 19th century, in terms of materials, bearing and structure. * The first English railway station at Crown Street, Liverpool (fig. 1), akin all railway stations, was built mainly to provide shelter for its occupants passengers and trains. In addition, the preceding modes of transportation the canal and the century-old turnpike system had specially cate ablaze(p) computer architecture for its passengers inns were used instead as departure points, relay stations and terminals. As there was no precedent for this building type, most earlier railway stations, including Crown Street, had their shelters constructed based on the design of sheds built for cattle and wagon. However, the look of railway station evolved in the mid-19th century, delinquent to unp recedented urban growth in cities in England, the increasing genial significance of stations and underground to railway construction.As railway companies began to expand their networks, more people started contemptible to the cities. Growth in traffic and migration led to overcrowding and congestion in the cities and soon there was a need for a re-evaluation of the station designs. * Railway stations bore social significance in 19th century England as they were iconic landmarks. Driven by the idea that the station was to the modern city what the city gate was to the ancient city, the stations design was the first impression that travellers got of the city/town. Rising affluence among the English due to the industrial boom meant that the public would also use the stations design to get a feel of the city and gauge how good-natured it was to live in or travel to. One such congressman is Euston station, universally lauded by the English public for its majestic Doric wet appropri ate. As rail travel quickly became affordable for the masses in the 19th century, the design of railway stations also had to take into billhook class differences in English society. Therefore, the Crown Street station, and many new(prenominal) stations after it, also had different booking areas/waiting cortege designated for first-class and second-class passengers. * The wide-scale construction of railways throughout England faced much foeman from many locals, who criticised the pollution, noise and encroachment it made to rural landscapes.Therefore, builders used design and local building materials to absorb railways into the rural scene. Country stations were intentional to look like cottages, gate lodges and farmhouses, using materials such as red brick in the Midlands, golden limestone in the Cotswolds and pale grey in Derbyshire. In the mid-19th century, station builders sought to achieve architectural feats due to increasing challenger between companies. One such example was Paddington (fig.2) which boasted of having the widest single-span train shed at that time to cater to the technical demands of the changes in occupant load and social identity. This became an example for other railway stations which were built after it. At the turn of the mid-19th century, due to a significant increase in new building material production, urge became increasingly available and was more much used in architecture. At the same time, railway stations were expanding in size due to increasing demand.Wider-span train sheds were needed to accommodate the increment occupant loads on trains. With the previous completion of works demonstrating the emf of iron in achieving wider-span roofs, railway builders started using it. Wide-span roofs allowed greater flexibility in accommodating the growing crowd and the alteration of track and platform infra it. In addition, iron was regarded as the most suitable choice for railway sheds. As timber (the common material used be fore iron) deteriorated speedily under the exposure to sulphurous steam produced by trains, iron, which was more resistant, was used as a substitute. This is a clear example of station builders adapting their materials to quaint conditions in rail stations.PrisonsPrisons in England before the 19th century were places of temporary custody, where inmates regardless of age, gender or offence were locked together in a method known as congregate working class. Such confinements were overcrowded and had poor ventilation, twinkle and sanitation. Among the inmates, there were ill people, drunkards and lunatics. Due to lack of public funding, prisons were also peaked(predicate) staffed and inmates welfare was usually neglected. Official statistics show that offense rates rise in the first half of the 19th century, before eventually locomote in the second. The rise coincided with the rapid urban growth in the early years, which led to a demand for more prisons to be built, especially i n the cities. In fact, 90 prisons were built or added to between 1842 and 1877. Notable prisons during that time include Millbank, Newgate and Pentonville. The design of these three prisons were touched by ongoing social changes and prison reform movements.The 19th century also saw major reforms to the prison system in England, namely the mass building of mammoth prisons and changes to the treatment of prisoners, due to a shift in societal perspectives. Firstly, pure(a) punishment, often through public execution, became less favoured compared to calibrated punishment comparative to the crime. Secondly, thinkers like Foucault saw prison as a tool for disciplining the offender, for field of study and reform. Social reformers like caper Howard lobbied for prisoners to be separated according to their gender, crime and health, by solitary confinement and imposition of silence to encourage saying and regret among the prisoners. Another social reformer, Jeremy Bentham, conceptualise d the Panopticon scheme for a model prison, which consisted of prisoners occupying cells in the circumference of a circular building, allowing fewer guards to survey them from a commutation observation point.While the design was never implemented in its whole, the make idea of direction did take hold in certain prisons. Millbank prison incorporated this idea by building small storey surveillance towers for its staff from which they could receive and give information. To deter potential offenders, the architecture personal manner of prisons was adapted to ensure maximum secrecy and communicate the severity of crime. For example, in Pentonville, the imposing Gothic style was used to great effect, with a portcullis entrance and castellation around the walls, which featured in subsequent prison building. Such barriers kept the public fenced out and sent an implicit message about what went on inside. Another example would be the felons door in Newgate which was also adverse and fore boding with overpoweringly grim character. Such designs gave prisons their own gay appearance, which eventually became recognized by the public.Prison architects also sought to inflict the separation/confinement school of thought in their design of national arrangements. Large rooms for congregated confinement were replaced with smaller individual solitary confinement cells. Partitions were erected in spaces whereby prisoners were gathered, such as chapels and workshops (fig.X). These designs were imposed to prevent interaction among prisoners and to accent penitence. At Newgate, the chapel was designed such that male felons, debtors and women would enter it through isolated corridors. The chapel feature was novel for its time, adhering to reformers belief that moral penitence could rehabilitate offenders. In Millbank, prisoners were separated in silent cells and could only alum to work together in groups through good behaviour.ConclusionThe 19th century is widely seen as the e ra in which England developed into a modern state, owing to the Industrial Revolution which saw the inception of important inventions such as the steam engine and the development of the railroad and iron industries. Such technological changes also gave rise to socioeconomic changes in England, which affected the style, structure and materials of buildings. Railway stations had to be designed to cope with macrocosm growth in urban areas driven by economic development, only also be aesthetically pleasing some became iconic landmarks engraft in the public consciousness. The use of materials also had to take into account the practicalities of rail operations.On the other hand, prisons were more affected by social changes and penal reforms arising from public debate over crime and punishment. Prisons were expected to incorporate elements of renewal in addition to punishment. Humanitarian reformers like Bentham and Howard also lobbied for the separation of prisoners quite than congre gation confinement. These movements changed the way prisons were designed and built in the 19th century. two building types changed and evolved greatly in the 19th century not save because of technological breakthroughs, tho due to changing beliefs, values and attitudes in English society, which was going through an era of Enlightenment. Given the far reach of the British Empire then, these changes not only impacted England at that time but also its colonies throughout the world and remain visible today. 1 . Eric Evans, 2001, The forge of the Modern State Early Industrial Britain, 1783-1870 by (3rd edition) London Longman Pearson 2 . CarrollL. V. Meeks, 1956, The Railway Station An architectural History, Yale University Press, USA, Pp. 27 3 . Christian Barman, 1950, An Introduction to Railway Architecture, Art and Technics, London, Pp. 16 4 . * Carroll L. V. Meeks, 1956, The Railway Station An Architectural History, Yale University Press, USA, Pp. 39 5 . The Inception of the English Railway Station 6 . Jack Simmons, 2003, The Impact of the Railway on Society in Britain, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Pp. 122 7 . E2BN, 2006, priggish Crime and Punishment from E2BN. East of England Broadband Network. Web. 5 Oct 2012 8 . Robin Evans, 1982. The Fabrication of Virtue English Prison Architecture, 1750-1840. Cambridge University Press, pp 247 9 . John Pratt, 1993. This Is Not a Prison Foucault, the Panopticon and Pentonville. Social & Legal Studies December 1993, pp 373-395 10 . Harold D. Kalman, 1969. Newgate Prison. Architectural History, Vol 12 1969. pp.7 11 . Harold D. Kalman, 1969. Newgate Prison. Architectural History, Vol 12 1969. pp.5 12 . David Wilson, 2002. Millbank, Panopticon and their Victorian Audiences. The Howard Journal, Vol 41 No. 4 September 2002. Pp 369