| Title |
The 「Iron Problems」 in Victorian Architecture |
| Keywords |
Iron Architecture ; Gothic Revivalism ; Structural Rationalism ; J. Ruskin ; Viollet-le-Duc |
| Abstract |
Many architects and architectural writers in the Victorian period were deeply involved with the question of new materials and the proposed quite a variety of solutions to the 「Iron Problems」In the late 1840s and early 1850s, several attempts were made to device a new kind of decorations for iron constructions, in order to avoid the thin, utilitarian treatment of building like the Crystal Palace. At that date Pugin and ecclesiological architects were much more advanced as regards the actual decorative treatment of iron. On the other hand, the growing awareness of the different properties of different materials had led to a new evaluation of the specific possibilities of stone in architecture. The effect which these development had on contemporary attitudes toward iron can best be seen on Ruskin's theory. And the ecclesiologists for some years continued their attempts to tackle the 「Iron Problems」The Ecclesiological Society put forward a proposal for a building made entirely of iron : The「Iron Problems」 In France the attitude of Viollet-le-Duc to the use of iron in architecture was similar to that of the ecclesiologists. He pleaded strongly that iron be kept visually distinct from stone. In contrast to Ruskin he advocated iron supports, But these supports were to be decorated. The dynamic architectural transformation of the last century occurred because of intense social and industrial changes. Functional rationalism had becomes a key to architectural design, but the new structural rationalism made possible the accomplishment of the forms which the function demanded. |