The Crystal Palace

    The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London.The building is 1,851 feet long and 128 feet high. The building reflects the development of modern architecture and modern industry with the development of the industrial Revolution. The building originally planned as an exhibition, the materials used to build the house had to meet a few key specifications: temporary, simple and as cheap as possible.

    Its design inspiration comes from the lian network of support, purely made of steel and glass walls that building in building quickly good pervious to light again at the same time, to know the light is in more than 20 years later, in 1879 was Edison invented.

    Most interesting of all are the glass walls and ceilings of the building. As a result, indoor lighting is not required inside the building. The shape and size of the entire building is based on the glass produced by the supplier, which greatly changed the production cost and installation time to meet the original requirements. The roof takes the form of a long triangular prism, which makes it both very light and very strong, meaning it can be built with minimal materials. At the same time, the roof can effectively drain water. Eventually, the palace was able to maintain a comfortable temperature inside such a large glass building. The Crystal Palace offers an unrivalled space for exhibitions because it is made of glass. The building does not need artificial lighting during the day, and there are no extra structure, so there is plenty of space for exhibitions.

    The Crystal Palace is an embodiment of people's creativity, ability and wisdom. The building is a combination of the technology of the time. It was the first building during the first Industrial Revolution to use large glass surfaces and steel structures. It shows the possibilities of using new materials such as steel, glass and new construction techniques, and also promotes the development of architecture, providing some new design ideas and reshaping people's cognition. More importantly, it created a new architectural aesthetic. The Crystal Palace created a trend which meant that architectural design was no longer professional and that people who were not architects could design buildings. The Crystal Palace is a landmark in the history of architecture.

    But unfortunately, because of a big fire, just a few hours, the palace was destroyed. The fire spread quickly in high winds that night, partly due to dry old wood floors and the large amount of flammable material in the building. "A few hours later we saw the end of the Crystal Palace," Buckland said. However, it will live not only in the memory of the British, but in the memory of the whole world." Winston Churchill said, "This is the end of an era."

    Cole once said, "The history of the world has never seen anything like the Great Exhibition of Industry of the Nations of 1851. A great nation is inviting all civilized nations to a gathering to compare and study the fruits of human wisdom."

As far as the building was concerned, it was ahead of its time, because in 1851 Britain was still in the Victorian period, and it would have taken a great deal of courage to build a building so different from the decor and grandeur of the time.

    Almost every design movement in history was first reflected in the transformation of architectural style, as we now generally regard this building transparent through metal components as the beginning of the history of modern design.

References

Addis, B. The Crystal Palace and its place in Structural History. International Journal of Space Structures, March 2006, p7

White, R.& Yorath, J. (2004). The Crystal Palace – Demise. The White Files – Architecture. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2010.