Victorian Architecture

Victorian era was a tremendously exciting period when many artistic styles, literary schools, as well as, social, political and religious movements flourished.^[1] Sir Joseph Paxton, Augustus Pugin, Richard Norman Shaw, Alexander Thomson, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Charles Barry, Archibald Simpson, William Railton, William Smith and Alexander Marshall Mackenzie were some of the famous architects of this era.

Victorian architects and builders applied decoration liberally, combining features borrowed from many different eras with flourishes from their own imaginations... Medieval architecture and the great cathedrals of the Gothic age inspired all sorts of flourishes during the Victorian era.^[2] Middle east and Asian influences are also important.

Most popular styles were: Italianate, Gothic Revival, Queen Anne Style, Renaissance Revival, Neo-Grec, Folk Victorian, Shingle Style, Stick Style Houses, Second Empire Style (Mansard Style), Richardsonian Romanesque, Eastlake Style and Octagon Style.

The Crystal Palace designed by Sir Joseph Paxton was lavish with Victorian innovations - iron-frame construction, sheet glass, and integral heating. Its use of prefabrication and standardisation was a pointer to the future... The Arts and Crafts Movement, triggered by John Ruskin and William Morris, promoted the revival of traditional building crafts and the use of local materials in emulation of vernacular architecture.^[3]

Palace of Westminster, Neo Gothic by Charles Barry, 1840–1870.

In the nineteenth century building world of Great Britain, two journals stand out as the most informative and influential works in the field of architecture. These are The Builder (published weekly from December 1842) and The Building News (published weekly from January 1855). [1]

See also[edit]

Union Chapel, Islington.

• Gothic Revival
• Inigo Jones
• Victorian paintings
• Sculpture in Victorian era
• British Empire

Balmoral Castle, example of the Scots Baronial style by William Smith, completed in 1856.

Nelson's Column by William Railton, 1840-1843.

References[edit]