2. Machinery.
3. Chemical Products.
4. Metal Works.
5. Productions of Parisian Industry.
6. Horticulture.
7. Woven Goods.
8. Principal Entrance.
9. Guard-house.
10. Fountain.
11. Reservoir of Rain Water.
[Illustration: VIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE.]
"The whole plot of the present building (exclusive of the agricultural
department) covers a vast parallelogram of 206 metres by 100 (about 675 by
328 feet English), round the outline of which runs a gallery about 90 feet
wide, divided into two avenues by a double range of pilasters. In the
centre of each avenue is a set of stalls, placed back to back, for the
exhibition of merchandise; and both between the central pilasters, and
round, and upon the walls, other objects are placed, so that on traversing
either of the four gangways (each about ten feet wide) the public have upon
their right and left hands objects for inspection. In the part of the
building appropriated to large machinery, of course this system cannot be
carried out with the same regularity. The vast parallelogram, inclosed by a
somewhat similar gallery in the year 1844, was left as one magnificent
hall, within which were placed the most important objects; in the present
building we find it divided by two transverse galleries, similarly arranged
to those we have described, forming three court-yards; the central one
being about 140 feet square, and the two lateral ones 80 feet by 140. The
central court-yard is open to the sky; in the middle rises an elegant
fountain placed on a platform of turf, and around are disposed sheds for
the exhibition of flowers and horticultural ornaments and implements. One
of the lateral courts (inclosed) receives a large collection of objects in
metal-work, cast-iron, &c., and the other contains an immense reservoir, in
which all the drainage from the roofs is collected, so as to form a supply
of water immediately serviceable in case of fire. In addition to this great
building, which corresponds with that previously erected, there is this
year constructed a vast shed for the exhibition of agricultural produce and
stock. It extends to a length rather greater than the width of the great
parallelogram, and is about 100 feet (English) wide. Its construction is
ruder than that of the 'Palace,' but it is not on that account less
effective. It appears to have been originally contemplated to fill the
whole of this gigantic hall with cattle, &c., and to place the agricultural
implements in a long narrow gallery intervening between it and the main
building; but as the stock of animals forwarded for exhibition has not
proved so large as was anticipated, it has been half-filled with
semi-agricultural machines, and the whole of the long narrow gallery
alluded to crammed with stoves, and miscellaneous domestic mechanism.
"The whole of the building is constructed of wood, the roofs being covered
with zinc: of the latter material 400,000 kilogrammes, equal to nearly
4,000 tons, are stated to have been used; and of the former, nearly 45,000
pieces of timber.
"It is hoped that the accompanying plan and views will convey a tolerably
good idea both of the exterior and interior arrangements of the Exhibition.
They will serve to show, at least, that a somewhat unnecessary expenditure
has been gone into, and to manifest the possibility of constructing a much
more simple building, possessing all the advantages of this one, at a far
less cost.
"Both externally and internally there is a good deal of tasteless and
unprofitable ornament; all the pilasters are papered and painted in a
species of graining to imitate light oak, and even the ceiling is covered
over with the same work. Large 'carton pierre' trusses apparently support
the timbers, and a painted bronze bas-relief fills the tympanum of the
pediment, at the principal entrance. The architecture of the whole is
'mesquin,' although the gigantic scale of the building necessarily elevates
the general effect into something of impressiveness; not, however, to
nearly the extent which the same outlay might have produced."
[Illustration: INTERIOR VIEW OF THE "PALACE."]
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CATTLE-SHED.]
Mr. Wyatt further states that the total cost of this building was about
450,000 francs, or about 18,000_l._, which, however, he considers was an
unnecessarily large outlay. He mentions, also, that the building erected on
the previous occasion, in 1844, was in some respects more suitable for the
purpose, especially from its greater simplicity of arrangement, a remark it
will be well to bear in mind in considering the various designs for the
building in Hyde Park. The accompanying plates will enable the reader
readily to follow all the details of the description.
The permanent building erected by the King of Bavaria at Munich, likewise
for periodical Exhibitions, is on a much smaller scale than those in Paris,
and must be regarded rather as having afforded an opportunity for that
manifestation of architectural display in public buildings for which its
Royal projector was so well known, than as being peculiarly fitted for its
purpose. It is divided internally into various halls for the different
classes of objects; but as the proportion of these must necessarily vary at
every Exhibition, such an arrangement cannot be deemed the most suitable
for the purpose.
At Berlin, where several Industrial Exhibitions have taken place, no
distinct building has been provided, but some already existing one has been
temporarily adapted and fitted up for the purpose; thus, on the last
occasion, Kroll's WINTERGARTEN, a large establishment for public amusement,
which has been recently destroyed by fire, was made use of. The large
central saloon, with the smaller ones flanking it, forming, in fact, one
space 310 feet long, and 82 feet broad at the widest point, afforded a very
good opportunity for the arrangement of the objects to be exhibited, some
of which were placed in the gallery of the large saloon.
[Illustration: View of Kroll's Wintergarten at Berlin.]
PLAN OF KROLL'S WINTERGARTEN, BERLIN.
[Illustration]
1. Electric Telegraph.
2. Chemical Products.
3. Porcelain and Bronzes.
4. Machinery.
5. Hardware.
6. Zinc Works.
7· Plate and Jewellery.
8. Lithography.
9. Watches, &c.
10. Cutlery.
11. Scientific Instruments.
12. Bookbinding.
13. Embroidery.
14. Ornamental Blinds.
15. Silks and Velvets.
16. Furs.
17. Pianofortes.
18. Carriages.
19. Furniture.
20. Lamps, &c.
21. Turned Articles.
22. Woollen Fabrics.
23. Leather Articles.
24. Hats & Felt Articles.
25. Machinery.
26. Carriages.
On a previous occasion a part of the Royal Arsenal building was
appropriated, and the Exhibition embraced two storeys.
In our own country, exhibitions of manufactures have taken place in several
of the most important towns, generally in spaces only temporarily adapted;
but in 1849 the first building in this country intended solely for the
purpose of an exhibition of manufactures was erected at Birmingham, on the
occasion of the meeting of the British Association in that town.
[Illustration: VIEW OF THE BIRMINGHAM EXPOSITION BUILDING.]
The building alluded to included a space extending to 10,000 square feet,
and a corridor, giving additional accommodation of 800 square feet,
connected the temporary exhibition-room with Bingley-house, within the
grounds of which the building was erected; and including the rooms of the
old mansion, the total area covered by the Exhibition was equal to 12,800
feet, or only about one-seventeenth of the area covered by the last
building erected in the Champs Elysées. The cost of this building was about
1,300_l._ It was opened to the public on the 3rd of September, 1849.
In most of the buildings alluded to above, the principal defect seemed to
be that a definite and fixed subdivision of space was made for a
classification of objects which was necessarily uncertain. This appears to
have determined the Committee in the arrangement of the plan which they
presented in a general form to the Royal Commission at the same time with
the Report already quoted; and although the design was slightly modified
during the progress of the working-drawings subsequently made, this is,
perhaps, the best place for introducing a description of it.
It has been already mentioned that at the time the Committee received the
competition designs, they obtained the assistance of Mr. Digby Wyatt, the
secretary to the Executive Committee, to aid them in the preparation of
drawings, although Mr. Scott Russell officially filled the post of
secretary to the Building Committee. At a somewhat later stage of the
Committee's proceedings, when the general design for the proposed building
had been approved by the Royal Commission, and it became necessary to
prepare working drawings for the same with extraordinary despatch, Mr.
Charles Heard Wild, as engineer, and Mr. Owen Jones, as architect, were
appointed to co-operate with Mr. Wyatt in carrying out this object.
Description of the Building Committee's Design.
The site to have been occupied by the building designed by the Committee
was the same as that on which the building has been actually erected,
namely between Rotten-row and the drive in Hyde Park, but the area proposed
to be covered was somewhat larger, the length of the building being about
2,200 feet, and the greatest width nearly 450 feet. The central space was
occupied by an immense rotunda 200 feet in diameter, the cupola rising to a
height of more than 160 feet, and exceeding the span of that of St. Peter's
at Rome by 61 feet, and of St. Paul's in London by 88 feet. The dome for
covering this rotunda consisted of wrought-iron ribs, supporting a covering
of corrugated iron, the whole resting on a wall or drum of brickwork, about
60 feet high; a large opening in the centre was to be glazed for the
admission of light.
This large open area was intended for the exhibition of groups of
sculpture, fountains, and other objects requiring great space in order to
be seen to advantage; at the same time the cupola would have presented a
striking instance of the constructive skill of this country.
The remaining area of the building was divided into avenues 48 feet wide,
by iron columns 24 feet apart, this dimension having been determined on as
that most likely to work in well for the division of the counters and
passages. One of the 48-feet avenues on the main axis of the building was
spanned by semicircular ribs of wrought iron supporting the roof, which
rose here to a greater height than the rest of the building; the other
avenues were covered with roofing very similar to that commonly seen in
railway-sheds, the whole being rendered as light as possible, and
constructed in iron covered with slating; the light being in all cases
admitted by a range of sky-lights at the apex of the roof, which was also
adapted for ventilation. The height of the main avenue was 52 feet, and of
the others 36 feet, from the floor throughout. A corridor of communication
15 feet wide was carried round the whole of the building, interrupted only
by the open courts; this, with the main avenue, afforded the visitor to the
Exhibition the means of reaching any particular point without threading a
maze of small passages. The inclosing walls were to be of brick, relieved
externally by panels in two colours; but there were to be no internal
division walls except those necessary to surround the various courts which
were left on account of the trees.
The executive offices were grouped on either side of the principal
entrance, which was placed immediately opposite Prince's Gate; and at this,
as well as at the entrances at either end and on the north front, large
arched recesses were introduced which served as vestibules, and formed at
the same time prominent and striking features to relieve the necessarily
monotonous aspect of the building. Along the whole of the principal front
and at the ends of the building a pent or overhanging roof projected about
15 feet, to enable visitors in bad weather to be set down under cover, and
the exit-doors, of which there were altogether 24, were further protected
by porches.
The water was to be conveyed from the roof through the columns which
supported it, and which were for this purpose connected with the necessary
drain-pipes, &c.
Very ample accommodation was provided for refreshments in the open courts
which were necessarily left for the preservation of the trees, particularly
in that at the western end of the building, where there was proposed to be
placed a large establishment, comprising two storeys, with somewhat the
arrangement of the French cafés, including a fine saloon on the first
floor, upwards of thirty feet wide and nearly one hundred feet long;
separate spaces were also provided for the accommodation of exhibitors.
This was the only part of the building, with the exception of the executive
offices, which was to have an upper storey.
GROUND PLAN OF THE BUILDING COMMITTEE'S DESIGN.
[Illustration]
1. Machinery in Motion.
2. Other Machinery.
3. Seats for Visitors.
4. Refreshment Courts.
5. Raw Materials.
6. Manufactures.
7. Sculpture and the Plastic Arts.
8. Small Court.
9. The Rotunda.
10. Principal Entrance and Executive Offices.
11. The Other Entrances.
12. The Drive in the Park.
13. The Kensington Road.
14. The Queen's Private Road.
An objection might, perhaps, be raised to this part of the building, that
it was too commodious, and that there might be some danger of its being
converted into a lounge, while it was occupying too much of the space
intended for the Exhibition, for a secondary, though certainly necessary
purpose; it was, however, considered by the Committee, that of the vast
number of visitors that might be expected to be in the building at one
time, so many would avail themselves of the accommodation provided as to
render a less amount undesirable. The principal courts were surrounded by a
covered way, where refreshments were also to be served at long counters, in
the manner of the railway-stations.
All these arrangements will readily be understood by a reference to the
plan of the design we have been describing, which plan, together with a
view taken from the south-east angle of the building, will place before the
reader the result of the labours of the Committee. The materials proposed
for the construction of this building were fire-proof throughout, with the
exception of the floor and its supporting timbers.
The above design, at least in all its leading features, for some of the
details were subsequently added, was laid before the Royal Commission, at
the same time with the Report already quoted, and was by them approved, and
the Committee proceeded to prepare the necessary working-drawings and
specifications for the execution of the work. These proceedings of the
Committee occupied until the 24th of June, when large lithographed copies
of the most important of the drawings, together with printed copies of the
specifications and other details, were issued from the offices of the
Executive, contractors having been some time previously invited by public
advertisement to send in tenders for the execution of either a part or the
whole of the work. The tenders were to be on two systems, one on the
supposition that the Royal Commission were to become the _bona fide_
purchasers of the building; the other, that the contractors were to erect
and maintain the building during the time of the Exhibition, after which
they were to remove it and take back the materials at their own risk,
receiving a proportionably diminished sum.
It has been considered necessary to describe thus minutely the labours of
the Committee and the design in which they resulted, in order to show how
far it paved the way for that which was subsequently adopted, and to give
them that credit which they undoubtedly deserve for devoting so much of
their valuable time for the furtherance of a great public undertaking.
Opposition to this Design.
The design of the Building Committee, when published to the world, met with
anything but public approbation; some of the objectors called in question
the practicability of the execution of the enormous dome, at least within
the time assigned; others complained that the outlay would be unnecessarily
large for a purpose avowedly temporary, and expressed their fears that so
costly a structure once erected, there would be the less probability of its
subsequent removal; but the objection which appeared to have most weight
with the public at large was, the great amount of solid brick construction
in the walls, &c., which, it was urged, would require a longer time than
could be allowed for their erection, and that the carting of the materials
would cause serious injury in the Park and the surrounding neighbourhood.
This strong current of objection seemed to bid fair to overwhelm the
much-abused design. To increase the difficulties which seemed to gather
round the progress of this noble undertaking, an exceedingly vexatious and
factious agitation was got up in opposition to the proposed site in Hyde
Park, and petitions and counter-petitions were presented to both Houses of
Parliament, and much of the time of the Legislature was wasted in fruitless
discussion on the subject. The Building Committee thought it desirable,
under these circumstances, to lay before the public their reasons for
recommending the site in the Park, and therefore issued a memorandum of the
grounds on which it had been selected.[2] The result was, that the
opposition was defeated in the Legislature, and finally crushed by the
force of public opinion.
The Tenders.
In the mean time the competing contractors had been obliged to strain every
nerve to get their tenders ready by the 10th of July, when, altogether,
nineteen were sent in, but eight only were for undertaking the whole of the
work; the amounts of these are stated to have ranged between 150,000_l._
and 120,000_l._, and this for the use only of the materials for the
building. But, at the same time, in accordance with the recommendation and
invitation contained in the last part of the Report already quoted, Messrs.
Fox, Henderson and Co. presented a tender upon a design entirely different
in construction and appearance, though resembling that of the Committee in
the general arrangement of the plan.
[Illustration: Exterior View of the Building Committee's Design]
This design was by Mr. Joseph Paxton, and resembled in its general form the
building as it is now executed, with the exception of the transept and
semicircular roof, which were subsequently added, and were suggested by Mr.
Barry.
The result of the tenders appears to have been unfavourable to the
Committee's design; and in their Report to the Royal Commission on the
subject, made a few days afterwards, they proposed to omit the great dome
and some portions of the design which were not essential, by which they
considered that the cost of its execution might be reduced below
100,000_l._; at the same time, they made special mention of Mr. Paxton's
design, which, however, they considered would prove more expensive.
Mr. Paxton's design had been brought before the public before this period;
for, considering that his best road to success would be to get a favourable
verdict from that many-headed jury, he published a view and description of
it in the _Illustrated News_, and, through the influence of Mr. Stephenson,
he got his plans laid before the Royal Commission, in consequence of which
he obtained an interview with his Royal Highness the President. The
encouragement given him by the attention bestowed upon his design by the
Royal Commission, and the favourable opinion of the public, had determined
him to procure a tender for the execution of the work, to be sent in with
those upon the Committee's design. This he was enabled to do by the great
energy and promptitude of the contractors, Messrs. Fox and Henderson, to
whom he applied at the eleventh hour. The difficulties that had to be
overcome, owing to the shortness of the time remaining for the estimates to
be made up, can scarcely be better laid before the reader than they have
been by an able writer in "Household Words:"--
"It was now Saturday, and only a few days more were allowed for receiving
tenders. Yet before an approximate estimate of expense could be formed, the
great glass-manufacturers and iron-masters of the north had to be
consulted. This happened to be _dies mirabilis_ the third; for it was the
identical Saturday on which the Sunday postal question had reached its
crisis, and there was to be no delivery the next day! But in a country of
electric telegraphs, and of indomitable energy, time and difficulties are
annihilated; and it is not the least of the marvels wrought in connexion
with the great edifice that, by aid of railway-parcels and the electric
telegraph, not only did all the gentlemen summoned out of Warwickshire and
Staffordshire appear on Monday morning at Messrs. Fox and Henderson's
office, in Spring Gardens, London, to contribute their several estimates to
the tender for the whole, but within a week the contractors had prepared
every detailed working-drawing, and had calculated the cost of every pound
of iron, of every inch of wood, and of every pane of glass.
"There is no one circumstance in the history of the manufacturing
enterprise of the English nation which places in so strong a light as this
its boundless resources in materials, to say nothing of the arithmetical
skill in computing at what cost and in how short a time those materials
could be converted to a special purpose. What was done in those few days?
Two parties in London, relying on the accuracy and good faith of certain
iron-masters, 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 some four months, to cover eighteen acres of ground with a building
upwards of a third of a mile long, and some four 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 (weighing more
than four hundred tons), in separate panes, and these the largest that ever
were made of sheet glass; each being forty-nine inches long. The
iron-master passed his word in like manner to cast in due time three
thousand three hundred iron columns, varying from fourteen feet and a half
to twenty feet in length: thirty-four miles of guttering-tube, to join
every individual column together under the ground; two thousand two hundred
and twenty-four girders (but some of these are of wrought iron); besides
eleven hundred and twenty-eight bearers for supporting galleries. The
carpenter undertook to get ready within the specified period two hundred
and five MILES of sash-bar, flooring for an area of thirty-three millions
of cubic feet, besides enormous quantities of wooden walling, louvre-work,
and partition.[3]
"It is not till we reflect on the vast sums of money involved in
transactions of this magnitude that we can form even a slight notion of the
great, almost ruinous loss, a trifling arithmetical error would have
occasioned, and of the boundless confidence the parties must have had in
their resources and in the correctness of their computations. Nevertheless,
it was one great merit in Mr. Paxton's original details of measurement that
they were contrived to facilitate calculation.
"There was little time for consideration, or for setting right a single
mistake, were it ever so disastrous. On the prescribed day the tender was
presented, with whatever imperfections it might have had, duly and
irredeemably sealed. But after-checkings have divulged no material error."