Blog 2:

Mass Production and the Arts and Craft 

Movement

A style which challenged the Victorian Era which was the extreme décor found on all types of products and buildings and wanted to reform the term: Good design with Good Society.  The raise of the consumer class goods had overlapped with the raise of manufactured goods. Manufactured goods where done in a very low quality and design, which resulted into cheap products.

Red House - William Morris 

The Red house of William Morris (Above) and the Victorian Era hospital for sick children (Below) both of which are situated in London are a good example of styles which came right after each other. The red house was build by William Morris himself and Philip Webb in the 1860's. While the Hospital was opened in 1830 till the 1880, which makes a clear indication that the Victorian Era was before the Arts and craft movement but still made an impact on society in architecture. 

Having elongated and pointy rooftops for the hospital, in the Red House there was still a hint of the Victorian Era but much simpler and featured less windows, of course the hospital needed more windows because of more rooms available than the House of Morris. 

Hospital for sick children - Great Ormond Street, London

The revival of the Arts and Craft Movement was this: to have the worker produce beautiful objects and products which was the result of a good craftsmanship, as opposed to mass production. Mass production destroyed all of the craftsman elements and made it look simple to produce such objects or products which had a lot of thought and design behind it. For this movement the only thing they believed in was this: “for the people and by the people, and a source of pleasure to the maker and the user”, in simple terms eliminate the mass production so that there would be that sense of pride in every craftsman that he had produced such objects.

Having said this, a lot of the mass produced products and housing, are done with cheap materials and do not last a life time. In fact they are made to last less so that the consumer has to buy another. Mass production is the result of time is money and no one would really appreciated the process behind the products being made. No good design and no craftsmanship is need to sell a product that is going to be changed in a few months’ time.

Mass production dates back to the beginning on the 1910's. Henry Ford design the very first moving assembly line and revolutionized the manufacturing industry since than. For Henry, his main aim was to produce a lot of Ford cars showing simple designs and for the lowest price possible to introduce affordable vehicle to the general public. In a matter of time, the world was not run on wheels and everyone could afford a car which was mass produced and sold for the public. 

Workers on the first moving assembly line put together magnetos and flywheels for 1913 Ford Autos

Although the invention of the assembly line was an innovative idea, the skill of the craftsmanship was taken away from people who really loved producing products, and so it was slowly fading away. The Arts and Craft movement was the only movement who gave a living hope to these people, to unite skill with design, and produce good products.  

Local Concrete Buildings

As for architecture, the same thing is happening all over. Local architecture, which is rich in history and has a lot to offer, is being destroyed daily to be replaced by some concrete blocks which are of an eyesore to look at. From progress to regress making use of cheap material and lost all of the dedication for the good craftsman.

Many places throughout Europe are being neglected and once discovered they are either being destroyed or turned into a monotonous building which has no value at all. Based on what is seen locally, many think that we are stuck in the past and do not want to move on, but in fact we are not appreciating that at that time things were different and no one could ever build like that again. 

Reference 

Fiell, C. and Fiell, P. (1999). Design of the 20th century. Köln: Taschen.

Ford.co.uk. (2016). The evolution of mass production. [online] Available at: http://www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/Heritage/EvolutionOfMassProduction [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].

Victorianweb.org. (2012). Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London WC1. [online] Available at: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/hospitals/1.html [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].

Blog 1:

The Industrial Revolution and its effects on Architecture

The industrial revolution began in England in the 1760's and made huge changes which effected the world and the normal life styles. Such changes where in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and housing. The radical changes in material were very visible and people made use of these new materials in the market. Such materials consisted of cast iron, steel and glass.

This revolution brought up the beginning of the Crystal Palace Exhibition which was a show case for modern industrial technology and design. Many things were introduced for the first time such as machinery, raw materials and fine arts. The idea of having a 'village like' building set to have all of the modern technologies at time, under one roof was of Prince Albert of England who wanted to exhibit fine artiste and new approach for design. 

Crystal Palace 

Enlightenment was the only thought to the human revolution and this brought up the old styles such as Baroque and Rococo to be radical for those times and needed change for the designers and architects themselves. In return they turned the designers into the paths for the Greek and Roman styles.

St Barbara Spanish Baroque Church in Brooklyn NY

Not excluding the older styles which were still very visible in particular countries around the world and still had an impact on designers since they kept taking from the past and placed them into the present times to make them fashionable again. Architects felt free to select elements from the past cultures and fit them in their designs. Some good examples are seen in visible architecture; having Gothic for Protestant Churches, Baroque for Roman Catholic Churches, the early Greek for Banks, Palladian for institutions, early Renaissance for library and Egyptian for Cemeteries.

Architecture changed in response to the culture change and its environment. In the late 19^th century such buildings and multi-story apartments needed a strong lower structure for the whole building to hold firm and steady. Designed to have thick walls on the ground. Since iron and milled steel had come in scene these replaced the wood, brick and concrete along with the stone, all of which were used to build houses and buildings. New materials adopted to the new era and made it easier for users to build and be innovative in their designs.

For such new materials introduced to this scene, the magnificent building which was established and made a huge impact at the time was the ‘Eiffel Tower’, which was built in the 1889. This huge structure stands on four large pedestals made out of iron lattice and it reaches a height of 1000 feet. The Eiffel Tower, in my opinion according to the source I found online is the most iconic building/structure in France and for the industry itself. This introduced new age materials and designs and a new way how to construct and build such buildings in different materials. 

Eiffel Tower

Reference: 

Designhistory.org. (2016). The Origins and Impact of the Industrial Revolution. [online] Available at: http://www.designhistory.org/Arts_Crafts_pages/IndustrialRevolution.html [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].

Slideshare.net. (2016). architecture history - Industrial revolution. [online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/omarnene/architecture-history-industrial-revolution?next_slideshow=1 [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].

Learn.canvas.net. (2016). M9-Architecture and the Industrial Revolution: Art Appreciation. [online] Available at: https://learn.canvas.net/courses/24/pages/m9-architecture-and-the-industrial-revolution [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].

Lookuparchitecture.com. (2016). Industrial. [online] Available at: http://lookuparchitecture.com/historyindustrial.htm [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].

the Guardian. (2015). How the Great Exhibition of 1851 still influences science today. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2015/aug/28/how-the-great-exhibition-of-1851-still-influences-science-today [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].