Classicism And The Gothic Revival

In 1834, when a fire nearly completely demolished the old Palace of Westminster, Britain had a chance to redefine what British architecture was (Richardson p. 111-112). Although throughout Europe Classicism and the Greek and Roman Revival had had a stronghold on secular buildings, by the early 1800 Neo-Gothic was starting to be seen as a nationalistic style of architecture, something that should, together with language, be national (Barry, p.114). While in France the Gothic Revival was mainly used for secular buildings, in Britain it was mainly used for ecclesiastical buildings (Barry, p. 110). It was into this world that August Welby Nothmore Pugin (1812-52) was born.

From a young age Pugin was immersed in the Gothic style and thus also the Gothic Revival (Hill, p.37). His Father was an early French proponent and researcher of this

Pugin opposed this style and stated that Gothic was native to northern climates and adaptable to local materials.(Saint p. 93) and was thus the appropriate style for Britain. Simpson described Pugin’s disgust at most Roman architecture (Meara p. 59) calling them, among other things: “monotonous plaster buildings” (Wainright p. 69) He disliked that Classical or gothic designs were often offered as alternatives without any architectural changes: proof that architectural style was perceived as a 2-dimensional add-on (figure 3)(Saint p. 84). Architects of the time offered “Swiss cottages, Italian villas, Greek temples, Egyptian auction rooms and Turkish kremlins” (Figure 2) (Hill, 2007 p. 157). Pugin disapproved the stucco external coverings of classicism buildings.(Saint p. 94). He believed that the design and decorations of a building should be part of the whole architecture: form with function. Pugin adopted the Decorated or second pointed style (1250-1350) as the ideal “Gothic” style (Saint p.