Photograph of the Demolition of the Crystal Palace, 1936
The Crystal Palace designed by Joseph Paxton stood for eighty-five years. It succumbed to fire "at six o'clock on the evening of 30th November 1936" (Beaver, 141). A fire was discovered in the staff lavatory, and within minutes the whole structure was ablaze. The spectacular building was engulfed in fire as it dissolved into just a skeleton of its former structure. Paxton used innovative methods of construction on the Crystal Palace, greatly influenced by the bridge and train shed construction of the day. With the introduction of iron elements, architects could be more creative, and more "modern" with their designs, straying from classical precedents.
Paxton, with engineers Fox
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Once it was transferred to Sydenham, the Palace became a symbol of England's industrial power and political prestige. The Crystal Palace was "a monumental relic of the golden age" and its destruction was devastating to the people of England (Beaver, 143). When the Crystal Palace burned a cultural symbol was destroyed and part of England as well.
The image of the great Palace in flames must have been one of great awe and sadness. The fire spread quickly as "the dry wood of the gallery floorboards, the walls and the sashes burnt like tinder", "within half an hour the building was an inferno from end to end" (Beaver, 141). Firefighters came from all over London to fight the blaze, "89 engines and 381 firemen" joining to save the structure (Beaver, 141). The fire surely spread quickly as poor ventilation and a greenhouse-like atmosphere fueled the flames. The materials, glass, wood and iron, all highly flammable, increased the speed at which the fire destroyed the building. Glass sheets created in a "length of 49 inches" (Cowper, 2) were specially designed by the Chance Brothers, "the only glass manufacturers in England who were capable of producing anything like the quantity that Paxton was going to need" (Hobhouse, 39). During the fire "whole squares of glass were blown high into the air to dash down in the surrounding streets" (Beaver, 141). According to Patrick Beaver in The Crystal Palace, 1851-1936: a portrait of Victorian Enterprise "the destruction
In the seventeenth century, London was one of the most important and rapidly expanding capitals in Europe. Transforming from a medieval town made of wooden buildings and limited to the Roman City walls to a modern metropolis of brick and stone expanding beyond the original wall; however, this century was also filled with disaster. The Great Fire of 1666, transformed the City from its medieval roots to the modern City present today; however, first it brutally destroyed the City in a blaze of fire over a course of three days. Taking a historical look at the progression of the Great Fire of London and how there were increased consequences faced by the City due to the decisions made by an inexperienced city official, the reasons the City officials declined the plan that Wren presented for the rebuild of the City, and how the rebuilding caused a social divide in the City that is still present in contemporary London.
England has a long history of periodic architecture and aside from recent war damage and the destruction during the Dissolution of the Monasteries Acts in the 16th century by Henry VIII, much of its historic legacy remains intact.
This provides insight into how frequently fires occurred, and furthermore provides information as to how they happened, as in the 18th century, due to the lack of cleanliness would result in buildup of old grease and arbitrary sparks in combination to this could cause enormous fires. This means that fires could easily be caused by what some may refer to as accidental incidents, variables for these types of situations are often those that are not under one's
Eventually, the feudal system was broken down. This was certainly important to England as it changed the fundamental social, economic and political systems that had been in place for
The fire first started on the eighth floor and climbed up the building. Ninth floor workers were trapped because they were not alerted about the fire and had little time to escape. They tried to use the elevator as many times as they possibly could, but the elevators stopped operating. Clotilde Terranova had no idea that she could have survived the fire. They say she ran from window to window, and before anyone could stop her, she jumped out. She saw the fire blazing up from the ninth floor and was so frightened and acted in the
One of the main reasons why so many people died in the fire was because of the lack of regulations for buildings. For instance, the fire escape was too weak to hold large amounts of people and it collapsed, killing everyone on it. Some were even impaled by a metal fence down below. In addition to the weakness of the fire escape, it wasn’t even long enough to reach the ground safely. Regulations
“I was on fire” is one out of many memorable phrases used in The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls about the trials and tribulations she and her siblings had to deal with while growing up. Though not all of her childhood was a struggle, she did experience some joyous moments too. Walls later on grew up to be an author and a journalist. Her memoir, The Glass Castle, should be required as summer reading for the Class of 2019 because Walls's life is very interesting and the memoir is relatable to different aspects of our lives.
Power brokers of the city quickly began reconstruction and started great economic development and population growth as architects laid foundation featuring the world’s first skyscrapers. This opportunity gave many architects like Dankmar Alder a chance after Chicago. The devastating events in Chicago during the fire and the year's of rebuilding were the focus of the intense national interest. Reporters, photographers, and illustrators were sent to the ruins to report and write to the national and international readership. In 1956, the city installed a modest monument at the site where the fire started, Dekoven and South Jefferson streets, dedicated to it’s new fire academy and designated Chicago’s landmark on 15 September 1971. The landmark is a bronze sculpture of flames entitled “Pillar of Fire” and sculpted by Egon Weiner.
Some of the explicit reasons that affected the people in the building were, The water bursts would go back hit the people and launch them into the fire, this is an explicit piece from the story because the people in the building didn’t know this and stayed in front of the windows thinking about jumping. The workers were not prepared in case of a fire were to have occurred in the building “Meanwhile, workers on the eighth-floor rang furiously for the two passenger elevators. Safety experts have always advised against using elevators in a fire.” showing that they were not prepared for a fire/ emergency
owned by renowned mason, Hubert John Fineman and his family he was known for his elaborate craftsmanship creating many works of art over his lifetime his best-known work was the Fineman mirror believed to have been crafted at around 1834. The astounding object was lost when the Rose-Bury Estate caught fire in 1850. The fire was believed to have started as a result of Fineman’s drunken tantrums it was believed that Fineman faced mounting pressure against the allegations made against him and was in serious debt he was at threat of losing the estate. Fineman was believed to have deliberately started the fire when he left a candle too close to the running faucet. The water was revealed to be full of methane that quickly lit up the surrounding alcohol
The greatest lesson learned from this tragedy was the need for planned fire drills and accessible fire escapes. If the employers would have made it mandatory that all employees become familiar with the buildings layout, practice fire drills and know their closest fire escape, it would have aided the employees in the hour of despair. The biggest cause for death in this fire was a result of poor pre-fire planning. The building may be fire proof, but the people and contents inside are not.
The palace that held thousands of people was destroyed by the fire. An estimated 30,000-60,000 people were killed. People arguing about whether this was an act of God or if it was a natural disaster. (Scientific America).The famous Enlightenment author, Voltaire, wrote about and mocked the theory that everything happens for the best; in his story of Candide. Voltaire proved that he wrote the story of Candide in influence to the Lisbon Earthquake by writing a complete chapter about it. The chapter, Chapter five it gives in detail what they felt, what they saw and gives us the two different types of theories. As you read the story. you can visualize what they saw and feel the emotion through how it is written. You can see the two types of people when Pangloss said “ What can be sufficient reason of this phenomenon?” to which Candide replies “The Last Judgement is here.” This quote is important because it shows a change in Candide. Throughout the story Candide is considered to be an optimist. This one line shows that he is genuinely concerned for
Ever since its creation by Gundolf in 1078, the Tower of London has served many purposes. Whether it was a royal residence or prison and torture chamber, most importantly, it has been a significant symbol and monument of English history and architecture. A small, modest building, many tourists are surprised to see the Tower of London, as it is not the magnificent, tall tower they were expecting. For some years, the Tower of London was used as a royal residence where monarchs would stay for a night before departing to continue their journey the next day. More interestingly, it was used as a prison, torture chamber, and execution grounds.
St. Paul’s Cathedral, in London, England, was designed by architect Sir Christopher Wren. Approval of this most significant architectural project took six years just for the plan. Construction, which began in 1675, took thirty-five years until finally complete in 1710. It was built to replace a church that had been leveled by the Great Fire of 1666. St. Paul's is the largest cathedral in England, and said to be Wren's masterpiece. He brought a range of new forms, and architectural combination into English architecture. Masonry, brick, timber, and cut stone were used to form the structure of the cathedral. St. Paul’s Cathedral has been one of the main socially significant buildings in London. Cathedrals all around, have always played a
The Tower of London is one of the most famous and visited historic monuments in the world. For some people it conjures up images of Norman architecture and towering battlements, but most associate it with arms and armour, ravens, the Crown Jewels, Yeoman Warders, imprisonment, death and ghostly apparitions. But this does not do it justice: the history of the Tower and its buildings is a vast, fascinating and complex subject, intertwined with the history of the country of England, its government, its kings and queens, and its people and institutions. The castle's first four centuries, during the Middle Ages, saw the development of the layout of buildings that we know today and its