Science and Technology
TJ123-8-2009 LK VWD0011 Tradition Humanistic 6th Edition W:220mm x H:292mm 175L 115 Stora Enso M/A Magenta (V)
symbolic reference to the year of the exhibition—
resembled a gigantic greenhouse. Light entered through
its transparent walls and air filtered in through louvered
windows. Thousands flocked to see the Crystal Palace; yet
most European architects found the glass and iron structure
bizarre. Although heroic in both size and conception, it
had almost no immediate impact on European architec-
ture. Dismantled after the Great Exhibition and moved to
a new site, however, it was hailed as a masterpiece of pre-
fabrication and portability decades before it burned to the
ground in 1936.106 CHAPTER 30 Industry, Empire, and the Realist StyleFigure 30.26 JOSEPH PAXTON, interior of Crystal Palace, 1851. Cast- and wrought-iron and glass,
length 1851 ft. Assembled entirely on site from prefabricated components, the Crystal Palace housed
some 14,000 exhibitions. The three-story structure, illuminated mainly by natural
light, anticipated today’s modern shopping malls.1773 the first cast-iron bridge is built in England
1851 the first international industrial exposition opens
in London
1856 Henry Bessemer (British) perfects the process for
producing inexpensive steel
1857 E. G. Otis (American) installs the first safety elevator
1863 the first “subway” (the London Underground) begins
operation