Western Architecture of the 19th century

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Western Architecture of the 19th century
Introduction
The earlier architectural movements and foreign influences affected highly the 19th century architecture works. Exotic styles which were as a result of the high innovative attitudes of the modern age influenced also the outcomes of the 19th century architecture. According to Gardner and Kleiner the ancient works; Greek, renaissance and Gothic were revived and combined with the modern ways of engineering and materials. In the western world, national nostalgia was stimulated by the historicism which was celebrated in the past cultures and empires. The main style of architectural style were Greek revival, neo-renaissance, gothic revival, Richardson Romanesque, Exoticism, second empire, skyscraper architecture, and industrial architecture (Gardner and Kleiner, 30).
History and their characteristics
There are two main characteristics that distinguish the 19th century architecture and the other period’s architecture: the innovation of new materials and structural methods and the utilization of the previous historical styles Gardner and Kleiner continue to state. The utilization of the historical styles was as result of the need in the society to ensure continuity of their forefather’s traditional styles. Some of the elements of the previous styles were employed in bringing some authority in many towns in the western world (Gardner and Kleiner, 39). Some of these towns include: Birmingham used the traditional designs to give authority in most of its halls, in London they were utilized in the railway stations and its legislative houses and in Paris the Opera houses used this previous designs. The combination of the 18th century designs and the modern ones gave a variety of styles which could be regarded as bombastic or quaint to the modern eyes.
On the other hand, it is their view that the development of new materials as a result of new industrial need of the century led to second characteristic: the innovation of new materials and structural methods. New building to cater for expanding need of factories, office buildings, railway stations, hospitals, administrative centers were in high demand. Cast iron was mainly used in making the structures of big halls that accommodated the factory machines and warehouses (Gardner and Kleiner, 47). Joseph Paxton is known for his innovative design work during the international exhibition in London in 1851 which provided the basis of incorporating iron and glass in architectural works. Again, other new building materials were made to capture the tastes for classical, medieval, and other exotic styles (Gardner and Kleiner, 50). For instance, the glass and iron mausoleum for Paddington station utilized Gothic columns. Again, the use of the new material, steel, in the designs of Gustav Eiffel which he drew for his exhibition tower of Paris bearing his name was outstandi...