Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival was a movement started in the late 18^th century and was lead by John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin.  Renaissance architecture was seen as pagan and so was dismissed, Gothic at that time represented the church more and so produced churches with that theme. Also it was the Victorian era (1837-1901) which was the time of Queen Victoria and a lot of innovations where being created, such as blast furnaces, print works, textile mills, elevator, cash register and the roller coaster, because of these innovations there was a boom in mass production. Standardization was also being done which means that objects and parts which are being manufactured can be used for other purposes. The boom in mass production helped to expend the middle class, which meant that now the middle class had money to spend on objects and clothing.  In 1840 the Penny Black stamp was created and used in the public postal system where one had to pay for.

John Ruskin  (1819-1900)

John Ruskin looked back at medieval times were craftsmanship was important, he praised the nature of Gothic  and medieval architecture as he wanted to unite the spiritual and the everyday.  Ruskin echoed what Pugin said, that if you enjoy doing the work you would enjoy the end result.  He also taught that architects’ and designers of the gothic period had complete freedom which was not completely true. Ruskin wanted to return the integrity of the craftsman as in his time everything was being industrialized, he condemned the machine oriented society of Victorian Britain because the machinery destroyed creativity and the craftsmanship process, also the products being done where not up to standard.

Bibliography.

Gothic Revival. 2013. Gothic Revival. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/gothicrevival.html. [Accessed 22 March 2013].

Gothic Revival Architecture in England. 2013. Gothic Revival Architecture in England. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.britainexpress.com/architecture/gothic-revival.htm. [Accessed 22 March 2013].

The penny Black Stamp [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.growsunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/penny_black.jpg [Accessed 22 March 13]. 

John Ruskin [ONLINE]. Available at: http://cdn1.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/john-ruskin.jpg [Accessed 22 March 13].