Reasons Why William Morris Criticized the Great Exhibition

As a condition of life, production by machinery is altogether evil ‘ as said by William Morris, an architect, artist, writer, socialist and the influencer of the Arts and Crafts period. Morris encouraged people to work with their hands and believed in the importance of creating beautiful pieces of art by being connected with the product. He hated the industrialization period which transformed production methods from manual production to machine manufacture. The art in the 18th and 19th century seemed unworthy to him because of the low grade of the work produced caused by the industrial revolution. In the industrial period, iron production increased enormously and it became an essential material in buildings.

The Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, was a big, iron, glass structure by Joseph Paxton, an architect and designer of green houses. He had experience with iron and glass structures thus he applied this knowledge in the architecture of the palace. The building was 1,851 long with 4,500 tons of iron. Seeing the building in pictures for the first time, I was amazed by how it looks and how this huge construction could be built at that time. Furthermore, Morris came to my mind and it was interesting to research his thoughts and what would an Arts and Crafts architect think about this industrial building.

In 1850, the design by Paxton for a temporary exhibition building was set to be built. It was given a period of eight months for construction.The building started with levelling the ground and laying the concrete. Afterwards columns were raised and storeys were built. By special machines, the guttering was manufactured on site and steam engines were used as well. Building the structure involved a variety of technological methods. Most of the components of the building were fabricated in workshops off-site and the building elements were transported to London. Moreover, builders were an important part of the construction who helped the palace to be completed fast. Not only were two thousand men working on the iron structure but the speed of the labour force was also extremely efficient, for example, two girders only took sixteen minutes for the erection of three columns. Furthermore, the design of the glass of the building was an impressive feature where four hundred tons of glass was shipped to London through the Chance Brothers company and it covered an area of 92,830 square meters.

The building was constructed and the exhibition was opened on the 1st of May and lasted till the 15th of October 1851. 100,000 objects were exhibited by 14,000 exhibitors. Countless reviews were written about the place from various different audiences as it made a huge impression on that time and does to this present day. In the Arts and Crafts period, 1911, a newspaper published a piece of writing ‘ The Crystal Palace And Architecture ‘ by Leverton W J H. It discussed the different qualities of the Palace. One of the advantages mentioned was ‘ The palace has the great advantage of roof lights. They give a brightness to a room which no amount of side light ever will. Many a suburban house is now built with a large space in the roof which is entirely wasted’. As I read that, I analysed that the author appreciated the way the light enters the building and is missing this feature in the architecture of the period he is living in.

However, going back to Morris I found it interesting that he had a completely opposite opinion on this matter. He had visited the Crystal Palace when he was 17 years old and harshly refused to go into the building. Liza Picard says ‘ so deeply, viscerally, deplored the examples of modern taste on view there that he had to leave, and be sick outside’. Moreover, when he enters and explores the space inside he describes it as ‘ wonderfully ugly’. One of the features of the Crystal Palace that he did not like was the plate glass windows. He saw that the glass is letting in big amount of light inside and he said:‘ modern engineering is a horrible and restless nightmare’.

I was really surprised about how Morris criticized the place in the age of just 17. That meant that he always had this opinion of disliking industrialization even before officially becoming an experienced architect. Morris liked simplicity in work thus I believe that was what affected his point of view about the Palace. The Crystal Palace was full of complicated Iron structures and a lot of glass. Detail is not a feature in the place. The exhibition is full with machines and technical masses. So, I can imagine how an arts and crafts architect would react to that. He believed that the impact of manufacture on craft removes the artistic touch on a product. Since he said‘ Today almost all wares that are made by civilized man are shabbily and pretentiously ugly.'

What's more, the exhibition displays were a very interesting part to explore. A lot was happening inside the Crystal Palace at that time. The exhibition was in London but it included crowds from all over the world. Inside the structure many stories were created between the people from different regions. The countries performers exhibited different things mostly basing it on machines, industrial materials and technology. Science, art, jewelry and vases were also on display. The british section was the biggest area amongst the other countries who divided what was left of space among them. Logically, I would assume that the british products presented were enough to amaze people since the British are the ones hosting the entire exhibition and had spent the money on the unique architectural building. Prince Albert’s concept was that in this way (the exhibition) knowledge will be brought together from around the world.

For Britain, it was also an ‘ advertising system’ to show their manufacturing and products. Britain displayed minerals like coal, iron, gold, etc. Machinery was one of the most important group of exhibits for them. Moreover, model of a large iron suspension bridge was made and attracted a lot of attention. Surprisingly, not everything was going well within the exhibiting process of some other countries. America faced issues that caused criticising. Going back in the days, 1840`s was a period where Britain was unknowledgeable about America. They used to write about them in newspapers as slaveholders or connived at slaver. So, there was this tension between the two countries. The British assumed that Americans were undeveloped people. Thus it became an ambition for the Americans to be involved in the exhibition taking place in England. Americans wanted to prove themselves, show that they are working hard to become a more developed economy. A committee was formed to organize the displaces that were going to be presented in the exhibition. It was calculated that the space that they were given to exhibit was not enough so they requested for a bigger area. This later became a disadvantage for them.

The materials were shipped from America to the UK. 600 exhibits were presented from them such as firearms, locks, clocks, plows, carriages and other. Unfortunately, the objects that were presented by the Americans were seen as boring and was lacking excitement. Furthermore, regarding art, no paintings were exhibited. Americans used only one fourth of their space and that made them seem like they did not have much to show. The extra space was filled with milk churns, biscuits and soap.They were called by some people ‘ American - Non Exhibitors ‘. Moreover, Americans stated ‘ the reason they have sent nothing to the exhibition is that the productions of their industry are … too gigantic to be brought over ‘. However, Americans were rewarded with metals and especially for the locks that was designed by the locksmith Alfred Charles Hobbs. In my opinion, America worked hard to change the impression that was given by people, since they showed good quality products in the exhibition. Some unpleasant events occurred yet at the end they exhibited good mechanical work.

Moreover, there were lots of other countries exhibiting and different sections of items displayed. India had a variety of wealthy and natural resources which made them unique.They had a huge diamond called Koh-I-Noor which was placed on a red cushion under glass. India also presented silks, furniture, leather and etc. Canada was famous with the raw materials like timber and furs. They had handcrafted items which wealthy people were attracted to. Machines were also all around the exhibition. For example, everyone passed by the machine that was eye catching, The Thomas De La Rue`s, which is an instrument that folds and gums folders. Queen Victoria said ‘ the machinery part where we remained two hours, and which is excessively interesting and instructive...what used to be done by hand and take months doing is now accomplished in a few minutes by the most beautiful machinery.’ I think that shows how people at that time started accepting industry and liking working with machines.

They were amazed by the fast time that a product could be produced and they completely forgot about how it looks. That reminded me of Morris who hated the industrial revolution because of that very reason. He knew that people started looking at things differently and stopped appreciating the beauty of an object. In my opinion, that is what Arts and Crafts architect, William Morris, wanted to change about the work production. He wanted to preach the idea of making products by hand and being connected to the thing that is being created, appreciate how beautiful it has been done and how much hard work and effort the person has put into it. People in the palace were impressed with the new materials used in the building which is iron and all the technology that was exhibited in the space.

Furthermore, the interior of the Palace is a continuous and uninterrupted space which has a central hallway and grand fountain standing in the middle. The ceiling of the place is the light source of the building which helps the inside luminous. Looking at the picture below, I started thinking of the space and wondered how people would feel inside this big mass. What first grabbed my attention is the different flags hung up in the air, indicating how the exhibition brought people together from all around the world. I was inspired by the steel structure that is exposed in the interior and the large amount of glass that allows light to penetrate freely within. I would imagine how people would feel being inside of the building as this is the first time they experience being in this architectural mass that is industrial and made of a new material that has just been introduced recently. The different floors full of human bodies exploring the place makes me feel I want to be wandering between them and experiencing this beautiful architectural atmosphere.

Analysing the criticisms put forth by William Morris throughout the essay i would conclude the idea of Crystal Palace being the first large scale exhibition in the 18th century which promoted technology to masses and showed how industry and machines would make a better future. Having a massive iron building like that is an example of what William Morris does not want the art and architecture to be like.

He was aware of the effect of industrialization on the nature of work. The products that were going to be produced by machines will not have the same effect of art as a person doing the work with their hands and trying hard to achieve a beautiful result that will be appreciated. Morris was worried that machines will replace the labour force, who will become disconnected to each other in the work process. What industrial revolution caused is a transformation from handcrafts work to economies based on large scale industry. Thus Crystal Palace Great Exhibition, was a monumental step towards a new wave of architecture that nowadays we are thankful to know.