Crystal Palace: London and Madrid

Crystal Palace (London)

• Designed by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition in London
• Completed in five months and opened on May 1, 1851, in Hyde Park
• The first prefabricated building made entirely of iron and glass
• Paxton's design was inspired by the structure of a leaf
• Measured 564 meters in length and 138 meters in width, symbolizing Victorian achievements
• Featured grand pavilions, statues, and trees to highlight the triumph of man over nature
• Included the first public toilets, known as "Monkey Closets," engineered by George Jennings; over 800,000 people used them, paying a penny each
• Dismantled and reassembled in a new location as the "Winter Park and Garden under Glass" after the Exhibition ended on October 11, 1851
• Destroyed by fires in 1936, marking the end of an era, as noted by Winston Churchill
• Symbolized a new era in architecture shaped by industrialization

Crystal Palace (Madrid)

• Commissioned by Queen Isabel II and built in 1887 by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco
• Inspired by London's Crystal Palace
• Designed to showcase tropical plants from the Philippines, then a Spanish colony
• Made of glass and iron, featuring a transparent façade and intricate latticework resembling a Gothic cathedral
• Cross-shaped with a cupola approximately 22 meters high, allowing natural light to illuminate its interior
• Hosted a parliamentary vote for the President of the Spanish Republic in 1936
• Renovated in 1975 and now part of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, hosting contemporary art exhibitions

London's Underground

• Began operation on January 9, 1863, with the Metropolitan Railway
• Charles Pearson proposed the idea in 1845 to address overcrowded roads and incomplete railway connections
• Initially powered by steam engines
• Became the world’s first electrified underground railway in 1892
• Carried 40,000 passengers on its first day
• Grew to 1.8 million passengers in its first year
• Electrification improved travel, making it cleaner and faster
• Shaped London’s identity through iconic branding and design

The Suffragettes

• The fight for women’s suffrage in Britain began in 1866 with a petition for equal political rights
• MP John Stuart Mill supported the petition
• An amendment to the Reform Act was defeated
• The London Society for Women’s Suffrage was formed in response to the defeat
• Sixteen other groups joined in 1897 to create the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), led by Millicent Fawcett
• The NUWSS used peaceful methods like posters, leaflets, and public meetings
• The Married Women’s Property Acts (1870, 1882, 1884) allowed women to keep their property and earnings after marriage
• Queen Victoria opposed equal voting rights, writing in 1870 that women should adhere to traditional roles

Victorian Age Ideals

• The age saw progress due to the Industrial Revolution, rising wealth, social stability, and significant reforms
• Poverty, injustice, and social unrest also defined the age
• Moral values such as hard work, respectability, charity, and duty were promoted to address social problems
• Hard work was viewed to be central, as material progress came from a sense of duty and diligence
• Respectability was a key difference between middle and lower classes, combining morality, hypocrisy, and conformity
• Respectability included good manners, owning a comfortable home, attending church, and engaging in charitable activities
• Philanthropy was widespread, especially among women, focusing on helping the poor
• Victorian family life was patriarchal, with the husband as the authority and the wife responsible for child-rearing and home management
• Victorian society was highly concerned with female chastity, stigmatizing unmarried mothers as "fallen women"
• Sexuality was generally repressed

Explore the history of the Crystal Palace in London, designed by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and the Crystal Palace in Madrid, commissioned by Queen Isabel II. The London Crystal Palace was a prefabricated building made of iron and glass, symbolizing Victorian achievements until its destruction by fire in 1936.