In_What_Ways_Did_Pugin_Dissent_from_Tradition_

To dissent from tradition is to defy a stultifying tradition or convention, which leads to new, daring styles (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.109). The “tradition” of architectural style in the early 19th Century in Great Britain was classicism, inspired by Roman and Greek culture and associated with democracy as well as with the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars (Richardson, 2008, p. 112). Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852), a famous British architect and designer, called this classical style “the new square style” (Figure 4.7, in Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.123) and argued that it lacked authenticity of the Great Britain (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 109). In attempting to establish what would convey the national, cultural and religious character of Great Britain, Pugin turned to Gothic - the style that existed in the country prior to the Protestant Reformation. He believed that a revival of Gothic style would be “a return of a much better past”, to re-establishment of Roman Catholic Church and a style that was truly indigenous to the Northern Europe (ibid). This essay will explore Pugin’s dissent from tradition through his ideas, inspiration, and his most important works and their meaning in the society. Pugin did not dissent from the tradition in its most narrow meaning. He was not creating anything radically new. More interestingly, he did not even consider him self to be a dissenter (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 131). He saw himself as a traditionalist trying to revive the lost but truly national style which had been overshadowed by the dissent of neo-classicists (ibid). However, for the purpose of this essay, Pugin will be considered as a dissenter in its broad meaning as he was bringing back the “new” gothic style, known as neo-gothic style. Additionally, he believed that there was a strong correlation between the environment and the society and how architecture in particular could affect social life of the population (ibid). Pugin converted to Christianity in 1835 (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 121). For him, Christianity was strongly associated to Gothic style and he strongly believed that through incorporation of gothic motifs in Britain’s urban landscape, he could impact the religion of the time. Pugin found his inspiration while travelling to other European countries, particularly in Germany, where the Roman Catholic Church was predominant. (Lűbeck, St Chad’s and Religious Art, 2009). “Building without teaching and explaining is almost useless”, Pugin stated to stress out the importance of writing about architecture. In his written works, he strongly attacked the era or Reformation and Protestantism saying that a “man must learn that the period hitherto called dark and ignorant far excelled our age and wisdom …” (Pugin, 2003(1842) pp16-17, in Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.120) and looked down on the neo-classicism of his time (Plate 4.7, Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.123). In his book Contrasts, he called the current classic style as “decay of taste”. In the book, he used plates which contrasted the Middle Ages, 14th and 15th Century, with 19th Century. In one example, he presented the Middle Age chapel in all its glory and with a focus on the beautiful altar, while the 19th Century chapel looks like a theatre and according to him, lacks the spiritual feel (Plate 2.4.7, Illustration book, p. 64). The former one highly resembles the St. Chad’s cathedral that Pugin designed later on in life (Introduction, St Chad’s and Religious Art, 2009). The two styles of chapels also meant different functioning – while central plan of the Protestant Church put the preacher in the middle and surrounded with people, medieval Roman Catholic Church had a longitudinal plan with the focus on the altar on one side. Such clear separation of priesthood from the followers created a hierarchy, which is what Pugin strived to recreate in his later works (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 124). Another plate from Pugin’s book Contrasts shows the difference of the way the poor people were being taken care of. He promoted the Catholic Church-inspired way of enabling people to have a more respectful funeral. In the 19th Century, the house for the poor resembled a prison (Plate 2.4.11, Plate 2.4.12, Illustration book, pp. 68-9). It can be seen from the drawings and comments around the building that Pugin strongly associated the better conditions of the past with the greater involvement of the Catholic Church. While the Contrasts focused and differences and similarities between the two historical periods, Pugin’s next book True Principles focused on the Gothic as being a true Christian architecture (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.128). Pugin advocated for “pointed” or “Christian” architecture (as Pugin called then what is now referred to as Gothic style; Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 113) aimed to reach up to heaven, symbolising Jesus’ resurrection. Pugin stressed out an importance of the clear distinction between the structure and the decoration (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 130). He criticised the majestic St Paul’s Cathedral in London, saying that “one half of edifice is built to conceal the other” (ibid). By using statements like this, he aggressively promoted his own neo-Gothicism in 19th Century Great Britain through glorification of the medieval Gothic style in his written works. Pugin’s most important contribution for the Great Britain was the Westminster Palace, located on the bank of the Themes River in London. Pugin worked on this project with a reputable British architect Sir Charles Barry. Pugin had previously written about the importance of Gothic style for the architecture of the palace, because the building “should not be disgraced by another of those half-English, half-Pagan (classical) erections” and its architectural style should not be borrowed from “foreign climes” but possess character “much more suited to our (British) country and climate” (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, pp. 131-132). However, Barry was more used to working in classic than Gothic style and the Westminster palace turned out to be, as Pugin once described it, “tudor details on a classic body” (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 116). The body of the palace is symmetrical and with a strict structure, both of which are typical of the classic style. At the same time, however, the inside of the palace is decorated with paintings and sculptures in Gothic style thus forming a hybrid of the two styles. As he was working on this building under Barry, it is suspected by the historians that he did not get nearly the amount of recognition he had deserved. We can only postulate what the palace might have looked like if Pugin would have been in charge on his own. Most notably, Pugin was responsible for the design of the Big Ben, which remains one of the most distinctive British symbols to this day (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 114). What began with a design of a “pointed” church and a book in the 1830s’, lead to a widespread creation of Gothic buildings all over the Great Britain. Pugin was a primary figure in the revival of medieval traditions and dissented from classicism in style and Protestantism in religion. He started a new era and until this day, some of his works are regarded as the best architecture Britain has to show. Bibliography: Richardson, C., McKellar, E., Woods, K. (2008) ‘Pugin and the revival of the Gothic tradition’, in Price (ed.), Tradition and Dissent (AA100 Book 2), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 108-147 “St Chad’s and Religious Art” (2009) (AA100 DVD), Milton Keynes, The Open University Illustration book: Plates for Books 1 and 2 (2008), Milton Keynes, The Open University