Assignment 4 Pugin
Leigh Hamilton
AA100 TMA 4
In what ways did Pugin’s revival of the Gothic use tradition as a form of dissent?
Essay Plan
Introduction – What is dissent? Introduce Pugin
Paragraphs 1 & 2 – Pugin’s aims and inspiration
Paragraph 3 – Attack on the era of Reformations and Protestantism. Plate 4.7 “decay of taste”. Difference in Church styles.
Paragraph 4 – Treatment of the poor. Plate 2.4.11
Paragraph 5 – “Christian” architecture – pointing upwards.
Paragraphs 6 & 7 – Emphasis on Britain’s’ greatness – not requiring ideas from other countries. Big Ben
Paragraph 8 - Conclusion
Leigh Hamilton
AA100 TMA 4
In what ways did Pugin’s revival of the Gothic use tradition as a form of dissent?
To answer this question, we must first ask what is dissent with regards to religion? “..dissent is often understood as radical defiance of an allegedly stultifying tradition or convention, leading to new and, for the time, 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, named this classical style “the new square style” (Figure 4.7, in Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.123).
Pugin endeavoured to convey the national, cultural and religious character of Great Britain. To fulfil his aim he returned to Gothic architecture - 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 specific to Northern Europe.
Pugin did not dissent from tradition in its most narrow meaning. He was not creating anything radically new. He did not consider himself to be a dissenter
AA100 TMA 4
In what ways did Pugin’s revival of the Gothic use tradition as a form of dissent?
Essay Plan
Introduction – What is dissent? Introduce Pugin
Paragraphs 1 & 2 – Pugin’s aims and inspiration
Paragraph 3 – Attack on the era of Reformations and Protestantism. Plate 4.7 “decay of taste”. Difference in Church styles.
Paragraph 4 – Treatment of the poor. Plate 2.4.11
Paragraph 5 – “Christian” architecture – pointing upwards.
Paragraphs 6 & 7 – Emphasis on Britain’s’ greatness – not requiring ideas from other countries. Big Ben
Paragraph 8 - Conclusion
Leigh Hamilton
AA100 TMA 4
In what ways did Pugin’s revival of the Gothic use tradition as a form of dissent?
To answer this question, we must first ask what is dissent with regards to religion? “..dissent is often understood as radical defiance of an allegedly stultifying tradition or convention, leading to new and, for the time, 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, named this classical style “the new square style” (Figure 4.7, in Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.123).
Pugin endeavoured to convey the national, cultural and religious character of Great Britain. To fulfil his aim he returned to Gothic architecture - 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 specific to Northern Europe.
Pugin did not dissent from tradition in its most narrow meaning. He was not creating anything radically new. He did not consider himself to be a dissenter
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