Specialist Study: Reality in Fiction

SPECIALIST STUDY

Reality In Fiction

BRIEF

Favouring the past is quite evident in British architecture, which is also one of the aspects that makes British cities unique from other cities in the world. Pre-war buildings are predominantly of the neoclassical or Gothic Revival architectural styles. If we consider the time, these were built-in, immediately these styles do look as if those are out of time and space. It is more like a fake architectural world among the reality that we all wish to escape from. Most importantly these revival buildings, specifically gothic revival buildings can be seen everywhere, in every town or village, old or new. It is hard to think of a church that is unaffected by the gothic revival. Moreover, since we still see gothic revival buildings, and since some are still in use, it is easier to study these buildings and it is important to study why these buildings are still loved. The idea of the study is to explore the world of “fake British architecture”, and to understand the reason for its existence. To study the matter, influences must be looked at. It is vital to mention that this shall not study architectural styles in detail, in terms of elements, but the evolution of ideals and motives and influences shall be thoroughly studied. At the end of the essay, as a case study, the fictional use of the “fake architecture” will be explored using the first book and movie of the famous fictional franchise, Harry Potter, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone.

AFTER THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION ROMANTIC VISIONS DOMESTIC GOTHIC

Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace is a prominent example for the innovative use of steel in architecture. With the introduction of Bessemer’s conversion process steel became available in larger quantities but it did not play an important role in British construction as it should have, until the next century. The external expression steel gave was rejected by the conventional architectural belief.

In search for a brighter future, Victorians look back at the past for a boost to the moral tone. Immediately it seems like a trivial solution, but factors that trigger psychological changes for the better should not be taken for granted. At the end of a thorough search, it was medieval architecture, which travelled through time to provide a blueprint for Victorian architects and town planners, to salvage their cities, thereby their people, out of the misery created by industrial revolution. Gothic Revival, however, was purely an English movement. (Clark, 1962) It was a conscious movement which occurred opposed to Classical Architecture, in the second half of 18th century and mostly in the 19th century. It fascinating to think as to why the direction of neoclassical architecture changed, particularly to Gothic, a medieval architectural style. What is most peculiar is that this change happens when technology was available the most.

There may have been reasons for this change but the first, sparked in 18th century, comes out of visual arts and literature.

The romantic sensibility of the 18th century favoured the awe and terror which came with vastness and power in sublime and the quaint irregularity of picturesque but rejected the symmetry and regularity of beautiful. In that sense it makes sense that gothic ruins were vastly used in the cultural market, whether on canvases for county house collections, plates for middle class readers or in stage sets for production of Shakespeare. In 1747, Walpole managed to buy a little undistinguished house at the banks of river Thames, in Twickenham. Twickenham was a village in the outskirts of London, which was famous of villas of fashionable Londoners. In 1750, Walpole decided to turn this undistinguished, yet ‘capricious’ house into a “gothic castle”. Walpole’s “little gothic castle” was unlike anything of the time. It was quite long and rather low with many irregularities in plans and sections. When it was constructed his collection was moved to the house but the house was an exhibition itself with extravagant details, based on actual designs of medieval gothic.

DOMESTIC GOTHIC

In 1747, Walpole managed to buy a little undistinguished house at the banks of river Thames, in Twickenham. Twickenham was a village in the outskirts of London, which was famous of villas of fashionable Londoners. In 1750, Walpole decided to turn this undistinguished, yet ‘capricious’ house into a “gothic castle”. Walpole’s “little gothic castle” was unlike anything of the time. It was quite long and rather low with many irregularities in plans and sections. When it was constructed his collection was moved to the house but the house was an exhibition itself with extravagant details, based on actual designs “The strength lay in the new body of human values by which men had begun to judge architecture; the weakness in the fact that gothic had no architectural principles and that the architects who employed it were all trained in the classical style and used the style for preference.” This argument proves to be true when we look back at the construction of strawberry hill. Walpole copied designs, rather precisely but there were no rules or moral principles behind it. In few years this weakness began to change and the man responsible for this change was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. Nineteenth century saw what known as the battle of styles. It was a passionate debate between neo- classicists and gothic revivalists. While Liverpool succumbed to neo – classicism, Gothic triumphed in Manchester. “In this style let us build the church, the palace and the cottage.” Once said Ruskin. Gothic that Pugin followed was closely knit with the church but it was Ruskin who secularized gothic.

PUGIN NORTHERN CIVIC ARCHITECTURE

The choice of harry potter as a case study could seem irrelevant at a glance but when looking at the narrative of harry potter, it is a story about a little boy who is frustrated about his entire life, gets to entire the magical world. This narrative parallel’s with the exploration of the essay. First few chapters of the dissertation look at the attempts of creating an idealized environment first through visual arts and literature, moving to architecture. It was all about sentiments. A route of escape from the dark consequences of the industrial revolution but the fantasy UK is still preferred over the real built environment. J.K. Rowling uses this common human desire as a narrative for her book series of harry potter. What is more important for this essay is her way of using Architecture to support the narrative which will be looked at in this section. Harry Potter is a book series written by Joanne Rowling, popularly known as J.K. Rowling, which later adapted to film. this case study looks at the first book of the franchise,” Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone” which became a major success. In addition to the main reason mentioned before, there are certain aspects for Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone to be suitable for the subject matter. Story’s existence in dual mediums allows studying the strategies of different mediums in approaching the same narrative. It shows how the genius of J.K. Rowling is turned into a visual experience mixed with Stuart Craig’s imagination. Another important factor is that the story flows through both the normal world (known as the “muggle world” in the story) and the magical world. This allows the reader to experience familiar scenarios before the introduction of magic. This is vital as it shows what known as ‘normal’ and what known as ‘fiction’ in terms of the architecture of the narrative. It is also the reason to choose particularly the first book for the study. It is the introduction to the series which grasped many hearts globally and the first movie is the least with digital manipulations which allows us to study the vast use of locations and production sets. The mix of the real and fictional world makes a combination of memories and imagination, especially when it comes to the reader. Global success shows that there is a factor that resonates on a global scale with the UK. The study intends to explore the reality of the fictional world of Harry Potter through the means of fictional desires of Britain that explored before in previous chapters. This chapter will consist of 3 parts, looking at the insufferable normal life, escape to the ideal magical world, and the negativity towards brutalism through ideals and motives previously explained. Favouring the past is quite evident in British architecture. Which is also one of the aspects that makes British cities unique from other cities in the world. Prewar buildings are predominantly of the neoclassical or Gothic Revival architectural styles. If we consider the time these were built-in, at a glance these styles do look as if out of time and space. It’s more like a fake architectural world among the reality that we all wish to escape from. Most importantly these revival buildings, specifically gothic revival buildings can be seen everywhere, in every town or village, old or new. It is hard to think of a church that is unaffected by the gothic revival. Moreover, since we still see gothic revival buildings, and since some are still in use, it is easier to study these buildings and it is important to study why these buildings are still loved. The idea of the study is to explore the world of “fake British architecture”, and to understand the reason for its existence. To study the matter, influences have to be looked at. It is vital to mention that this shall not study architectural styles in detail, in terms of elements, but the evolution of ideals and motives and influences shall be thoroughly studied. At the end of the essay, as a case study, the fictional use of the “fake architecture” will be explored using the first book and movie of the famous fictional franchise, Harry Potter, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone. “muggle world” in the story) and the magical world. This allows the reader to experience familiar scenarios before the introduction of magic. This is vital as it shows what known as ‘normal’ and what known as ‘fiction’ in terms of the architecture of the narrative. It is also the reason to choose particularly the first book for the study. It is the introduction to the series which grasped many hearts globally and the first movie is the least with digital manipulations which allows us to study the vast use of locations and production sets. The mix of the real and fictional world makes a combination of memories and imagination, especially when it comes to the reader. Global success shows that there is a factor that resonates on a global scale with the UK. The study intends to explore the reality of the fictional world of Harry Potter through the means of fictional desires of Britain that explored before in previous chapters. This chapter will consist of 3 parts, looking at the insufferable normal life, escape to the ideal magical world, and the negativity towards brutalism through ideals and motives previously explained. Favouring the past is quite evident in British architecture. Which is also one of the aspects that makes British cities unique from other cities in the world. Prewar buildings are predominantly of the neoclassical or Gothic Revival architectural styles. If we consider the time these were built-in, at a glance these styles do look as if out of time and space. It’s more like a fake architectural world among the reality that we all wish to escape from. Most importantly these revival buildings, specifically gothic revival buildings can be seen everywhere, in every town or village, old or new. It is hard to think of a church that is unaffected by the gothic revival. Moreover, since we still see gothic revival buildings, and since some are still in use, it is easier to study these buildings and it is important to study why these buildings are still loved. The idea of the study is to explore the world of “fake British architecture”, and to understand the reason for its existence. To study the matter, influences have to be looked at. It is vital to mention that this shall not study architectural styles in detail, in terms of elements, but the evolution of ideals and motives and influences shall be thoroughly studied. At the end of the essay, as a case study, the fictional use of the “fake architecture” will be explored using the first book and movie of the famous fictional franchise, Harry Potter, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone.