The Houses of Parliament, London

Truthfulness in Architecture Redefined

Abstract:

From the Enlightenment of Laugier to the Industrial Age of Pugin, there is a shift in

ideologies with regards to what is deemed as good architecture. Their approaches to

rationalism is slightly different, with Pugin focusing on the ‘character’ of architecture, its aesthetics, ethical and religious, while Laugier was mainly focused on the

structural purity of the architecture. However, since the former is a development of

the latter, parallels can be drawn from the simple planning, functional

appropriateness and structural rationality of the Houses of Parliaments, to that of

Laugier’s initial taxonomies of order and solidity. With the aid of a religious and moral

compass, Pugin was able to demonstrate a similar, if not, higher level of clarity and

systematic application than that of Laugier. Despite the stylistic constraints of the

design of the Houses of Parliament, this essay aims to study the developments of

Laugier’s Principles of True Architecture and that it is not limited to Classicism or

specific in style. But rather the essence of truthfulness is understood and internalised

by Pugin, and later on expressed through the precedent of the Houses of Parliament.

Medieval Churches, capable of triggering emotions and strive for the sole purpose of

worshipping God. Honesty demonstrated through revelations of its structural

mysteries and the purity of faith, administrative to the soul, reflects his personal

ethics and values in designing. Pugin’s pursuit for an architecture of truth, through

the Gothic Revival Style, will be seen in the Houses of Parliament.

Simple Logical Principles

Simplicity in planning and construction of the Primitive Hut by Laugier, can be seen

in the ingenious planning of the lucid hierarchies differentiating between public,

private areas and the grandeur4 of the Houses of Parliament. While Laugier offered

simplicity through a reduction of building components to the fundamental column,

entablature and pediment, Pugin has internalised simplicity as a mode of

organisation, with form as it’s resultant. With separate entrances to predetermined

nodes, Barry devised the circulation to be exclusive and specific to user. (Image 1)

Image 1: Plan of the Houses of Parliament

4 Ching, Frank, Mark Jarzombek, and Vikramaditya Prakash. 2017. A Global History Of Architecture. p.643.

message to the public and its’ users that as they move to a new age of scientific

discovery, they still hold firmly to the roots of Gothic truthfulness.

This not only is an aesthetical beauty pleasing to the eye, nor purely functional, but

one that suggests greater reverence to God. Leveraging on the fact that the Houses

of Parliament will be a national monument and a symbol for the United Kingdom,

Pugin is trying promote a moral society guided by faith like of that of the Middle

Ages, one that is God-Centred. This also marks Pugin’s divergence away from

Laugier’s definition of truth in architectonics and nature, to pursuit for a higher purpose. One which concerns the spirit and evoking conscience into design.

Image 3a: Façade of Westminister Palace Image 3b: Air Ventilation to the Houses of Lords

Pure Geometric Expression - In planning or forms

Laugier mentioned in his essay that we should occasionally “abandon symmetry, to

throw ourselves into the low and singular: Let us mix agreeably the soft with the

hard, the delicate with the rugged, the noble with the rustic, without deviating from

lightness. The medieval timber hammer roof of the Westminster Hall (Image 8) firmly

anchors onto the wall on one end and an angel carved on the other, allowing a span

of 68 feet, without vertical supports rising from the floor. Making this an engineering

miracle.

Ornaments in this Gothic Architecture are not to cover any defect13, but to provide

enrichment to essential construction of the building14 . The ornament of the angel was

not decorative, but all part of a single structural system. From the back of the angel,

rises a vertical post (Image 9) that spans to a pointed arch, covering the centre

portion of the whole. This goes beyond the structural logic, as the ornaments served

as a metaphor that signifies the presence of God and His angels. Lifting up the place

and creating an illusion of Gothic structural lightness.

Image 8: Westminister Hall Image 9: Construction details of Westminister Hall

13 Laugier, Marc Antoine, and Samuel Wale. 1755. An Essay On Architecture. London: Printed for T. Osborne and Shipton. p.53. 14 PUGIN, A. WELBY. 1841. TRUE PRINCIPLES OF POINTED OR CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE. London, J. Weale. p.13.

The Crystal Palace

Regardless of style, there was a tendency to emphasize on the solidity of

architecture. The pursuit for the truth and clarity of architecture since the 18 Century

is brought forth to iron, where a shift from the decorative treatment to the distinctive

structural properties of materials is seen in the development of Conservatory, Carlton

House (1811-1812) (Image 10) to Crystal Palace of 1851. (Image 11)

Image 10: Conservatory, Carlton House Image 11: Crystal Palace

It is critical to note that across time, Laugier, Pugin, and Paxton all have varied

definitions of what is ‘honest’ and ‘truthful’ architecture. For Laugier, truth is in

purifying the practice by revealing the earthly presence and natural laws, something

that the public generally are ignorant of. For Pugin, truth is exemplifying moral

character and virtue. For Paxton, truth can be encompassed within the tectonics of

the architecture. Despite the different approaches, they all have a similar intention for

designing truthful architecture.

Paxton’s thorough understanding of the construction and assembly of

Conservatories has allowed him to exploit effective production processes, thereby

utilising a modular approach to manifest into a huge complex. Structural truths were

also demonstrated through the use of wrought-iron, normally ornamental, but now

used as a horizontal girder support, and the intricacies of detailing which often is

The cultural aspect of the Crystal Palace is also perhaps overlooked by Pugin. The

shift from a stereotomic tripartite arrangement and scale of the Houses of Parliament

to a tectonic, filigree-manifested Crystal Palace, shows how architectonics

addresses the cultural requirements of each building. The non-heirarchical

‘container’ of the Crystal Palace is to show the power of various nations, so the building becomes a backdrop. While the Houses of Parliament emphasises on craft

to flaunt the essence of Britain. Hence, we see different approaches undertaken by

each architect. Indeed, fragments of Laugier and Pugin are evident even as the

mode of construction changes. We see the transition of methodologies in terms of

expressing their civic function as they adapt to the modes of production at their time.

Conclusion

The Houses of Parliament serves as a testament to the social and cultural

reformation of the 19th Century Britain. The power of architecture is seen to be

constantly evolving since Laugier introduced his principles of true architecture.

Importing a new terminology of structural truth, developed in France and Italy into the

English-speaking world, Pugin was the first to link Gothic Architecture with truth by

contrasting the honest architecture of the Medieval times and atrocities of

falsification in his time. The building also goes beyond the Natural Origins of

Laugier’s principles as concepts of simplicity and pragmatism were abstracted and reimagined in a Gothic Revivalist manner. The realisation of many of Laugier’s ideas evident in the Houses of Parliament, can be seen as a stepping stone for further

interpretations of truth and honest architecture, like John Ruskin, William Morris and

even Viollet-le-Duc.