"STREETARCHITELTURE" : Nineteenth-Centsuy Urban Buildings and the British Architectural Profession A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of History of Art University of Toronto O Copyright by Julia Scalzo 2000 National Library Bibliothéque nationale 1+1 ,,nada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 OttawaON K1AON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/fïlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts flom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced wirhout the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT Street Architecture: Nineteenth-century Urban Buildings and the British Architectural Profession. By Julia Scalzo Doctor of Philosophy 2000 Graduate Department of History of Art University of Toronto "Street Architecture", a phrase used by British architectural -ers f?om the 1820s, described stylish smd-scale residential and commercial urban buildings that no longer adhered to urban vernacular noms. These buildings detennined much of the architectural character of modem rnetropolises, and therefore street architecture was one of the most conspicuous aspects of nineteenth-century modernity. For a century prior to World War 1 the term found its way irito most British monographs, essays, editorials and addresses on the subject of contemporary architecture. Street architecture posed problems that elicited a variety of responses, yet patterns do emerge. The unregulated nature of nineteenth-century urban architecture created streetscapes comprised of racy individualistic buildings, many of which affronted architectural propriety. When irregularly cornposed streets were deemed a relief fkom the so-cailed monotony of Georgian streets, or a by-product of the "Battie of the Styles", their variety was Picturesque and therefore respectable. However, much of this complexity was also understood as mercantile riv- that made commercial buildings compete with one ânother in scale and ostentation. Writers who defended the di& of the architectural profession objected to buildings that appealed to the public in the senrice of business interests. The discipline of urban planning was founded early in the twentieth century, in large part because government seerned poised to determine the character of all future urban architecture. Anticipating this opportunity, British architects-turned-plannersenvisioned remaking London in the image of Paris. Those whs adopted Beaux-arts ideals, âr,d even planners committed to Picturesque principles of design in Garden Cities and Suburbs, interpreted Victonan architectural exuberance as exclusively pandering to crass cornmercialisrn, and demanded that streets be composed of modest, dignüied buildings. Planners argued for new city architecture that did not cater to popular taste. In the event, urban architecture remained undisciplined and "street architecture" disappeared fkom planners' lexicon. But the history of the texm exposes the contest between architects and the ci@ that shaped planning theory in Britain in the fïrst half of the twentieth centüry. It also illuminates the vitaliw of debate occasioned by the unprecedented growth of nineteenth-century metropolises, which professional interests ultimately obscured. CONTENTS . AB STRACT............,......,.......................u- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ...............................vü Introduction. 1. Urban Building in the Regency and the Coining of the Term Street Architecture. ............... .ll 2. Urban buildings and popular taste: Loudon, Pugin and Ruskin in the 1830s and 40s. ................34 3. The "Battle of the Styles" arid Victorian Streetscapes. .....70 4. Street Architecture and the Architectural Profession. - . -114 5. Street Plans, Street Architecture, and Urban Planning to World War I .................... ILLUSTRATIONS. .................................... -218 CHROLOGICAL LIST OF ANONYMOUS ARTICLES ............ 255 BIBLIOGRAPHY. ..................................... -262 Preface 'Ordïnary" urban buildings were the subject of much debate arnong British architects in the nineteenth century, and this is not surprising. Attention was drawn naturally to the typical commercial and domestic buildings that in the aggregate contributed most to the unprecedented size of cities and their speed of growth. Significant changes in the nature of patronage, in the character of urban buildings and in streets of buildings also demanded comment and critique. Problems associated with urban buildings in general were also relevant to other sigdcant issues of the lime, including the "Baffle of the SQdes". and the proper use of new building materials. Fînally, perhaps the most telling indication of the new importance of urban buildings is that the British architectural press deemed it necessary to use a new term in discussions regarding Spical modem buildings and streetscapes. "Street architecture" was coined and made current because of the development of average shops, commercial buildings and houses that shaped the extraordinary creature that is the nineteenth-century city. But given that street architecture was central to so many complex processes and circumstances, perhaps it is surprising that until now there has been no investigation of the meaning, role or signifkance of this term by historians of the period. The present study attempts to correct this oversight. Douglas Richardson directed my attention to this uncharted region of architectural discourse and to hirn 1 owe the genesis of this dissertation. I would also like to thank him for his forbearance as the work grew into its present shape. He made countless suggestions for its improvement, as did Robert Bowers, Francesca Scalzo and Maureen Wall. They also showed me the greatest hdness of all by developing an enthusiasm for the subject. Illustrations Figure Page 1.1. Regent Street looking South. Elmes. Metropolitan Improuements, 1828. 2 18 1.2 Part of the East Side of Regent Street, Eimes. MetropoLitan Improuements, 1828. 2 18 1.3 *O Houses on the West Side of Lincoln's Inn Fields Attributed to Leoni and Inigo Jones, Soane, Lectures on Architecture, plate 47. 2 19 1.4 Houses in Great Queen Street. Holborn Attrîbuted to John Webb, Soane, Lectures on Architecture, plate 106. 2 19 1.5 British Coffee House, Cockspur Street. By Robert Adam. Architect. 1770 Soane. Lectures on Architecture, plate 60. 220 2.1 Jackson, George SwsLondon, p. 64. 22 1 2-2 No. 34 Haymarket. London. c. 1754. Powers. Shop Fronts, p. 36. 22 1 2.3 Royal Opera Arcade Shops. by John Nash. Powers. Shop Fronts, p. 52. 22 1 2.4 1. and J. Taylor. Designs for Shop Fronts. London n.d. (1792). plate 22. Dean.EngLishShopFronts ..................... 222 2.5 1. and J. Taylor. Designs for Shop Fronts. London n-d. (1792),plate 7. Dean. English Shop Fronts. 222 2.6 John Young. A Series of Designs for shop Fronts, London, 1828. plate 17. Dean, English Shop Fronts. 223 vii T. Famer, Designs for Shop FYonts, London, 183 1, plate 1. Dean, English Shop Fronts. - . 223 T. King. Shop Fronts and Exterior Doors, London nad. plate 2. Dean, English Shop Fronts. ,. 224 "Shops in Museum Street, Bloomsbury." Powers, Shop Ronts, p. 71. 224 No. 8 Argyle Street. Bath. c. 1828 Powers, Shop Fronts. p. 56. .. 225 N. Whittock, On the construction and Decoration of Shq,Fronts of London, London, 1840, plate 2. Dean, English Shop Fronts. ,. 225 No. 9 Ludgate Hill, London, c. 1840. Tallis, London Street Views, 1840. Powers. Shop Fronts. p. 56. , . 226 "Ironmonger and Brazier" Delassaux and EIliott, Street Architecture. 1855, plate 12.. -.. 226 No 8 Ludgate Hill, 1802, by Papworth Powers, Englïsh Shop Fronts. p. 60. - . 227 "Temple of Taste" Pugin. Contrasts, znd.ed. 1841. .. 227 "Emporium of Fashionn Pugin. True Principles. 184 1, Plate K. fig. 1. 227 'Modem Street Buildings" Pugin, Apology for the Reuivd of Christian Architecture. 1843, plate 7.. 228 Hotel de Ville, Brussels, by Samuel Prout Brooks, Ruskin, fig. 2.. - . 229 Upper Reaches of the Grand Canal. by John Ruskin. Unrau. Ruskin, fig. 92. 229 viii Tower of Strasbourg Cathedral, by John Ruskin. Unrau, Ruskin, fig. 91......................... 230 Foreign OBce, by G. G. Scott Muthesius, The High Victorian Mouement, .......... 23 1 Houses in Broad Sanctuary, Westminister, by G. G. Scott. Muthesius, The Nigh Victorian Movement, .......... St. Pancras Hotel, by G. G. Scott Muthesius, The High Victorian Movement, .......... Proposed Terrace in Harrow, Middlesex, by Thomas Harris. Builder, 20 0ct. 1860, p. 673. .................. House, Rue Soufnot, by Le Sueur. Fergusson, The Kistory of the Modem Styles of Architecture, fig. 147. ......................... House, Rue des Saussaies, by Le Jeune. Fergusson, The Hiçtory of the Modem Styles of Architecture, Ag. 148. ......................... London