The good news today is that the Crystal Palace may be built again on Sydenham Hill in South London. Almost the only thing left of the original is a pair of stone sphinxes that once crouched inscrutably next to one of the entrance staircases. The rest of it burnt down in 1936, the inflagration watched by my girlfriend's mother looking out of a bathroom window in Peckham. I remember asking her if she had to stand on the toilet seat and she gave me a funny look and said "Probably." Although smaller in plan, the building had as its core the original Great Exhibition building built in 1851 by Joseph Paxton, erected in Hyde Park and visited between May and October of that year by over five million people.
But what will the new one look like? Some bloke on the wireless this lunchtime said he expected there'd be some glass and iron in it somewhere, as if acres of glass wasn't a prerequisite. Ten years ago I remember seeing a design by Chris Wilkinson of Wilkinson Eyre at an RA Summer Show, and it would certainly suit me. A real new Crystal Palace for our own age, something we should've insisted on for the Millennium instead of that bloody awful tent in Greenwich stuffed full of tat. I couldn't find a decent photograph of the Wilkinson proposal to show you, but here's another BBC report from 2003 with a murky image attached. The brilliant thing about this Dan Dare spaceship is that it doesn't take up any parkland space, being mostly suspended in thin air as it were. Dust off those plans Chris please.
5 comments:
Great photograph of the sphinx - walking around the old site gives an impression of the sheer vastness of the Paxton building, doesn't it. As far as I can see from the press, the current proposal is for a replica of the Victorian Crystal Palace, which is interesting, but not quite as staggering as the Wilkinson building.
Yes, I meant to say that just walking the length of the site is a reminder of just how big the plan of this structure was. There were also two water towers here by Brunel that survived the fire but were taken down so as not to give clues to German bombers. As if they'd have needed them.
Peter, on the blogsite Caroline's Miscellany, there was an article about a subway passage for the former train station for the Crystal Palace. It features beautiful brickwork.
Yes, the subway is amazing - there is a good video tour now on Youtube, courtesy of a member of Friends of CP Subway. The subway was built in 1865 to connect the now sadly demolished High Level Station (two stations were built to serve Crystal Palace) with the Palace itself, in order to save First Class passengers the inconvenience of crossing Crystal Palace Parade.
The subway is not normally open to the public, but I believe the new plans do incorporate a refurbishment.
Yes, the subway is amazing - there is a good video tour now on Youtube, courtesy of a member of Friends of CP Subway. The subway was built in 1865 to connect the now sadly demolished High Level Station (two stations were built to serve Crystal Palace) with the Palace itself, in order to save First Class passengers the inconvenience of crossing Crystal Palace Parade.
The subway is not normally open to the public, but I believe the new plans do incorporate a refurbishment.
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