Palace of the people : the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 1854-1936
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Bibliographic Information
Palace of the people : the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 1854-1936
Hurst, 2004
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  Aomori
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  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
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  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
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  Nagano
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  Shizuoka
  Aichi
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  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-227) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This text traces the rise and fall of what became known as "The People's Palace", the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in South London. With its stark geometrical design it was architecturally years ahead of its time, but it was also a fascinating and idealistic social laboratory of entertainment and information that foreshadowed much that we take for granted in today's theme parks, zoos and shopping malls. Based on Paxton's design for the Great Exhibition in 1851, after its relocation to Sydenham the Crystal Palace was much enlarged, with three transepts instead of one, and used twice the amount of glass as in Hyde Park in 1851. Among the topics explored by Jan Piggott are the personalities behind the Crystal Palace. He also investigates what went on there. He draws on eye-witness accounts, both from memoirs and newspapers, so that the reader gets a sense of what visiting Crystal Palace was like in an era before film or television. As much as the spectacular structure itself, the Crystal Palace drew visitors for over 80 years because of the amazing series of exhibitions and nationals ceremonials staged there. It also attracted the cream of British and European society.
Table of Contents
- Contents: I The 'Parent Building' and the Great Exhibition -- II 'What is to become of the Crystal Palace?' The move to Sydenham and the construction -- III The Architectural Courts -- IV Ethnography
- Botany
- Sculpture
- the Industrial Courts
- Photography V The Park and the 'Extinct Animals' VI Music VII Events and Visitors Postscript: the Fire, 1936, to the present
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