Transformation of the Horticultural Glasshouse Prototype for Human Habitation
RIBA LKE Ozolins Studentship 2008
The overarching objective of my research is to study the historical development of fully-glazed buildings, starting in the early nineteenth century, when fully-glazed structures were used exclusively in the context of horticulture and finishing in the mid-twentieth century when, for the first time, fully-glazed high rise towers became adopted as a model for commercial office buildings. Research pursued during my Masters revealed that the development of the all-glass building represents a very distinct strand within the history of nineteenth and twentieth century architecture that was driven by very particular aesthetic, technical and environmental design aspirations. Through the study of the genealogy of fully-glazed buildings, which hitherto has not been studied in any great depth, I am intending to shed light onto contemporary architectural trends and to explore and question some of the assumptions and ideas underlying the current, global proliferation of the all-glass building as a model for contemporary architecture.
My interest in the history of fully-glazed buildings emerged from a concern about the environmental responsiveness of twentieth century architecture and an interest in the environmental design models underlying the development of architectural design in the twentieth century. The PhD focuses on the development of the 'glasshouse' in the nineteenth century which represented the first fully glazed building type. Furthermore, it assesses how and why glasshouses were adopted as a model for the 1851 Great Exhibition Building in Hyde Park [1850-51] and the Crystal Palace at Sydenham [1852-54] which, as contemporary sources reveal represented two pioneering experiments with appropriating the horticultural glasshouse prototype for exclusively human purposes.
Post-occupancy study conducted inside the Great Exhibition building between May and October 1851. It shows the indoor and outdoor temperatures recorded.
Source: author
Biography
Henrik Schoenefeldt studied at the Prince’s Foundation, Portsmouth University and TU-Wien. In 2007 he was awarded an M.Phil in Environmental Design at the University of Cambridge, where he is currently a PhD student. Prof. Alan Short is his supervisor. Since 2007 Henrik has been the co-organizer of the Martin Centre’s Wednesday Research Seminar Series and supervises undergraduate students at the Department of Architecture.