Technology and Control in the Crystal Palace and Larkin Administration Building

The Crystal Palace interior, public domain

     The Great Exhibition of 1851 lasted five months and left behind a completely transformed society. Heralding several monumental shifts in design and architectural theory, The Crystal Palace [Paxton, Hyde Park, London, 1850-1851] was a new sort of exhibition space- one defined by massive scale and innovative materiality. Around half a century later, Frank Lloyd Wright would employ many of the same technologies and ideas when designing the Larkin Administration building [Wright, Larkin Administration Building, Buffalo, NY, 1904-06] Both buildings exemplify the use of architecture as a tool to standardize human behavior and productivity within the constraints of the machine. This is achieved through the introduction of mass produced building elements, as well as the development of new systems of organization and the introduction of new structural technologies that allow for open-plan, easily surveilled interiors. These concepts are still core ideological and practical components of architecture, and define many of the discussions happening today, 172 years after the Crystal Palace rose in the middle of Hyde Park.

Front and rear elevations of the Crystal Palace, public domain

    When it was constructed, the Crystal Palace was particularly notable for its overwhelming size and complexity. The uniform, seamless assembly of countless small components was only possible through prefabrication. The idea of constructing a building from prebuilt pieces was a direct result of European colonization- it originated with the disassembled houses brought to colonized territories.  These structures would have rapidly risen from the ground, architecture devoid of any connection to the hands that manufactured its parts. This was the new vision of European superiority- one where the craftsperson disappears completely. The construction of buildings becomes an inevitable force. Many theorists at the time, like Gottfried Semper, depict “progress” similarly: as unstoppable, forward movement towards optimization. In a commentary article about the Great Exhibition, he writes, “England has become estranged from art for the time being through the force of the progressive spirit of the time, and this estrangement is approximately in proportion to how far she hurries ahead of other civilized nations along a course that, one hopes, they are all going to traverse.” (Semper, Science, Industry, and Art, 157) The factory production of uniform building components is used to uphold ideas of British superiority, and a consequent reduction in artistic innovation is regarded as merely an unfortunate but surmountable effect of this supremacy. The same idea, of standardization as a representation of progress, appears in the Larkin Administration Building. Identical rows of desks and chairs uphold the reputation of the Larkin Company- the perfect order of the office’s layout supports the idea that the work happening within is held to the same standard of perfection. These systems of standardization also allow for the easy judgment of productivity, making it possible to  assess both the efficiency of an individual worker within the Larkin Building and the development of a civilization in the Great Exhibition. In this way, evolving production technology creates a new standard for both architecture and labor, one where uniformity is synonymous with progress.

Larkin Administration Building photo, public domain

    With new industrial capabilities came the need to optimize their potential. This meant thinking analytically about the way space and information is organized. The plan of the Crystal Palace was neatly subdivided into four components, creating a hierarchy of progress- beginning with raw materials, then moving to machinery, to manufactures, and finally fine art. (Semper, 132) These divisions, clearly demarcated with large signs, allowed visitors to smoothly navigate the enormous building. Within the Great Showcase, there is also a sense of discomfort with the unpredictability of the human element- crowd control techniques like turnstiles were introduced to carefully modulate the number of people inside, for fear of riots or unruliness. Similarly, the rigid organizational systems of the Larkin Administration Building attempted to minimize the potential for human error. The interior layout was influenced by Frederick Winslow Taylor’s ideas of optimizing labor (Taylorism), and therefore, “every clerical operation that took place in the Larkin Administration Building—no matter how small—was broken up into its elementary, actionable components. Once a task was translated from a complex action into a series of simple ones, each constituent task was given a distinct ‘form.’”(Celik, 305) This intense form of organization restricts an individual’s actions, constraining them to a singular task, much like how a machine does a single job.  In his essay, Art and Craft of the Machine, Frank Lloyd Wright declares that the machine is “ interwoven…in the warp and woof of our civilization, its essential tool indeed, if not the very framework of civilization itself.”(Wright, 90) The Larkin building presents a new vision for the workplace- one where the “framework” of organizational technology restrains human labor to the simplest and most repetitive of tasks. In the Crystal Palace and the Larkin Building, new systems of organization subtly exact control over the people within. 

Atrium of the Larkin Administration Building, Larkin Company Photograph Collection

    Maintaining this order, however, requires another component- surveillance. At a glance, there is one element that is immediately identifiable in both the Crystal Palace and the Larkin Building- a towering, glass-enclosed atrium, winged by several floors. Advances in structural engineering and building materials allowed for interior voids of massive scale. Heavy structural walls were replaced with narrow iron columns, allowing one’s view to encompass several spaces that would have previously remained divided. In the Crystal Palace and Larkin Building, this openness was an important component due to the surveillance it enabled.  In the Larkin administration building, the large atrium and open plan had several effects; the acoustic quality amplified any sound created, the low sight lines meant it was simple to overlook a large number of workers. These elements demonstrate an alternate interpretation of the machine as a societal “framework”- the use of technology to exert increased control over human behavior. This is also seen in relation to crowd control within the Crystal Palace, where undercover policemen were dispersed throughout the crowds to minimize the risk of revolutionary activity. This may have been another, hidden advantage to the transparent, open space proposed by Joseph Paxton- it is a far more ideal space for monitoring behavior than other preceding designs. The basic structure of the Crystal Palace and the Larkin Building, a large sky-lit atrium surrounded by inward-facing balconies, can be seen in large public spaces around the world today. This layout, along with the minimal ornamentation and visible structure of modernist architecture, creates a metaphorical panopticon- one person, standing on a high balcony, could theoretically overlook most of a building. Depending on one’s perspective, this design for social control can be seen as dystopian, or necessary for the safety of the public.

    Ultimately, both the Crystal Palace and the Larkin Administration Building were significant due to their radical use of new materials, forms, and ideas. The two buildings were visually distinct in many ways- the Larkin building’s exterior resembled an industrial grain elevator more than a palace.  However, they both utilize mass produced building components, systems of optimization, and structures that create large interior voids to regulate human behavior within the “framework” of the machine.  Today, many architectural discussions revolve around the ethics of this control, and the extent to which it is acceptable. Drawing connections between these two buildings, half a century apart, reveals the complex systems and decisions that created the built environment now considered the status quo.