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How London's Crystal Palace was built so quickly
- jazzyjackson 2y agoIs the a good source for the complete blueprints of the palace? Digital models? I've always enjoyed visiting glass houses but never thought much about how the framework is put together
- Oarch 2y agoI was recently in Alexandra Palace in North London and couldn't help but think the foyer is very close to how the Crystal Palace must have looked. Complete with palm trees and everything.
- tim333 2y agoNot sure but it's quite similar to the palm house at Kew. David Attenborough on that https://youtu.be/-ChP6OeNmBE https://youtu.be/-ChP6OeNmBE
- Simulacra 2y agoThere's a great story about this in Bill Brysons book "At Home". That's how I learned in 1851 the glass window TAX was repealed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax
- twelvechairs 2y agoOne thing worth noting is lack of fire safety. Not only did the crystal palace burn down but also most of the similar steel and glass exhibition centres built internationally (of which the crystal palace was the first very large one)
- lukasb 2y agoOdd. I wouldn't expect these buildings to be an above average fire risk ...
- ahazred8ta 2y agoThe contents were flammable and there were no firewalls.
- FerretFred 2y agoThe underfloor heating was to blame: hot flue gases and an old and increasingly flammable timber floor... https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/9413492.exhibition-at-crystal-palace-museum-recalls-landmark-blaze-of-the-crystal-palace-after-75-years/ https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/9413492.exhibition-at-cry...
- bruce511 2y agoNot only that, but construction in general operated in a far different regulatory environment. Imagine King Charles today proposing a 990 000 square foot structure in Hyde Park. Get Design. Build structure. How hard could it be? Today there are more voices. Queen Victoria simply decreed, and it was done. Today building the structure would be fast. Getting permission to build it would take decades (even for the King) and cost a fortune. Savehydepark.com would be a domain in seconds. The mulberry harbours were built in a day with scant regard to the views of the locals.
- neilwilson 2y agoWe retain the capacity in the UK to do just that. Parliament sits above the courts as effectively the Supreme Court of the UK, where everybody's interests are notionally represented (the current mis-named 'supreme court' is really just the Court of the United Kingdom). The King, via the Ministers of the Crown, could propose a building as a Bill in Parliament. If Parliament then passes that as an Act, then it will happen and nothing can stop it from happening. Including using the Army to detain and remove protestors if necessary. All it needs is the relevant sections in the Act. Recovering this power is why Brexit was so important. With it we can build the green infrastructure we need as we built the railways - via dictatorial Acts of Parliament that brook no opposition. Now all we need are MPs prepared to use that power to save us from oblivion.
- Angostura 2y agoAre you unfamiliar with the process known as judicial review?
- YawningAngel 2y agoWhile the above poster is a little overenthusiastic, there is no judicial review of acts of Parliament. Judicial review seeks to challenge whether a public body reached a decision lawfully, and acts of Parliament are always lawful provided they are passed in the property manner https://davidallengreen.com/2023/01/courts-and-politics-and-the-job-of-judicial-review/ https://davidallengreen.com/2023/01/courts-and-politics-and-...
- fecal_henge 2y agoBritish standard whitworth lives on as the thread which attaches cameras to tripods I think. I once liberated some simmilar bolts from a broken out tunnel wall at Tottenham Court Road. We machined into tensile coupons and they just stretch out like pulling a toffee bar! It's amusing these days to think of imperial measurements as a great standardising force in the world in light of our inability to go metric.
- bunabhucan 2y agoHercules in India still sells roadster bikes with Withworth threads.
- analog31 2y agoYup, and the eternal Sturmey-Archer AW 3-speed gear hub uses Whitworth threads too. I've got a couple on bikes. It's not a problem because the parts are unique anyway -- there's no other use in the world for an indicator rod, or guide nut, and the outside of the nut is close enough to 15 mm.
- jimnotgym 2y ago>It's amusing these days to think of imperial measurements as a great standardising force in the world in light of our inability to go metric. As always it is not quite so simple. Another early standard thread was the British Association. Proposed 1884, and adopted 1903. It was the recommended thread for small diameters (even by the British Standard institute), and is still seen in electrical terminals, and some small instruments. BA threads are metric!
- fecal_henge 2y agoI didnt know that. I kept all my BA eyelet crimp terminals as they were a pretty good fit for metric threads, I see this is not a coincidence now!
- _fizz_buzz_ 2y ago> British standard whitworth lives on as the thread And pipe fittings
- cainxinth 2y ago> Screws were traditionally made by skilled craftsmen, such that no two were exactly alike and it was nearly impossible to replace lost or broken screws. Screw threads weren’t standardized until the 1840s! That blows my mind.