Image Gallery
The Crystal Palace
A detail of a contemporary print showing the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London which hosted the Great Exhibition from May to October in 1851. The innovative structure was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton (1801-1865) and created almost one million square feet (93,00 square metres) of exhibition space. The building used 500,000 sheets of glass and 4,500 tons of iron. The use of prefabricated parts for a temporary building on such a grand scale inspired architects thereafter such as the Renkioi Hospital designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-59).