Question of aesthetics in industrial architecture of the 19th century

Straipsnyje aptariama naujo tipo pramonės pastatų raida Europoje XIX a. Naujieji fabrikai susiformavo XVIII-XIX a. sandūroje, laikotarpiu, vadinamu pirmąja pramonės revoliucija. Jie buvo tobulinami visą XIX a. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama, kaip sąveikavo jų techninė-inžinerinė raida bei funkcionalumo ir ekonomiškumo poreikis su vyraujančiomis meninėmis tendencijomis. Aptariama fabrikų estetika - architektūrinė stilistika, meninės išraiškos priemonės, amžininkų svarstymai, kokiu keliu turėtų rutuliotis pramonės architektūra. The article focuses on the industrial architecture of the 19th century. The main task for the industrial architects of the century was to create new spaces. The factories were buildings of an absolutely new type and structure, since their designs followed the requirements of the technological process. Thus, it is possible to distinguish two main factory types: multi-storey and single-storey. This allows to suggest that in the very beginning of the 19th century, a unique multi-storey factory type developed, changing the traditional building construction into a metal frame, which was determined by the modular system. The structures of the single-storey industrial buildings started to develop in the beginning of the 19th century. Mostly the structure was determined by the roof construction. These modifications of the roofs were revolutionary in architecture, because not only the function, but also the construction dictated the shape of the industrial building. The question of the aesthetics of factories had been raised since their very emergence. Architects dreamt that factories might unite architectural beauty and engineering stability. Thus, they covered industrial buildings with the richly decorated facades of historic styles. The new construction materials such as metal and glass were only used as a lasting construction, but not as a source for the new aesthetics of the material. Together with the ideology of rationalism the new rational style in architecture emerged. The origin of the new style was found in the material, namely, in the finishing bricks. The cheap and durable "brick style" became the symbol of the century's pragmatism and dominated the industrial architecture of the late 19th century. At the very beginning of the 20th century the pioneers of industrial architecture (T. Gamier, P. Behrens, W. Gropius, and A. Meyer) introduced new ideas and designs of the factories. These buildings were the prototypes of the industrial buildings in which the new aesthetic principles emerged: transparency, lightness of the corners, exhibition of technical components.