Barry, Charles

views updated

BARRY, CHARLES

BARRY, CHARLES (1795–1860), British architect.

Charles Barry is best known for his design of the Houses of Parliament in London and the introduction of the Renaissance Revival style in the design of commercial buildings. The son of a wealthy London shopkeeper, Barry was apprenticed to Middleton and Bailey, a firm of London surveyors, between 1810 and 1817. After completing his apprenticeship he undertook an architectural tour of Europe and the Middle East. His study of Renaissance buildings in Italy was to become an important influence in his subsequent career. Barry's abilities as a draftsman were soon evident, and he partly funded his trip by the sale of his sketches for publication. The ability to produce attractive and clear drawings was to be a crucial factor in Barry's career. Many of his commissions were to be the result of winning design competitions, and his ability to present a project visually (through plans, elevations, and perspective drawings) was a key element in this success.

Barry returned to London in 1820 and set up an architectural practice. His first projects were churches in London, Manchester, and Brighton, followed by the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Manchester (1824–1835). These early works showed that Barry was not restricted to a particular style, for the London churches were Gothic and the Manchester Institute was in Greek Revival style. In 1829 Barry won the competition for the Travellers Club in London. Built between 1830 and 1832 on a prestigious site in Pall Mall, the building was neither Greek nor Gothic in style, but took its inspiration from the great city palaces of the Italian Renaissance, particularly those of sixteenth-century Rome. It was an early example of the style that became known as Renaissance Revival.

Barry followed the Travellers with two more clubs in Renaissance Revival style, the Athenaeum in Manchester (1837–1839) and the Reform Club (1838–1840), next door to the Travellers Club. Regarded by some as his best work, the Reform Club was inspired by the Farnese Palace in Rome, with a plain astylar (without columns) facade enlivened by rich moldings around the windows and a deep cornice. The simple elegance of the design relied on symmetry, careful proportions, and the regular placing of windows. Equally important was the clarity and simplicity of Barry's internal planning. As with Renaissance palaces, the Reform Club is designed around a central courtyard. But Barry took advantage of recent technical advances and covered his courtyard with a glazed roof and installed the latest methods of heating and ventilation, creating an elegant and usable central circulation space that was much admired by contemporaries.

Barry's mastery of internal planning was evident in his best-known work, the Houses of Parliament (1840–1870). On 16 October 1834 a fire destroyed much of the ancient Palace of Westminster, which had housed the English parliament since 1547. Given the political and historical associations of the palace and a desire to integrate the surviving fragments, Parliament organized an architectural competition for a new building, requiring the design to be in the "Gothic or Elizabethan" style. Barry's entry was chosen and building began in 1840. His design was a masterpiece of logical planning, with four axes radiating from an octagonal central hall, providing both ceremonial routes and easy circulation through a vast building containing over a thousand rooms. Although on plan the building has an almost classical symmetry, the exterior appearance is given a more picturesque out-line through the use of three asymmetrically placed towers. The decorative details are largely the work of Barry's collaborator, A. W. N. Pugin, whose designs are adaptations of the Perpendicular Gothic style of the fifteenth century. The building was unfinished at the time of Barry's death and was completed by his son, Edward Middleton Barry.

While working on the Houses of Parliament Barry found time for numerous other commissions. Hefurther developed the Renaissance Revival style at the British Embassy, Istanbul (1842–1848), Bridgewater House, London (1847–1857), Halifax Town Hall (1860–1862; his last work), and in several country houses: Trentham Park, Staffordshire (1834–1849), and Cliveden House, Buckinghamshire (1850–1851). He also produced works in the Elizabethan style—Highclere Castle, Hampshire (1839–1842)—and the Scottish baronial style—Dunrobin Castle, Scotland (1845–1848).

As the chief designer of one of Britain's most recognizable and symbolic buildings, Barry's historical position is assured. Although his willingness to work in any number of styles was frowned upon by some commentators, a greater appreciation of his versatility and mastery of planning has emerged.

See alsoLondon; Nash, John.