Pugin the Revival of the Gothic Tradition

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) was a talented Roman Catholic Architect and Draughtsman whom in dedicating his works to the pursuit of Gothic architecture, dissented from tradition and challenged it. He moved away from the fashionable designs eminent in the nineteenth century and the neo-classical society, rejecting the Classical architectural style of the day, instead favouring established practises and traditions synonymous with the Gothic style popular prior to the Protestant Reformation. This was never more apparent than during his execution of plans, in particular the matter of detail of the designs, fittings and furnishings, when recruited to support Charles Barry in rebuilding the Palace of Westminster. Being a traditionalist would have meant that Pugin would have upheld or maintained the views of the era   like other famous architects of his time such as Barry, a notable exponent of the Italian and Grecian styles. Pugin did not however, follow the usual manner of dissent in that he neither underwent a radical defiance of an ‘allegedly stultifying tradition or convention leading to new and often daring styles (AA100 Booklet Tradition and Dissent, 2008) moreover, he rejected what was by then, the standard use of columns combined with rounded or square openings, preferring more intricate designs favoured in earlier architectural traditions such as carvings, soaring to great heights and the use of sumptuous materials. For the purpose of this study, we will consider him a dissenter despite the fact that he was also viewed as a radical Traditionalist trying to revive ‘a lost but truly national style which had been overshadowed by the dissent of the neo-classicists. ’ (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008)
Religion was a major driving force behind many craftsmen and professionals and Pugin was no exception. Whilst classical architecture could be traced back to ancient Greeks and Romans with a style predominantly made up of columns combined with round or...