A.W.N Pugin And Understanding Of Medieval Church Architecture In The 19th Century
Augustus Welby Northmore had ideas deeply rooted in the medieval era. He offered an exceptional innovative role in the
Gothic revival style of architecture. Many churches were designed as a result of his remarkable effort especially in Ireland and
Australia. He rebelled against Christianity version as a child terming it as cold and of having sterile forms of the church of Scotland.
Furthermore, he converted into the Roman Catholic Church in 1834. Pugin restructured an entire social program viewing it as a moral
force. His efforts captured the attention in architecture works as he constantly challenged the social structure upon unrest. It is evident
that he fought for a just society that cared for each other.
I chose this topic for my research because Pugin is a very important character in the medieval period because of his
remarkable progress in the architecture field. In order to change architects understanding of middle age church architecture he
published a book named ‘Contrast’ in 1836 which called for the transformation of medieval gothic style and a return of the social
structures. His contrast came at a time when there was social injustice.
In my search, I will discuss Pugin’s perception on Christianity and the effects his work had on the medieval church
architecture. However, I will also discuss the various opposition his work met as some scholars tried to outsmart him. I chose to
discuss more about Pugin because of his radical sentiments that termed Christianity as gothic and gothic as Christianity. All these had
a great impact in the architectural work of medieval church as it affected the construction of most churches.
References
Dávila Romano, D. (2014). Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin : ideología y teoría a través de sus textos = Welby Northmore
Pugin : Ideology and theory based in his texts. Cuaderno de Notas, (15), 155. doi:10.20868/cn.2014.2965
Gomme, A. (1996). Pugin: A Gothic Passion Paul Atterbury Clive Wainwright A. W. N. Pugin A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic
Revival Paul Atterbury A. W. N. Pugin. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 55(3), 353-356.
doi:10.2307/991169
Patrick, J. (1981). Newman, Pugin, and Gothic. Victorian Studies, 24(2), 185-207. Retrieved from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3827359
Wainwright, C. (1995). A. W. N. Pugin and the Progress of Design As Applied to Manufacture. Retrieved November 20, 2019,
from https://www.bgc.bard.edu/research-forum/articles/13/a-w-n-pugin-and
Wedgwood, A. (2004). Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore (1812–1852), architect, writer, and designer. Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22869