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Conservatory Furniture Uk Resources
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Latest Conservatory Furniture Uk Information Almost twenty years ago, The French government unveiled a plan to replace the aging Conservatory building on the Rue de Madrid with a new jewel in its diadem of arts buildings. The result is the Conservatoire de Paris, a complex at the Porte de la Villette. In addition to several theaters in the former marketplace building (Les Halles), the complex houses a "cite de la musique" containing a music museum, shops, a place for recitals and lectures, a "mediatheque" (the newest form of library), an audiovisual center, and an extraordinary training facility for music and dance. We have no idea when some farmer got the idea of choosing a site protected from the wind, with an exposure to the longest hours of sunlight, or who first carried water to nourish that plant. Today we take for granted the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers in computer-monitored locations that bring us year-round production. Obviously this is the result of centuries, perhaps eons, of experimentation and invention. Two hundreds years ago, our ancestors had a very good idea of what was needed for maximum production, and they were quickly developing the technological requirements for success. The Oak Park Conservatory was started as a community effort ····in 1914 with plants from around the world, brought back by residents. (Customs inspections were different then!) Today, it has 8,000 square feet of growing areas, making it the third largest conservatory in the Chicago area! More than 16,000 people visit the Conservatory each year, and the number of educational programs continues to grow. It is often used as a meeting place for Chicago area plant enthusiasts, including the begonia, gesneriad, and cactus and succulent societies. The Conservatory offers many special exhibitions and programs. Since the first purposeful cultivation of plants, humankind has struggled to improve growing conditions by altering the environment. For the plant to thrive, is it too cold? Too dark? Too rainy? Too arid? Too windy? How can the plant's living arrangements be improved to give it maximum light, water, air circulation and fertility? How can we improve on Mother Nature? One of the most famous of the Regency-era conservatories was built at Carlton House, the Prince of Wales' London residence, demolished in 1826-27, which had been redesigned for him by Henry Holland (1745-1806) in 1787. Over the years, the Prince worked hard, decorating and redecorating, to make it the most magnificent residence in Europe, and by some standards he succeeded, only to have it demolished when its position was judged obstructive to the grand design he and architect John Nash worked out to redesign large sections of London, which later were named Regent Street and Regent Park. The famous conservatory was added in 1807 of the newest construction techniques in cast iron columns and a fan vaulted ceiling supporting large glass spaces. The architect was Thomas Hopper (1776-1856) whose work was considered a tour de force. The conservatory opened into the gardens at one end. If one looked in the opposite direction, there was a clear view of the entire lower ground-floor range of rooms, at the mall level, opening into one another in this sequence from west to east: conservatory, ionic dining room, gothic dining room. As an aside, architect Hopper's subsequent commissions included the main dwellings at Gosford Castle, Northern Ireland, and Penrhyn Castle, Wales, among many others. He was particularly admired for his Normal Revival style. The Carlton House conservatory was intentionally theatrical, as some writers observed, over the top and bringing the term "elaborate" to a new level. The Prince Regency planned a great fete for 2,000 people on June 19, 1811,to celebrate his Regency. The supper table was 200 feet long, the entire length of the Ionic Dining Room and the Gothic conservatory. Men were dressed, according to J. B. Priestly in his The Prince of Pleasure and His Regency (1969), in their court dress or uniforms. Down the middle of the entire length of the table ran a curving stream of water from a silver fountain in front of the Prince. Its path was lined with flowers, mossy banks and crossed by miniature bridges. Goldfish swam up and down this tiny stream. Here is the account by John Ashton in Social England Under the Regency (1895) of the Prince Regent's conservatory and the party: "...the architecture of it is of the most delicate Gothic. The upper end was a kind of circular buffet surmounted by a Medallion, with the initials G.P.R. lined by festoons and antique draperies of pink and silver, and partly filled by mirrors, before which, on ornamented shelves, stood a variety of vases, candlesticks, &c. of the most gorgeous gold plate...In the front of the Regent's seat there was a circular basin of water, with an enriched Temple in the centre of it, from whence there was a meandering stream to the bottom of the table, bordered with green banks. Three or four fantastic bridges were thrown over it, one of them with a small tower upon it, which gave the little stream a picturesque appearance. It contained also a number of gold and silver fish. The excellence of design, and exquisiteness of workmanship could not be exceeded; it exhibited a grandeur beyond description; while the many and various purposes for which gold and silver materials were used were equally beautiful and superb in all their minute detail. Many of the vegetables available today in St. Petersburg, Russia, for example, are grown under glass in acres of greenhouses that rim the city, a necessity for the climate. The St. Petersburg greenhouses date from shortly after the founding of the city of Peter the Great at the dawn of the eighteenth century. By the middle of the 19th century, the popularity of greenhouses had grown exponentially. What's more, materials became less expensive and more readily available, so greenhouses and growing plants under glass were no longer a pastime only of the wealthy. Small greenhouses and conservatories of many designs were added to middle class Victorian houses. There was also competition by cities and countries to build conservatories as part of grand public parks. These housed exotic, non-native plants as well as common varieties, and remain popular today. One of the most famous glass buildings in the world was the Great Exhibition's Crystal Palace, built in London in 1850-51 for the Great Exhibition. Chief architect was Joseph Paxton (1803-65), former gardener to the sixth Duke of Devonshire (the Bachelor Duke). It contained all kinds of exhibits, not only plants. Nonetheless, the design of the Crystal Palace influenced decades worth of greenhouses and conservatories. Paxton was influenced by the achievements of Knight and Loudon in creating more efficient greenhouses. Bloedel Floral Conservatory, Queen Elizabeth Park: The Conservatory is one of the most popular attractions in Vancouver and is open daily, rain or shine. A modest fee is charged. It is dedicated to the wonders of the natural world with an emphasis on plants and birds. As a matter of fact, over 100 birds of various species call the Bloedel Conservatory home and free-fly within its spacious dome. It was constructed through a very generous donation from Prentice Bloedel in 1969. That same donation enabled the Park Board to cover the main reservoir atop Queen Elizabeth Park. While common in Europe, conservatories are now beginning to increase in popularity in the U.S. as homeowners discover a variety of uses for these one-of-a-kind "glass houses." Many conservatories, are used as breakfast rooms or additions to gourmet kitchens, while others serve specific purposes, such as a music room or natural bridge between the house and garden. Conservatories have a rich history, going back to the days when wealthy families of Victorian Europe would travel the world and bring back rare spices or lemon and orange trees. They needed warm climates to survive the colder months, so the idea of a glass-enclosed conservatory was developed to nurture the exotic plants and specimens from the homeowner's world travels. The real beauty of a conservatory is that it is a room, which is part home and part garden bringing the delicious scents that abound in the garden, indoors. It also affords a cosy and comfortable haven in which to enjoy the outdoors even when the wind and rain is lashing all around. Once built many people find that this beautiful room becomes a focal point and is used much more than was originally anticipated. The high glass content of a conservatory can be an ideal room for growing a variety of houseplants. However care must be taken when selecting plants to ensure they will enjoy the conditions afforded by the aspect of the room and whether it is heated or not. The regency era, whether one confines the definition strictly to 1811-1820 or, more broadly, to the French Revolution to Victoria period 1789-1837, was truly a time of transition in enhanced plant cultivation indoors. When it began, traditional orangeries were popular and when it ended, rooms built of delicate iron ribs holding curvilinear walls and roofs of glass had captured the fancy of all society. In her book Regency Gardens, Mavis Batey writes, "There was a new connection between house and garden through conservatories and flower corridors; interior decoration and trellised verandahs complemented each other; fluted curtains, flowerstands and flouncing shrubberies matching the elegance of Regency costume." (p.5)
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