Building natural history: Constructions of nature in British Victorian architecture and architectural theory

Victorian architects shaped the spaces where natural science was made, and in turn helped shape the public\u27s understanding of nature. Display strategies for natural historical objects--and the architectural decisions which sustained those strategies--reveal the contingent and shifting status of natural knowledge in Victorian Britain. Four case studies (Cambridge University Library, 1829-37; Oxford University Museum, 1855-60; Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, 1854-61; Natural History Museum, London, 1865-1881) reveal how science, dependent upon progress for its legitimacy, left traces of its history in museum architecture. At Cambridge University, C. R. Cockerell designed a classical collegiate quadrangle which was primarily a library, but also provided exhibition rooms for natural specimens, an indication that natural science was not yet an integral part of the university\u27s intellectual life. A decade later at Oxford, the Gothic Revival University Museum marked the arrival of natural science in the curriculum. Although other considerations--cost and adaptability--were paramount, the naturalistic ornament represented the ideals of natural theology--the study of science as revelatory of Creation. Also at mid-century, the engineer Francis Fowke designed the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, an iron-and-glass building recalling the Crystal Palace. It showcased nature in the service of commerce and industry, and was built for middle-class visitors rather than only elite students. In London, the social role and style of the Natural History Museum caused controversy. The director of the national museum hoped to display God\u27s work in its entirety, but he was thwarted by the efforts of progressive scientists, who preferred a small teaching museum. While some visitors approved of its Romanesque imagery, others objected to its church-like interior, which seemed to ignore the advent of Darwinism. Natural history and architecture were products of society. The educational role of museums was under contestation, the availability of natural knowledge to the public was expanding, and science was becoming a profession rather than a gentleman\u27s hobby. In this climate of change, architects of museums, through style choices, planning decisions, and ornamental schemes, critically affected the way Victorian Britons understood nature