Discussion

Crystal Palace Commentary "Built out of prefabricated and wrought-iron elements and based on a four-foot module, this 1,848-foot-long ferro-vitreous construction was erected to the designs of Joseph Paxton and Charles Fox, of Fox, Henderson & Co. Its interior volume was organized into galleries which were alternately 24 feet and 48 feet wide. The roof of these galleries stepped up by 20 feet every 72 feet and culminated in a central nave 72 feet wide. The 'ridge and furrow' roof glazing system specially devised for the occasion required 49-inch glass sheets capable of spanning between furrows 8 feet apart, with three ridges occurring every 24 feet."  Kenneth Frampton and Yukio Futagawa. Modern Architecture 1851-1945. p11.