Augustus Pugin: An architect as a conservative revolutionary

Abstract

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852) has come to be known as the most influential figure among all the masters of the 19^th century Gothic revival. However, the nature of his influence on his contemporaries (evident for them) looks rather enigmatic a century and a half later. For us, the inconsistence of Pugin’s texts, his obvious logical flaws and the general unreality of his Gothic project seems striking. All this should somehow fit in with that tremendous effect his writings produced on the 19^th-century architectural thought. The paper is an attempt to discuss Pugin’s personal version of Gothic Revival in terms of Gesamtkunstwerk which may help us eliminate the contradiction. Unaware of Richard Wagner’s ideas, Pugin depicts Medieval England as an integrated Gothic world demonstrating unity of form and content at every level, from the humblest everyday utensils to the organization of space, thus forming a comprehensive work of art. An architect in the first place, Pugin places architecture at the core of the proposed integrated society as if the Gothic forms themselves could carry a clear message and spread Christian (i. e., Catholic) values. The state of mind and culture he was seeking for was capable of marrying art and life on the grounds of Catholicism. It was the universal medieval Catholic worldview that unified life and art, making them both subordinate to religion or, to be more exact, its integral parts.