Eirik Høyer Leivestad

In the cultural history of the modern era, few buildings are as influential as Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace of 1851. Originally erected to host the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, the Crystal Palace was immediately considered a miracle of modern engineering and the architectural expression of the new industrial age. Much more than a physical building, the Crystal Palace was a cultural and ideological forcefield that stirred up passionate debates about modernity and progress all the way from London to St. Petersburg.

An exuberant essay written for a general readership, this book explores the Crystal Palace as a metaphor for modern civilisation. Krystallpalasset draws on ideas and insights from literature, architecture, cultural studies, art theory and philosophy, weaving together an experimental and playful account of the Victorian landmark’s multiple meanings and its cultural and aesthetic echoes. The book brings together a diverse chorus of historical and contemporary voices, ranging from authors such as Charlotte Brontë, Fredrika Bremer and Fyodor Dostoyevsky via thinkers such as Karl Marx, Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt and Pankaj Mishra to the Soviet-Russian mineralogist Vladimir Vernadsky and the American inventor R. Buckminster Fuller.

Whereas the historical building perished in a fire in 1936, Krystallpalasset shows how it can still serve as a prism to reflect our time. Revolving around London’s iconic 19th century building and its powerful symbolism, the book provides a spirited and original approach to the question of modernity and its inherent tensions, spanning such topics as globalisation and imperialism, capitalism and consumerism, ecology and climate regulation, utopias and dystopias.

Editor: Sigurd Tenningen
Design: Andreas Töpfer

“A remarkably good argument for the view that our modern world sprang up in a giant glasshouse in 1851 […] This is a book that deserves to be read.”

Gaute Brochmann, Morgenbladet

“With Krystallpalasset, Eirik Høyer Leivestad should hope for an international readership.”

Freddy Fjellheim, Vårt Land

“Despite its complexity, Krystallpalasset is commendably clear and subtle at the same time. […] Rather than making explicit parallels between 1851 and 2024, [Leivestad] lays them out with a telling nod. […] The readers see the contour of themselves in the window glass. ”

Eirik Riis Mossefinn, Klassekampen

“This is how you do cultural studies.”

Espen Grønlie, Vinduet

“In a time marked by overproduction of academic prose, this book represents an essayistic breath of fresh air that dares to talk about the big picture. It creates room for imagination and solutions at a moment when vivacity and optimism are scarce.”

Eivind Tjønneland, Ny Tid

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