Within
the courthouses and other legal buildings are comparable battlegrounds. The
design of the courthouse often denotes the nobility of spirit that law seeks
to uphold. Nikolaus Pevsner, in his A History of Building Types notes that,
unlike the development of town halls that illustrated more stylistic than
functional development, the architecture of courthouses did not
differentiate as much between style and function. He cites the beginning of
"separate monumental buildings" for courthouses in England in York in 1705
with the conversion of a Debtor's Prison, and in France, towards the end of
the eighteenth century. The images in this section highlight various styles
across the United States as well as around the world. The Old Bailey (right), named after Bailey Street (the "bailey" was the original fortified wall of London), is otherwise known as the Central Criminal Court.
It
stands on the site of the old Newgate Prison that dated from medieval
times. There had been nearby "Old Bailey" courthouse buildings since 1539.
This building was opened in 1907. The City of London's website describes
the architecture as follows: "The Edwardian baroque of [architect Edward]
Mountford's courthouse is combined in the present building with the modern
simplicity of the extra courtrooms."Interesting articles on courthouse architecture and the statements they make may be found at Intimidating Buildings and the American Institute of Architect's website titled Academy of Architecture for Justice.
To view the Courthouse Series, available for purchase, click here.
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