Whittle 1 Christopher R.

Whittle Professor Mike Gormley ENG 101: English Compostition and Literature I FINAL, December 20, 2010

Classical Architecture is Officially American Every American dreams of purchasing a new home for his family, no matter how old or young, rich or poor, big or small. This was the belief of landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing, who in the 1840s believed that all Americans had access to morally-straight and beautiful homeownership (American Eras). Similar beliefs are held by many Americans today, whether or not they wish to transact in the city or country, suburbs or outskirts. But the common denominator in all of this is that chances are the domicile purchased will have traditional mouldings and trimmings on the exterior and interior, the shades or tints of red, white, and blue somewhere (Morrison 295), and constructed with the half-timbered technique (Mendelowitz 68). Roofing is gabled, the front door is decorative, and the windows are double-hung with shutters to both sides per window (Anderson Ctr. 3). Chances are there is a brick chimney built-in to the structure (Columbia Encyclopedia 1), or a columned entryway on the front portico (Anderson Ctr. 1). A layperson generally does not know specific styles of art, architecture, or interior design or decoration, but the elements prescribed here are variants of Classicism. Chances are an American would purchase such residence because the classical styles of architecture resemble the image of the United States of America.

Whittle 2 Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, to date has been the only architect to win the White House, which was designed by Irishman James Hobson of Kilkenny, based on Leinster House, which is home to the Dail Eireanu (Irish Parliament) (Sweeney). He was the owner of three copies of [Andrea] Palladios books, and applied his tastes into the plans of Monticello and the original buildings of the University of Virginia (LaChiusa). Along with George Washington, Jefferson took architecture very seriously (Columbia Encyclopedia 2), and both were inspired by Sir Christopher Wrens London Reconstruction Plan as a model for the new national capital (Morrison 281). Pierre Charles LEnfant, a French born civil engineer, was hired by President Washington to design his namesake city in the District of Columbia, based on the school of Wren (Aikman 17). Jefferson coined his own work Classicism after diplomating in France, with the inspiration of the Parisan Greek Revival, which of most were actually based on Palladian thoughts. The federal government followed suit (Glancey). This style, called Jeffersonian Classicism, was a variant of Roman, popular from 1770-1830 (Foster 228). However, Jeffersonian Classicism was not the sole variant of Roman during the foundation of our nation. Massachusetts architects Charles Bulfinch of Boston and Samuel McIntire of Salem were the most popular practitioners of the Adamesque, or Federal Style, attributed from the Georgian styles of Scottish architect and furniture designer Robert Adam and his brothers (Columbia Encyclopedia 2). The term Georgian comes from the style of houses that were built during the reign of the first four Georges on the British throne, hence the Colonial Georgian designation (Mendelowitz 70). This evolved into the American Federalist (Craven) style after the American Revolutionary War (Anderson Ctr. 1). The Federal Period overlapped the

Whittle 3 Classical Period, lasting from 1875-1820 (Mendelowitz 189). Its Georgian origins in the colonies make the use of brick as the chief building material, visible from the exterior, were have said to have begun in Virginia (Morrison 140), the wealthiest and most architecturally advanced of the colonies (Mendelowitz 121). Colonial Georgian began to appear around 1700 in seaport cities like Boston, Newport, Philadelphia, Williamsburg, and Charleston (Morrison 4). This was preceded by the cottages made at Jamestown, Plymouth, and Salem during the early 1600s (Mendelowitz 66), which were remnants of the Gothic homes back in England, albeit in a destructive and naked form: In truth Colonial architecture was entirely traditional, and almost entirely unprogressive. Structurally and aesthetically, it was the late English Gothic transplanted to a new and different climate (Morrison 96). Alan Gowans also explains: American folk art collectively embodies a medieval tradition which formed on the first common stratum of civilization of America. But on the other side, this folk art belongs, too, to the particular histories of differing cultures [which] transplanted from the Old to the New World (16). Influenced by the work of Britons Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, and James Gibbs, architecture began to form like the mother country, with the colonists paying tribute to King George I (Mendelowitz 107). Motifs of the English court were Renaissance and Baroque architecture, where Jones, Wren, and Gibbs designed from Roman (Mendelowitz 93). Hugh Morrison explains that: The exterior of [St. Martin-in-the-Fields] approaches the ideal of the classical temple shape, with a full portico of columns rising from steps to a pediment fronting the main roof slope. The tower [has] a square story embellished by arches and pilasters, classic urns, clock faces under curved cornices, and a small octagonal story carrying the spire. The

Whittle 4 interior illustrates the new type of Protestant Church plan that Wren introduced. An central aisle separates built-in box pews, and the side and rear balconies are carried halfway up giant columns, each bearing a small square entablature (287). Similarly, Hollis Hall at Harvard, built in 1762-63,[has] a hipped roof, many chimneys, and a central pavilion topped by a pediment (Mendelowitz 125). Stylistically, this was what the Puritan meeting house, school, and library looked like before the American Revolution (Mendelowitz 77). With the advent and birth of a new nation, governing separately from George, the neo-classical style became closely identified with the political values of the young republic (Columbia Encyclopedia 2). Coincidently, Georgian houses from the English Colonies emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as the image of the generic American House (Scott). In addition: The neoclassical lines of the Greek Revival buildings suggested a simplicity that differed sharply from the luxury and decay Americans associated with British aristocracy. This republican style was intended to confer a sense of both democracy and community (American Eras). With all that is said, Morrison explains: [In 1950], it seems inconceivable to some that so much space in so small a house could be devoted to the pious pretenses of the parlor.piety was no pretense in the Puritan commonwealth of the seventeenth century. The austere Puritan religion required a place for Bible readings and family celebrationsthe Puritan parlor nourished the transplanted culture of Europe in the wilderness; from it grew the religious and literary tradition of New England that had been so seminal in the shaping of American culture (97). The Federal and Colonial styles did not cease after the War of 1812. Surges of patriotism after 1876 triggered an American Neo-Classical Revival, which began around 1895 and in some instances lasts today (Foster 294).

Whittle 5 Religious buildings in the colonies were not totally Puritan or Congregational. During the 1750s, architecture compatible to the Anglican (Episcopal) Church was found in the Southern Colonies, where the Church was established (Gowans 144). Many of our early patriots were Freemasons, and each pillar had a distinct meaning. The Ionic column stood for wisdom, Doric stood for strength, and Corinthian beauty (Gowans 251). This influence was alive on September 18, 1793, when the original cornerstone of the Capitol was laid in a Masonic ceremony presided over by George Washington (Aikman 22). Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the first Roman Catholic prelate in the United States, stated the architecture of Baltimore Basilica, the oldest Catholic cathedral in America, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, shows patriotic Americanism and loyalty to Rome (Gowans 263). Mythology often times supplanted Judeo-Christian traditions (Gowans 276). Jefferson made use of Palladios Five Orders of pillars and columns: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite (Morrison 274). These orders are used in some way, shape, or form in the United States Capitol, with the initial design by William Thornton, MD, of Scotland, selected in a 1792 design competition, defeating Stephen Hallet of France and James Diamond of Virginia. Dr. Thornton, like Jefferson, did not receive any formal architectural education; Hallet and Diamond did indeed (Aikman 19). Most of the early American architects did not receive any schooling in their subject matter, to which Daniel Mendelowitz keenly states: While the men who made the first sketches of America were in the no sense artists of great distinction, they helped to establish a concept in the New World that had been long accepted in the old that the activities of the artist were normal pursuits of civilized man (156).

Whittle 6 This means that people drawing, no matter if it is buildings or something else, is normal behavior. However, you must have extraordinary talent and meet the proper legal requirements to become an architect in the world of today. A person may thank John Shute for this (Morrison 277-8). One may also be grateful to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for establishing the first American architecture school in 1865 (Columbia Encyclopedia 3). Gerald Foster states on the emergence of an American architectural style: With improved travel conditions, communications, and the emergence of professional architects and designers in the later 18th century, the Georgian [house] evolved into a national style (6). The French were instrumental in the development of The Federal style, whichrevealed three chief influences: a revived Roman Classicism, a suitable republican style for the new nation; French architecture of the period of Louis XVI, brought over by several French architects and engineers in the train of war-bred Franco-American friendship, and the continuing tradition of the American Georgian style, reinforced by the importation of the latest English fashion set by the brothers Adam (Morrison 566). French influence did not end with the American and French revolutions, rather Henry Hobson Richardson, the creator of Richardson Romanesque, had the same influence, albeit in the Public Square (Anderson Ctr. 2). Mendelowitz comments: Like most American architects of the nineteenth century, Richardson had been deeply impressed with the power and richness of French architectural tradition [and] the Middle Ages particularly compellinghe found its strength, heavy vigor, and lack of standardization most compatible with his ideals of America (372). Even though people believe that Neo-Classical is the default American or Federal style, some dissent. Aaron Betsky, the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, believes

Whittle 7 that there should be a democratic choice between Gothic and Neo-Classical for academic institutions. He clearly states that The campus was the engine by which an increasingly diverse country accepted and acculturated generations of students into shared values and beliefs. The buildings and the spaces around them reinforced what students learned; not just literature and history, mathematics and biology, but etiquette, team spirit, music, jokes, and rules of behavior that made them effective citizens. The best campuses reflected and embodied those values and modes of behavior: Gothic turrets and ambulatories presented a model of monastic concentration and dedication to learning, while neo-colonial expanses of brick surrounded by white gables represented American ideals of democratic, repetitive, and idealized forms (2). Louis Sullivan agrees, stating that The desire at once to follow and to lead the public should be the initial attitude of our profession toward the formation of a national style; for while we conduct the technical operations, the shaping and controlling process is mainly in the hands of the public who are constantly keeping us within bounds. We cannot wholly escape this control while we are without a national architecture fully representing the wishes of the public, and ministering to its conceptions of the beautiful and the useful. This can evidently not come to pass forthwith, for the public itself can only partially and imperfectly states its wants (4). However, despite Sullivans comments, educators in Massachusetts began to implement painting and drawing into the curricula in the 1870s. As soon as Harvard University President Charles Eliot Norton added design to the liberal arts curriculum, the public schools followed suit, appointing Walter Smith was the first State Director of Art Education in 1872. Smith later was the first principal of the Massachusetts Normal Art School (Mendelowitz 490). One only need to visualize the government buildings located in Washington, D.C. to find the official architecture of our nation, which is Classical. Alone, the United States Capitol

Whittle 8 reminds Americans of classroom prints and [the Pledge] of Allegiance, of high school Civics I, commemorative stamps and a procession of domed and columned statehouses reating the classic national profile across the land.It stands at the heart of our system of representative government, it is [a] focal point of American ideals of freedom and opportunity (Aikman 8-9).

Whittle 9 Works Cited Aikman, Lonnelle. We, the People: The Story of the United States Capitol. Washington: United States Capitol Historical Society, 1964. Print. American Eras. Architecture, Encyclopedia.com. Highbeam Research, Inc., 2010. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010. Anderson, Roger & Ruth Architecture Center. Hinsdale Architecture. Hinsdale: Hinsdale Historical Society, 2010. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010. Betsky, Aaron. American Dream: In form and function, the school campus is our greatest contribution to architecture and urban planning., Architect, 9/13/2010. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010. Colonial American Architecture, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010. Craven, Jackie. Is Your House Patriotic?, Jackies Architecture Blog, About.com: Architecture; New York Times Co., 7/4/2010. Online, Accessed 11/13/2010. Foster, Gerald. American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2004. Print. Glancey, Jonathan. The Story of Architecture. London: Dorling Kindersely Publishing, 2000: 124-25. Print. Gowans, Alan. Images of American Living. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1964. LaChiusa, Chuck. Federal Style Architecture in Buffalo, NY 1790-1830, Buffalo as an Architectural Museum. Buffalo: 2002. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010. Mendelowitz, Daniel M. A History of American Art. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1960. Print. Morrison, Hugh. Early American Architecture from the Colonial Period to the National Period. New York: Oxford University Press, 1952. Print. Scott, Pamela. Residential Architecture of Washington, D.C. and its Suburbs. Washington: Library of Congress, Prints and Photography Reading Room, 2005:13. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010.

Whittle 10 Sullivan, Louis. Characteristics and Tendencies of American Architecture, Annals of American History. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Inc., 2009; Posted on Answers.com. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010. Sweeney, Meghan. Irish American Trivia: 10 Patriotic Facts About the Irish in America, Irish Central, 7/23/2009: 2. Online: Accessed 11/13/2010.