History of Architecture AR 303 C

semester V

LECTURE 02
Architectural Education in France:
Ecole De Beaux Arts &
Influence in US

July 2020
Monali Wankar
Ecole Beaux De Arts
• Literally means ‘school of fine arts’
• It is the French tradition of Academic Architecture
• Formulated during 18C and continued throughout 19C
• The origins of the school go back to 1648 when the "Académie des
Beaux-Arts" was founded by Cardinal Mazarin to educate the most
talented students in drawing, painting, sculpture, engraving, architecture
and other media.
• Louis XIV was known to select graduates from the school to decorate the
royal apartments at Versailles, and in 1863 Napoléon III granted the
school independence from the government, changing the name to
"L‘Ecole des Beaux-Arts."
• Admission for women began in 1897.
background
• A yearly competition which also became a tradition “concours du Grand
Prix de Rome”
• Winning student was awarded five years of study in Rome.
• It eventually became the standard of judging the student.
• It went several stages and changes in 1720-1820
• The primary idea was that the composition should be a unified whole
with exteriors volumes and interior space
• A 3-D composition of building through which one could ‘mentally' walk
as one designed
• It was an ultimate test of composition ability
• A plan should is an indispensable basis of composition, organisation of
interior and exterior spaces, well defined major and minor axes.
• Buildings to be planned so that the individual building with urban
relationship
• By 1820s the academic tradition was fully established and was now ready
to be challenged from within.
 1823, First Grand Prix
Drawing, Plans, Section
and elevation
background

• The Beaux-Arts training emphasized the mainstream examples

of Imperial Roman architecture 
• American architects of the Beaux-Arts generation often returned
to Greek models, which had a strong local history in the American Greek
Revival of the early 19th century
• Beaux-Arts training emphasized the production of quick conceptual
sketches, highly finished perspective presentation drawings, close
attention to the  program, and knowledgeable detailing. Site
considerations tended toward social and urbane contexts.
• Beaux-Arts architecture depended on sculptural decoration along
conservative modern lines, employing French and Italian Baroque
andRococo  formulas combined with an impressionistic finish and
realism. 
background

• Although hundreds upon hundreds took the five-part entrance exam

(which was a mark of the Ecole’s prestige), the school only admitted sixty
students per term, 45 French and 15 foreign
• Students received broad instruction in painting, sculpture, history,
geometry, philosophy and mathematics.
• Student training at the Ecole was uncommonly rigorous.
• Students were driven with punishing workloads. Projects routinely
required dozens of highly detailed architectural drawings accurately
produced in a short time – these, then, to be roundly critiqued by
elevated faculty or atelier (studio) masters. It could be a humbling
experience for many a young man.
• Skills were honed at creating architectural renderings that would amaze
– rich and heavy with detail, plenty to look at in them, and in color,
watercolor being, then as now, a most difficult medium.
background

• Although hundreds upon hundreds took the five-part entrance exam

(which was a mark of the Ecole’s prestige), the school only admitted sixty
students per term, 45 French and 15 foreign
• Students received broad instruction in painting, sculpture, history,
geometry, philosophy and mathematics.
• Student training at the Ecole was uncommonly rigorous.
• Students were driven with punishing workloads. Projects routinely
required dozens of highly detailed architectural drawings accurately
produced in a short time – these, then, to be roundly critiqued by
elevated faculty or atelier (studio) masters. It could be a humbling
experience for many a young man.
• Skills were honed at creating architectural renderings that would amaze
– rich and heavy with detail, plenty to look at in them, and in color,
watercolor being, then as now, a most difficult medium.
developments
• In 1829, Henri Labrouste submitted his study for archaeological
reconstructions for seeking Grand Prix to study in Rome. Devoted to
Greek Temples at Paestum.
• Sparked controversy for nature of classical architecture and goals of
studying in Ecole.
• Use of columnar orders was questioned.
• concepts of social and utilitarian purpose attributed to Greeks and
Romans.
Temple of Hera I, Paestum Restoration, Section and Perspective
developments

The Tiber Island Rome Restoration, 1832, Combined elevations and sections

• Non traditional structures like warehouses and frontier monuments were

unacceptable by Academia, the judges of Grand Prix.
• Only traditional buildings were accepted and new theories failed.
• Until Loius Phillepe government gave opportunity to welcome liberal jury
with acceptance to new ideas.
• New institutional buildings in stone were given chance
developments
• by 1848, new professors got appointed
• revolution started with Loius Napolean who wanted to rebuild Paris.
Violet Le Duc was his friend and had influence on him.
• Henri Labrouste design of Library, Sainte Genevieve was the inspiration
for the students and led them in 1840s and 50s.
developments
• by 1848, new professors got appointed
• revolution started with Loius Napolean who wanted to rebuild Paris.
Violet Le Duc was his friend and had influence on him.
• Henri Labrouste design of Library, Sainte Genevieve was the inspiration
for the students and led them in 1840s and 50s.

Charles Garnier, Opera, Paris

1861
developments
• Designed by Jean-Louis-Charles Garnier,
studied in 1842, won the Grand Prix in 1848

• He won the 1860 competition for the new

Paris Opera House. One of the most famous
buildings of the century, the Opéra
(completed 1875) became a symbol of
Second Empire taste, and its eclectic neo-
Baroque style became characteristic of late
19th-century Beaux-Arts design. Garnier’s
command of the sweeping interiors was
equalled by his mastery of balance,
punctuation, and termination of mass and
surface.
• Became the inspiration for students in
1860s
• Implementation of Hausamann’s Plan
developments

• Central Railway Station with Large Hotel

• Functional plan
• iron and steel shed
• inflated proportions
• awkward relationship with flanking hotels
key features
• Classical architecture, particularly columns and symmetry, with eclectic
and decorative elements drawn from other historical styles.
• Features apt for public and civic buildings such as museums, art galleries,
libraries, and university campuses.
• sculptural decoration, relief panels, inscriptions: depicting identity and
purpose of the building
• Technology and industry were very important
• Cast Iron pairing with glass
• symmetry and the widespread use of columns remained important, these
were paired with features such as arched windows and doors, rustication,
and raised first stories.
Influence in USA • Beaux-Arts, As a school, it attracted
students from many countries, most
notably, the United States.
• The Ecole trained young architects to have
an indepth understanding of architectural
history and to be able to design in “the
manner of” (i.e., in the manner of great
architects and styles of the past).
Jefferson Memorial,
Washington D , 1934-43 • As late as the final third of the nineteenth
century, being a professional architect, or
for that matter an attorney, did not require a
u n i v e r s i t y e d u c a t i o n . T h e re w e re n o
architects, as we understand the term, in
early America.
• Under the influence of the newly founded American
Institute of Architects (1857), a handful of
established universities began formal academic
training programs in architecture.
Union Station in Washington,
DC
 • A pivotal event was the founding, in 1893, of the
Society of Beaux Arts Architects by mainly
American alumni of the famed Ecole. What they
established and nurtured was essentially a
shadow Ecole des Beaux Arts in the United
States.
• All sought to standardize the Ecole des Beaux
Main Branch of the New York Arts style atelier (studio) teaching system for
Public Library, 1911
budding young American architects.
• They stressed classical proportions, scale,
balance, beauty, and a deep understanding of
architecture from the ancient world down
through the Renaissance. They also shone as
centers of lively discussion on all matters of
aesthetics, and in a wider sense, civilization.
 • Flush with funding from august figures such
as J. Pierpont Morgan and Andrew Carnegie,
the Society of Beaux Arts Architects was
able to sponsor Ecole style design
competitions with cash prizes – the greatest
being the Paris Prize -- funding to study in
France at the Ecole itself. It was the
American answer to the Prix de Rome.
New York Grand Central
• As more and more universities began to offer
degrees in architecture, most opted for the
Ecole des Beaux Arts system as central to
training young American architects. This
dominance would not be seriously
challenged until the tide of European
Modernism swept ashore beginning in the
1930s.
Features, USA
• order, symmetry, formal design, grandiosity, and elaborate
ornamentation. Architectural characteristics include
balustrades, balconies, columns, cornices, pilasters, and
triangular pediments.
• Stone exteriors are massive and grandiose in their
symmetry; interiors are typically polished and lavishly
decorated with sculptures, swags, medallions, flowers, and
shields. Interiors will often have a grand stairway and
opulent ballroom.
• Large arches rival the ancient Roman arches.
• Planned neighborhoods with large, ostentatious houses,
wide boulevards, and vast parks.
• Because of the size and grandiosity of the buildings, the
Beaux-Arts style is most commonly used for public
buildings like museums, railway stations, libraries, banks,
courthouses, and government buildings.
thank you
 assignment 02

• Pick up a building of your choice within a period of

1820-1920 in India, which according you reflect the
features of the outcome of Ecole De Beaux Arts?