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Identify the defining characteristics of the development of the Neoclassical Style and its effects in
the colonies, particularly in American architecture and design.

Module 5.1 The Neoclassical Style

Introduction

European art and architecture during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Neoclassicism reflected a
desire to rekindle the spirit and forms of classical art from ancient Greece and Rome, whose principles of
order and reason were entirely in keeping with the European Age of Enlightenment. Neoclassicism arose
in opposition to the overly decorative and gaudy styles of Rococo and Baroque that were infusing society
with a vanity art culture based on personal conceits and whimsy. It brought about a general revival in
classical thought that mirrored what was going on in the political and social arenas of the time.

Fig. 5.1.1 British Connaisseurs in Rome by James Russel, c. 1750.

Neoclassicism's rise was in large part due to the popularity of the Grand Tour, in which art students and
the general aristocracy were given access to recently unearthed ruins in Pompeii and Herculaneum, and as
a result, became enamored with the aesthetics and philosophies of ancient art. Neoclassicism arose as artists
and architects infused their work with past Greco-Roman ideals. A return to the study of science, history,
mathematics, and anatomical correctness abounded, replacing the Rococo vanity culture and court-painting
climate that preceded.
Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works of Art
History of Ancient Art orian and scholar Johann Winckelmann (1717-68)
were important in shaping Neoclassicism in both architecture and the visual arts. Neoclassicism was
strongest in architecture, sculpture, and the decorative arts, where classical models in the same medium
were relatively numerous and accessible. As for painting, Greek painting was utterly lost: Neoclassicist
painters imaginatively revived it, partly through bas-relief friezes, mosaics, and pottery painting, and partly
through the examples of painting and decoration of the High Renaissance of Raphael's generation. Much
"Neoclassical" painting is more classicizing in subject matter than in anything else.
Recognizing Neoclassical Architecture and Interior Design
In architecture, Neoclassicism signaled a return to order and rationality after the flamboyant Baroque, and
the decorative frivolity of the Rococo. As a style composed of many elements, based to a varying extent on
the antique forms of Greek architecture and Roman architecture, neoclassical architecture can be imitated
to a greater or lesser extent.

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Fig. 5.1.2 Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral (left) and Royal Observatory in Greenwich (right).
The earliest forms of neoclassical architecture grew up alongside the Baroque and functioned as a sort of
corrective to the latter's flamboyance. This is particularly evident in England where examples of early
neoclassicism include buildings like St Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, all
designed by Sir Christopher Wren who is still labeled as a Baroque architect. At the same time, the
Renaissance architecture of the Italian Andrea Palladio was re-popularized and a new Palladism spread
throughout Europe and America. General characteristics of Neoclassical architecture include:
Reappearance for an appreciation for classical restraint, and a return to the Classical Orders of
Greek and Roman Antiquity.
Buildings were designed to be either purely Greek, purely Roman, or a Greco-Roman hybrid.
Though Neoclassical architecture employed the same classical vocabulary as Late Baroque
architecture, it tended to emphasize its planar qualities, rather than sculptural volumes. Projections
and recessions and their effects of light and shade were more flat; sculptural bas-reliefs were flatter
and tended to be framed in friezes, tablets, or panels.
Concurrent with Neoclassical architecture was Gothic Revival (Neo-Gothic), a British-born
movement, given the affinity for medieval nostalgia and the wild, fanciful nature of the Gothic style
(as opposed to the restraint and order of classicism). Other, less popular, styles also accompanied
Neoclassicism, such as Neo-Byzantine, Neo-Romanesque, as well as Neo-Baroque.
Neoclassicism and the Gothic Revival flourished across Western Europe, but especially the United
States because it lent public buildings an aura of tradition and permanence.
During the Neoclassical era, government and commercial buildings became the leading forms of
monumental architecture.
Neoclassicism also influenced urban planning. At its most basic, the grid system of streets, a central
forum with city services, two main slightly wider boulevards, and the occasional diagonal street
were characteristic of the very logical and orderly Roman design. Ancient façades and building
layouts were oriented to these city design patterns and they tended to work in proportion with the
importance of public buildings.
This period also featured significant influence from non-Western art and architecture. Elements
were borrowed from such exotic traditions as Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and Egyptian.
Neoclassical buildings can be generally divided into three main types:
1. A temple-style building features a design based on an ancient temple.
2. A Palladian building is based on Palladio's style of villa construction.
3. A classical block building features a vast rectangular (or square) plan, with a flat (or low-lying)
roof and an exterior rich in classical detail. The exterior is divided into multiple levels, each of
which features a repeated classical pattern, often a series of arches and/or columns.

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Fig. 5.1.3 (Top-left) La Madeleine in Paris; (Bottom-left) The Palais Garnier in Paris; (Right) The
Monticello in Charlottesville, VA., USA.

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Module 5.2 French Neoclassicism
Introduction

Neoclassicism was born in Italy, although it became especially active in France largely because of the
presence of French designers trained at the French Academy in Rome. The first phase of neoclassicism in
France is expressed in the Louis Quinze style of architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel (Petit Trianon, 1762
68); the second phase, in the styles, called Directoire and "Empire", might be characterized by Jean
Chalgrin's severe astylar Arc de Triomphe (designed in 1806).

Louis Quinze (Louis XVI Style)

This was the aesthetic idiom during the reign of Louis XVI, marking to some the tail end of the flourishes
of the Baroque style and the burgeoning of the formality of Neoclassic styles, this was inspired in part by
the discoveries of ancient Roman paintings, sculpture, and architecture in Herculaneum and Pompeii. The
style was a reaction against the elaborate ornament of the preceding Baroque period. Its features included
the straight column, the simplicity of the post-and-lintel, and the architrave of the Greek temple. It also
expressed values of returning to nature and the view of nature as an idealized and wild but still orderly and
inherently worthy model for the arts to follow. The best example of the style, by far, is the Petit Trianon.

Petit Trianon
His best-known structure, the Petit Trianon designed for Mme de Pompadour by Ange-Jacques
Gabriel, is also considered among the most perfect buildings in France. The deceptively modest
structure exemplifies Neoclassical taste, for it is severe in its cubic geometry, restrained in
articulation, and barren of the accents of relief sculpture typical of seventeenth-century French
design. Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon and its estate as a gift to his young bride, Marie-
Antoinette, who rapidly made it her own and set about redecorating the exteriors.
During the French Revolution, the Petit Trianon became a hostel, while the gardens narrowly
escaped being divided into separate allotments. Napoleon restored the palace and gardens to their
former glory, first for his sister Pauline and later for Empress Marie-Louise, his second wife. In
1867 Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III converted the Petit Trianon into a museum dedicated
to the memory of Marie-Antoinette.

Fig. 5.21 The Petit Trianon palace, commissioned by Louis XV and brought to life by Marie Antoinette, is
a consummate exercise in balance and restraint.

Louis XVI Interiors

The style generally carried the same intimacy, functionality, and comfort as Rococo interiors, minus the
curvy lines. Classical motifs and shapes were revisited, as made popular by the studies and engravings by
Piranesi. Other features include:
Wall panelings had low dados and were either painted, in plaster, or covered with rich fabrics,
mirrors, or paintings. They were also symmetrically arranged.
Door panels and windows have rectangular or elliptical panels over them, symmetrically arranged
with more austere decorations.
Ceilings were flat or decorated with simple motifs with a large chandelier in the middle. High
ceilings had a crowing entablature, while low ceilings had a simple cornice or cove.
Fireplaces were common and had low marble mantles with rectangular mirrors over them.

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Aristocratic homes were fond of crimson, yellows, damasks, lampas, and satins. Pale colors were
still popular.
Hall floors were of marble while other rooms bore parquetry with oriental rugs.
Furniture was influenced by architecture, being symmetrical, with light proportions and
ornaments. Straight and geometric proportions dominated replacing the curves of the Louis XV
style. Mahogany and ebony were the most popular.
Ornamental motifs commonly used included garlands, festoons, swags, and wreaths. Arabesques
and Rinceaux, honey suckles, frets, guilloches, cherubs and cupids with bows and quivers.
Accessories were equally important and rose to popularity during the 18th century.

Fig. 5.2.2 Model of a Louis XVI style boudoir, c. 1780, mixed-media model by the workshop of Mrs. James
Ward Thorne, c. 1930 40; in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Directoire Style
The Directoire describes as a transitional period in the arts, especially furniture design, concurrent with the
post-Revolution French Directory (November 2, 1795 November 10, 1799) between Louis XVI and the
French Empire. The style uses Neoclassical architectural forms, minimal carving, planar expanses of highly
grained veneers, and applied decorative painting.

The Pantheon in Paris (The Church of Saint-Genevieve)

Designed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot at the behest of King Louis XV of France, the building
was to be a church dedicated to Sainte Genevieve before being converted into a mausoleum after
the French revolution for the remains of distinguished French citizens by Quatremère de Quincy.
The Pantheon's most famous feature, its 272-foot high dome - based on the dome above St Paul's
Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren (1632-1723) - towers above the Greek-cross floor-plan
(360 feet long by 279 feet wide), while its strict neoclassical design is exemplified by the Corinthian
temple-front (based on the Pantheon in Rome).

Fig. 5.2.3 The Pantheon is one of the most impressive monuments in Paris and serves as the final resting

Directoire Interiors
The most important characteristic of Directoire interiors is its simplicity, as evident in its following features:

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Paneling bore minimal carving although painted decoration and wallpaper were still popular.
Colors were gaudy compared to earlier periods with stronger hues and contrasts. Monochromes
were used in many decorations or those from the new French Republic flag.
Furniture borrowed from ancient Greece.
Apart from Toile de Jouy, broad stripes, damasks, silks, and brocades were still being used.
Windows were draped with elaborate valances surmounted my military ornaments of spears and
lances.
Military motifs became popular, such as spears, drums, trumpets, and stars. As well as Pompeiian
and Egyptian motifs, and those that symbolize the growing power of the agricultural class, like
wheat, plow, flail, and scythe.

Fig. 5.2.4 Interiors of Emperor's salon in the Château de Malmaison.

Empire Style
The style is an early 19th-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the
visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. The style originated in and takes its name from
the rule of Emperor Napoleon I in the First French Empire when it was intended to idealize Napoleon's
leadership and the French state. The previous fashionable style in France had been the Directoire style, a
more austere and minimalist form of Neoclassicism, that replaced the Louis XVI style. The Empire style
brought a full return to ostentatious richness. The style corresponds somewhat to the Biedermeier style
in the German-speaking lands, the Federal style in the United States, and the Regency style in Britain.
Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, Paris
The Arc de Triomphe was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, commissioned after the victory at
Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes. Inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome,
its iconographic program pits heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in
chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments with triumphant patriotic messages.

Fig. 5.2.5 The Arc de Triomphe was begun in 1806, on the orders of Napoleon I to honor the victories of
his Grande Armée. Inspired by the great arches of antiquity, this iconic monument bears the names of
battles and generals from the Revolution and the First Empire.

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La Madeleine
The Église Sainte-Marie Madeleine in Paris (Church of St. Mary Magdalene) by Pierre-
Alexandre Vignon, although the building is a church, it more closely resembles a classical temple,
combining elements from ancient Greece (origin of democracy and Western philosophy) and Rome

army.

Fig. 5.2.6 o 'the glory of the Grande

Armée'. After the fall of Napoleon, Louis 18th decreed that the building should be used as a church,
dedicated to Mary Magdalene. The building was consecrated as a Catholic church in 1842.

The Vendôme Column

The Vendôme Column wa
, to celebrate the victory of Austerlitz.
was sculpted from marble, the veneer of the Vendôme Column consists of 425 spiraling bas-relief
bronze plates made from cannons taken from the combined armies of Europe, according to his
propaganda. A statue of Napoleon, bare-headed, crowned with laurels, and holding a sword in his
right hand and a globe surmounted with a statue of Victory in his left hand, was placed atop the
column.

Fig. 5.2.7 The column was designed by Lepère and Gondoin and received many different names first the

supervised the melting down of the 1200 artillery pieces taken from the Russians and Austrians.
Empire Interiors
The Empire style was geared to maintain dignity and masculinity and to avoid frivolity and gaiety. The
Empire style is best seen in furniture: austere and heavy. Due to economic constraints, furniture was made
cheaply with lower quality materials and less ornamentation. Empire interiors, on the other hand, strove to
keep its appearance with its strong and bold features, such as:
Rooms were large and square, some with semicircular ends, with plain painted walls with a soft
glossy finish, or covered in wallpaper or stretched fabric held with nailheads or tassels, representing

Cornices were gilded.

Ceilings were flat and some had stars and a central rosette. Some ceilings were also lined in fabric.

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Columns and pilasters were used over doors and windows and mantles. Windows were dressed
elaborately with tassels and fringes, jabots, and swags.
Floors were either parquet or black and white marble or left unfinished to look antiqued, and
covered by Aubusson or oriental rugs.
Colors were strong such as greens, magentas, golds, browns, and blues.
Accessories were always classical or Egyptian in character. Sphinxes, lions, disks, cobras, obelisks,
and hieroglyphics were popular motifs and decorations.

Fig. 5.2.8 The Four Seasons Drawing room in the Hôtel de Beauharnais. Presently the site of the German
Embassy in Paris remains to this day one of the most beautiful testimonies of Empire furniture and
ornamentation thanks to its extraordinary interior decoration.

Biedermeier Style
The Biedermeier period refers to an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848, during which the
middle class grew in number, and arts appealed to common sensibilities. The name Biedermeier was
derogatory because it was based on the cari -class
comfort. Such comfort emphasized family life and private activities and the pursuit of hobbies.

Fig. 5.2.9 The Biedermeier style was a simplified interpretation of the influential French Empire Style of
Napoleon I, which introduced the romance of ancient Roman Empire styles, adapting these to modern early
19th-century households.
Biedermeier architectural design is characterized by clean simplicity and elegance. Its combination of
simplicity and functionality had an important influence on later design movements such as Art Nouveau,
as well as the influential Bauhaus Design School, the melting pot of 20th-century architecture. The term is
now used to refer to an influential German style of furniture design that evolved during the years 1815
1848. An outgrowth of the French Empire style combined with German peasant furniture, it became
the forerunner of the development of modern furniture. Biedermeier furniture was remarkably simple,
sophisticated, and functional. Its construction utilized the ideal of truth through the material. They were
executed in light, native woods and avoided the use of metal ornamentation. Surfaces were modulated with
natural grains, knotholes, or ebonized accents for contrast; though modest, inlay was occasionally used. An
identifying feature of Biedermeier furniture is its extremely restrained geometric appearance.

Second Empire Style

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Also called the Napoleon III style or Second Empire Baroque, the style was dominant during the second
half of the 19th century, developing from schemes drawn from the periods of the Italian Renaissance, Louis
XIV, and Napoleon I and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as iron frameworks and glass
skylights. The architectural style was closely connected with Georges-Eugene Haussmann's renovation
of Paris carried out during the Second Empire; the new buildings, such as the opera, were intended as the
focal points of the new boulevards.
The Palais Garnier
An architectural competition was launched in December 1860 for the design of the New Paris
Opera at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III. In May 1861, after triumphing over 171 other
proposals, Charles Garnier was named the winner. The building dazzled by the high quality of its
materials (marble of every hue, mosaics, gold) the wealth of its decor, and the profusion of paintings
and statues. The architectural plan placed great emphasis on the public areas, particularly the Grand
Foyer, the Pavilions, the Rotonde du Glacier, the Grand Vestibule and the legendary Grand
Staircase.

Napoleon III Interiors

True Second Empire interiors are those created for Napoleon III in the Louvre and Tuileries. Like the first
empire of Napoleon I, they are opulent, showy, and in keeping with the majestic Second Empire
image. These rooms usually mix old and new furniture in Louis XIV, XV, and XVI styles as a visible tie
to earlier French monarchs. Like the first empire, their grandeur often makes them cold and uninviting
despite expensive materials, splendid decoration, and rich colors. Other characteristics include:
Second Empire interiors have paneled dadoes or paneled walls. Walls may be painted or
wallpapered in Renaissance or Neoclassical patterns. Panel moldings are gilded or painted a
contrasting color to the centers.
Floors are marble or tiles in Second Empire public buildings and wood or parquet with rugs in
residences. Both use wall-to-wall carpets in important rooms. Second Empire carpets have bold
classical and other motifs in rich colors. They often feature black, which intensifies colors, and
realistically shaded flowers and foliage.
Mantels, which are focal points, are usually of white or black marble and often have curving shapes
similar to those of the 18th century. However, the most common mantel form, rectangular with a
shaped shelf and round-arched opening, has no earlier precedent.
Windows in Second Empire rooms have prominent surrounds and opulent layered, trimmed, and
tasseled drapery. From richly molded and gilded cornices hang trimmed valances, curtains, and
glass (lace) curtains.
Doorway surrounds in both Second Empire and Rococo Revival rooms are impressive
combinations of moldings with doors in dark stained or grained woods. Double doors indicate
important rooms.
Chandeliers and candelabra in Second Empire rooms are large to suit the scale of the space and
may be of polished metal or cut glass with hundreds of crystals. Candelabra sit in front of mirrors
to reflect and intensify the light. Candles, oil lamps, gas lamps, sconces, and chandeliers have C
and S scrolls, curving outlines, and naturalistic ornament. They are among the most elaborate of all
styles.
Ceilings may be plain, painted, or compartmentalized in Second Empire public buildings and
wealthy homes.

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Fig. 5.2.10 The Napoleon III Apartments in the Louvre can be summed up in one word: abundance. There
is an abundance of inspiration, a profusion of materials, and a richness of decoration made up of a generous
mix of 17th and 18th-century styles.

French Provincial
French Provincial is the style of the landed gentry, the middle class, the wealthier peasants, as well as
the noblemen whose country chateaus and manors did not fit the more opulent styles in fashion at that
time. French Provincial filled the needs of the rural craftsmen, who did not have the tools nor the
sophisticated skills but had the same degree of pride in their work, resulting in equally fine-quality and
timeless works.
French Provincial styles are often a combination of styles, from Louis XV being the strongest influence due
to it being lighter and smaller, to the rarer Empire styles. French Provincial homes were often stone
farmhouses with an oak or hardwood frame, a centered chimney, and a steeply pitched slate or straw roof.
Three-panel casement windows with shutters were common, with a barn under the house.

Fig. 5.2.11 A modern interpretation of French provincial design.

Houses initially had only one room, but eventually grew in size although the kitchen with the hearth still
served as the center of the house. Rooms were completely paneled but frequently only one wall was treated
while the rest were either painted or stenciled to imitate wallpaper. There were no storage areas, hence the
armoire became the most important piece of furniture. The furniture was arranged around the walls and
some beds were built within walls with doors to keep warmth in.

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Module 5.3 English Neoclassicism
Introduction
In Britain, the Neoclassical style was employed in the design of a wide variety of public buildings, like Sir
Robert Smirke British Museum, while British Royalty commissioned one of Britain's greatest
architects, John Nash, to redesign entire city blocks and parks, and designed Buckingham Palace.
Aristocratic landowners embraced the style, refurbishing their country mansions with new porticos and
columns.

Palladianism
The Baroque style was never popular with the English and was considered excessively flamboyant,
Catholic, and 'florid'. It was quickly superseded when, in the first quarter of the 1700s, four books were
published in Britain which highlighted the simplicity and purity of classical architecture. These were:
1. The Vitruvius Britannicus, published by Colen Campbell.
2. Palladio's I quattro libri dell'architettura, translated by Giacomo Leoni.
3. Leone Battista Alberti's De re aedificatoria, translated by Giacomo Leoni.
4. The Designs of Inigo Jones... with Some Additional Designs, published by William Kent and John
Vardy.

The Vitruvius Britannicus, a book of design containing architectural prints of British buildings inspired by
the great architects from Vitruvius to Pa
England.
through Palladio. ost of
his projects were direct copies of the master, earning him criticisms for lack of originality.

Chiswick House
Chiswick was Richard Boyle, Lord of Burlington, and William Kent Although
wick is a product of a synthesis of studies and
classical details, such as using temple fronts, vermiculation of walls, and using Diocletian windows,
making it an original Palladian interpretation.
n the naturalization of garden design, where
gardens are designed with irregular terrains punctuated by tastefully situated temples and statues,
similar to the ancient world.

Fig. 5.3.1 Influenced by their travels on the Grand Tour, both Boyle and Kent rejected the showy, Baroque
style, fashionable in England, in favor of a simpler, symmetrical design based on classical architecture of
Italy. They championed the work of the Venetian architect, Andrea Palladio, and Chiswick House was one
of the earliest English examples of what is called -

Early Georgian Styles

Georgian architecture is the name of the architectural styles during the reign of the four British monarchs
of the House of Hanover George I, George II, George III, and George IV who reigned in continuous
succession from August 1714 to June 1830. Following Palladian principles, Georgian architecture is
characterized by its proportion and balance; simple mathematical ratios were used to determine the height
of a window in relation to its width or the shape of a room as a double cube. The regularity of house fronts
along a street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning. Georgian designs usually lay within the

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Classical orders of architecture and employed a decorative vocabulary derived from ancient Rome or
Greece.

Fig. 5.3.2 Senate House, Cambridge, UK.

Early Georgian Interiors

Following Palladian styles, houses had rectangular plans, with large, proportioned rooms and an imposing
hall in the center. Most rooms were not arranged for function, but for effect. Kitchens were located in the
-existent, so chamber pots
or outhouses were used. Interiors had key features, such as:
The dominant feature of the room was the fireplace with wood or marble mantels, accented by a
painting or sculpture on the overmantel.
Walls had rectangular panels separated by pilasters and were painted in white or cream, and
accented with gilding. Some had wallcoverings above the dado. Blue and Red Rooms were popular.
Ceilings had a cornice with plaster ornamentations, later on adapting Rococo motifs.
Doors and windows were framed with pilasters and surmounted by pediments. Window dressing
was composed of heavy drapery held back by tasseled cords.
Fabrics bore a wider selection of prints due to the perfection of block printing. Cotton and Chintz
were popular.
Floors were of polished wood, covered in imported carpets. Wilton carpets were now available.
Accessories were important, especially silver, pottery, porcelain, Delftware, and glass.
Furniture resembled the Rococo styles of Louis XV, as well as bore influences from Palladio, and
William Kent, who was also a furniture maker.

Fig. 5.3.3 Peckover House in Cambridgeshire, UK.

Middle Georgian Styles

The Middle Georgian or the Chippendale period is the first design period to become known by the name
of a furniture designer, Thomas Chippendale, whose work dominated the period after publishing his book,
rchitecture was a continuation of Early Georgian
styles incorporating classical principles. Most of the changes happened in the interiors, especially with
Gothic Revival.

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Middle Georgian Interiors
Palladian, Rococo, Gothic, and Oriental motifs were popular and many interiors combined elements of
them, such as:
Rococo motifs in plaster and stucco dominated walls and ceilings rather than paneling. Wallpaper
in chinoiserie was popular for bedrooms.
Gothic influences came in the form of simulated vaults and ribs.
Floors were covered with Axminster and Kidderminster carpets, in addition to Wiltons.
Popular accessories include Sheffield silverware; Delftware, Wedgewood creamware, and glass.
Furniture that dominated were of Chippendale designs, which were influenced by Early Georgian
styles, as well as Louis XV and Oriental motifs.

Fig. 5.3.4 Tapestry Room, Newby Hall.

Late Georgian Styles

The Late Georgian marked a period of great political and cultural change in England, effects brought about
by the American and French Revolutions, as well as the manufacturing innovations of the Industrial
Revolution. Palladian architecture began to fall out of fashion, and a Classical Revival, led by architect
Robert Adam and based on his careful studies of ancient Roman ruins, became the new norm in English
architecture.

Often commissioned to remodel existing buildings, Adam developed a new style of architectural decoration,
one which was more archaeologically accurate than past Neoclassical styles, but nonetheless innovative
and not bound only by ancient p The Adam Style

mathematical proportions previously found in Georgian rooms, and introduced curved walls and domes,
decorated with elaborate plasterwork using Roman classical motifs, pilasters, and striking mixed color
schemes using newly affordable paints in pea green, sky blue, lemon, lilac, bright pink, and red-brown
terracotta. Architecture began to feature archetypal Corinthian facades with columns and pilasters, Ionic
porticos, roof balustrades, as well as classical moldings.

Fig. 5.3.5 The Anteroom, Syon House

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Late Georgian Interiors

Interiors were splendid and dignified, often sacrificing comfort and convenience. The main hall and
reception rooms were moved to the front. Bedrooms were on upper floors, kitchens were never fully
considered, and bathrooms were outside. Other characteristics featured:
Circular, octagonal, and square rooms were common, with furniture related to the overall design.
Ceilings bore classical motifs, often with a centerpiece with details picked out with gilding.
Walls were in pale pastels with low relief stucco ornaments, sometimes bearing French or
chinoiserie wallpaper.
Fireplaces, doors, and windows were framed in classical moldings.
Polished wood floors were typical except in the entrance hall where tile, flagstones, marble, or
scagliola (imitation marble using stucco) were used. Linoleum was first used on floors in this
period.
Wedgewood Jasperware became very popular.
Late Georgian furniture was very architectural. They were more graceful, and smaller than
Chippendale pieces and were generally of three styles: Adam, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton.

Regency Styles
The Regency was a period at the end of the Georgian era when King George III was deemed unfit to rule
due to his illness, and his son ruled as prince regent until his death in 1820. The prince regent then was
crowned King George IV. The period coincides with the Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands,
the Federal style in the United States, and the French Empire style.

Fig. 5.3.6 The curved, crescent row houses of Park Crescent, London
Regency architecture refers to classical buildings when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to earlier
and later buildings following the same style. John Nash was the architect most associated with the Regency
style; he was fully in tune with the commercial requirements of developers and designed the Regency
terraces of Regent's Park and Regent Street in London. Regency homes often have a white-painted stucco
facade and an entryway to the main front door (usually colored black) which is framed by two columns.
Row houses (townhomes), terraced or in crescents were especially popular. Elegant wrought-iron balconies
and bow windows came into fashion as part of this style. Regency houses are also marked by an increase
in the use of a range of eclectic "revival" styles, from Gothic through Greek to Indian, as alternatives to
the main neoclassical stream.
Greek Revival
Publications of many archeological surveys of Greek buildings, as well as products of architects
after their Grand Tours led to the belief of the supremacy of Greek design.
The Greek Revival served more as a superficial, piece-meal application of Grecian design to
facades of housing, but more so onto public buildings to offer it a sense of monumentality, at the

ances. The best example is the British Museum by Sir Robert

Smirke and the National Gallery by William Wilkins.

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Fig. 5.3.7 The British Museum has a permanent collection of some eight million works is among the largest
and most comprehensive in existence, having been widely collected during the era of the British Empire. It
was the first public national museum in the world.
Picturesque Style
Picturesque is the artistic concept and style characterized by a preoccupation with the pictorial
values of architecture and landscape in combination with each other. Originally the term was used
to describe buildings and landscapes that resemble the compositions of painters like Lorrain and
Poussin.
In England, the picturesque was a transition from the Greek to the Gothic Revival styles and
was defined as the aesthetic quality between the sublime (i.e., awe-inspiring) and the beautiful (i.e.,
serene), and one marked by pleasing variety, irregularity, asymmetry, and interesting textures, such
as medieval ruins amidst a natural landscape.

Regency Interior Design

Regency interior design is typified by elegant furniture and vertically striped wallpaper. The general layout
is meant to be light, and informal.
Front bay and bow windows extend the space and focus light into one end of the room. Doors and
windows are framed in simple molding, with the windows dressed in delicate fabric and tied back.
Striped and flocked wallpaper often match the fabrics used.
Fireplaces were less important and were framed in white or black marble. Often convex mirrors
were placed over them.
Floors were polished wood and covered with rugs bearing a floral centerpiece and outer border.
Ceilings were plain with some low relief plaster ornaments, often having a centerpiece with a
chandelier.
Popular furniture makers were Thomas Hope English Empire Style
as well as George Smith, who were both influenced by French Empire styles. Regency furniture
is often defined based on either being Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, or Gothic-inspired.

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Fig. 5.3.8 The Goodwood House.

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Module 5.4 American Neoclassicism

Introduction
The architecture used by the first settlers in North America is traditionally known as Colonial architecture.
This early architecture was as diverse as the settlers themselves, who included Spanish, English, Scots-
Irish, Dutch, German, French and Swedish. Each group of immigrants brought with them the style and
building practices of their mother country, adapting them to the conditions of their new homeland. During
the 18th century, up until the American Revolution, the basic architectural style used in the English colonies
in America was labeled Georgian, after the Hanover Kings of England.

American Georgian Style

American Georgian architecture encompassed three distinct styles:
1. The Baroque idiom of Sir Christopher Wren and his followers.
2. The Palladian style introduced the balanced and symmetrical features for which Georgian designs
are famous.
3. The Neoclassical style - a reversion to Greek and Roman architectural principles - came into
fashion in the second half of the 18th century.
There were two basic variants of American Neoclassical Architecture between 1776 and 1850: (1)
the Federal Style, and (2) the Greek Revival style. Both were modeled on the architectural
principles invented and perfected by ancient Greek and Roman civilization, which were deemed to
be the most appropriate models for the fledgling democracy of the United States. (see discussion
below)

Fig. 5.4.1 The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States
and has been the residence of every US president since John Adams in 1800.
The most famous Georgian building in the United States must be The White House at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue, Washington DC. A Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, it was designed by the Irish-American
architect James Hoban who modeled it on Leinster House in Dublin, and a design from the Book of
Architecture (1728) by James Gibbs.

American Georgian Interiors

Interior plans were based on combined Palladian and Louis XV styles: square with an imposing central hall
that stretched the depth of the house; rooms all opened to the hall; and a grand staircase. Other features
include:
Walls are either painted, stenciled, papered, or paneled.
Ceilings were plastered with stucco ornaments.
Floors were of wide boards, stenciled to imitate parquet, marble, or even rugs. Later on, English
rugs were imported.
Classical architectural moldings framed doors, windows, and fireplaces. Fireplaces were smaller
and without mantels until later styles incorporated English styles.
Windows were dressed with shutters since fabrics were too expensive.
Accessories were made of tin, wood, and pewter.
Furniture styles had little French influence but instead were all filtered English interpretations.
American Georgian furniture however was far simpler and less ornamented.

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Fig. 5.4.2 Room from the Powel House, Philadelphia1765 66, remodeled 1769 71.

Federal Style
The term 'Federal-style architecture' describes a loose classicist style that flourished up to 1815
characterized by the addition of Greek and Byzantine elements to the symmetrical Georgian style. The
Federal style differed from Georgian architecture in its preference for fewer pilasters/columns, and plainer
surfaces with less detail usually set within panels, tablets, and friezes. Other characteristics included bright
interiors with large windows and a decorative but restrained appearance. The bald eagle was a common
symbol used in this style, with the ellipse a frequent architectural motif. The style broadly corresponds to
the classicism of the Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Regency architecture in Britain, and
to the French Empire style. Examples of Federal architecture in America include The Massachusetts State
House (1798), the Old Town Hall (c.1816-17), and Hamilton Hall (1805), both in Salem, Massachusetts.

Fig. 5.4.3 Drawing room of the Craig House in Baltimore, Maryland.

Federal Interiors
Interior plans were symmetrical: a central hallway with a stairway with many specialized rooms
leading off the hall.
Walls bore dados with wallpaper, or plaster and were painted in bright colors. Pilasters were
common, as well as classical moldings, especially cornices.
Ceilings were high and painted white or in pastels with classical motifs around the central
chandelier.
Floors were either on wide boards or parquet, covered with rugs in geometric patterns.
Doors, windows, and fireplaces were all framed in classical motifs, flanked by pilasters. Fireplaces
were beautifully designed in marble with wooden mantels.

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Cotton and other printed textiles were now locally available, as well as locally manufactured rugs
and carpets.
Convex mirrors were the most popular accessory, surmounted by a gilt frame topped by an eagle,
fueled by the overall patriotism during the era. Imported items from Europe and Asia were also
now more common.
Federal furniture was dominated by earlier designs by Sheraton, Hepplewhite, as well as Duncan
Phyfe. Later designs bore more French Empire influences. Inlay was the most sophisticated, and
most popular feature of Federal furniture.

Greek Revival Style

Despite the unbounded prestige of ancient Greece, there was minimal direct knowledge of that civilization
before the middle of the 18th century. Grand touring Europeans found Greece too inconvenient and
dangerous to travel to, not until the Kingdom of Greece gained independence from the Ottomans. In
America, the appeal of ancient Greece as well as its architecture rose in the 19th century along with the
growing acceptance of democracy. The widespread use of neoclassicism in American, as well as French
architecture, contributed to an association between Neoclassicism and republicanism, which flourished
until the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fig. 5.4.4 Madewood Plantation, the classic Greek Revival house in Napoleonville, Louisiana, has a gable
front, two-story columns, and a raked cornice.
Revivalist Greek architecture involved closer adherence to the values and stylistic models of Greek
art. Structures became deeper than wide, with low, triangular, gabled, pedimented porticos supported by
classical columns. The Doric order was the most popular since it was the simplest to fabricate. Greek
Revival houses were often 2-3 stories high, with tall first-story windows that reach the floor and allowed
access to the porch.

The Monticello House

Built by the Thomas Jefferson, who also became the
Filtered through Jefferson's interpretation of English country homes,
Monticello is based on the central-plan buildings of Andrea Palladio, particularly, Villa Rotunda.

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Fig. 5.4.5 Jefferson designed the main house using neoclassical design principles described by Andrea
Palladio and reworking the design through much of his presidency to include design elements popular in
late 18th-century Europe and integrating numerous ideas of his own.

The United States Capitol

The home of the US Congress - the US Senate and House of Representatives - was designed by
William Thornton, Charles Bulfinch, and Benjamin Latrobe, a leading exponent of the Greek
revival style of Neoclassical architecture.

Fig. 5.4.6 The US Capitol Building.

Late 19th-century Neoclassical architecture was an expression of the American Renaissance movement: its
final phase was Beaux-Arts architecture. Greek Revival interior styles are best appreciated in furniture
with new designs taking inspiration from French Empire pieces, such as sideboards and sleigh beds. Pieces
such as ottomans and the lazy susan also first appeared.

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Module 5.5 Sublime Architecture

Introduction
In aesthetics, the sublime is the quality of greatness, in all its aspects, beyond all possibilities of calculation,
measurement, or imitation. Its eventual application to architecture is inextricably linked to the Grand Tour,
with Europeans experiencing the wonders of the ancient world for the first time.
The philosopher Edmund Burke further articulated the Sublime and defined it in contrast to Beauty, for
while beauty is that which is ordered, structured, and aesthetically pleasing; the Sublime is the deeply-felt
sensation of terror and fear, induced by an overwhelming aesthetic experience be it by nature or also by
architecture. Architectural applications of the sublime have led to visionary concepts, most notably by
French architect, Etienne-Louis Boullée.

Fig. 5.5.1 One of the most representative examples of such projects is the o
with which Boullée imagines a huge sphere with a diameter of 150 meters representing the immensity of
the universe.

Boullée's work was characterized by the removal of all unnecessary ornamentation, inflating geometric
forms to a huge scale, and repeating elements such as columns in huge ranges. For Boullée regularity,
symmetry and variety were the golden rules of architecture. His megalomaniacal cenotaph for Sir Isaac
Newton consisted of a 150m-wide sphere resting on a round base, ringed with Cypress trees, reflecting

Architecture parlante
building that in some way obviously or overtly states its purpose. It was first used to refer to architecture
created around the time of the French Revolution, especially by architects like the prolific and visionary
architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux. lude The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-
Senans, the Rotonde de la Villette, and the unbuilt plans for the utopian city of Chaux.

Fig. 5.5.2 (Left) Ledoux's Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans and (right) the Rotonde de la Villette.

English architect Sir John Soane is known for his exemplary use of natural light in architecture and
interiors, as seen with his work on the Bank of England

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Fig. 5.5.3 Design for the Three per Cent Consols Office, Bank of England, 1799 (Sir John Soane) RIBA
Collections

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