Beginnings of modernity –Origin and development of

Neo Classicism
Structural Neo classicists: Laugier, Soufflot, Schinkel,
Labrouste
Romantic Neo classicists: Ledoux, Boulle, Durand,
Jefferson

INTRODUCTION

NEO CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE

BVP College of Architecture, DEC 16

By Ar.Padma.S
History of Architecture III-UNIT 1
ORIGIN
• Neoclassical architecture began in mid
18th century
• Details as a reaction against the
Rococo style of naturalistic ornament
• Picturesque, recreation of a distant lost
world
•Desire to return to the arts of Rome
ROCOCO
The word
'Rococo'
stems from
the French
word rocaille
meaning
'decorative
rock' or 'shell
work'.
NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
 Symmetrical shape
 Tall columns that rise
the full height of the
building
 Triangular pediment

 Domed roof

 Sometimes
considered anti-
modern or even
reactionary
 Style derived from Classical Greece, Rome (Andrea
Palladio)
 Emphasizes wall

 Maintains separate identities to each or its parts

NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE

 reuse Classical parts

 grandeur of scale, simplicity of geometric forms

 Greek—especially Doric or Roman detail

 dramatic use of columns, and a preference for blank

walls
 thrived in the United States and Europe

 Russia’s Catherine II transformed St. Petersburg into

an unparalleled collection of Neoclassical buildings
Classical Greek orders

Classical Greek Pediment

Saint-Petersburg
Palladian revival: Stourhead House,
designed by Colen Campbell and Altes Museum, built by Karl
completed in 1720. The design is based Friedrich Schinkel in Berlin.
on Palladio's Villa Emo

Woburn Abbey, an excellent example of English

Palladianism, designed by Burlington's student
Henry Flitcroft in 1746
NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE

 Classical revival of European art came to be known

as Neoclassicism.
 The movement was inspired by the discovery of
ancient Italian artifacts at the ruins of Herculaneum
and Pompeii.
 Neoclassicism spread through western Europe
effecting France and England the most.
Pompeii - eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the town in AD 79
 Public park
Form of
rotunda
rising from a
square base
Fronted by
Doric facade
No
ornament

Claude Nicolas Ledoux , Barriere de la Villette

 23m
Oblisk of
Luxor gift
of
Egyptian
viceroy

Place-De-La-Concorde-France
Corinthian pavilions
Home to French Naval Ministy and Hotel Crillon
NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
 Classical in inspiration
 Massing

 Clear Hierarchy of parts

on exterior and plan
 Sober and restrained-
Response to Rococo and
Baroque.
 Crisply cut door and
windows
 Influence of Palladio
NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE

 Richard Boyle (1694-1753), 3rd Earl of Burlington

was influence by Andrea Palladio.
 He designed the facade of a house for General
Wade in central London.
 Architect Etienne-Louis Boullee had the most
impact
 Examples are National Library and a Monument to
Newton-1784
Andrea Palladio - Church of the Redentore
Royal Scottish academy Edinburgh by William
Henry playfair
Greek Doric style portico

Putteney bridge bath by Robert

Adam
GREEK REVIVAL

 Writings on the art of Classical Greece by

Johann Winckelmann and on the roots of
Western architecture by Abbe Laugier
persuaded many that Greece provided the
best examples of ideal beauty
 Greek themes became increasingly dominant
in the arts and Greek style buildings with
porticos , colonnades and tympanums.
 long sequence of columns joined by
their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a
building.

Colonnade St. Peters square

PARTHENON ATHENS-18TH CENTURY

 Athenian architecture was the Parthenon which

influenced many Neo-classical buildings.
St. Petersburg, Edinburgh New
Town, Helsinki-these were all
creations of the Neo-Classical era
•Domes
•Pediments
•Colonnades
•Precise proportions of its
buildings

•By 19th century Neo-Classical

buildings began to display local
characteristics.
•Example St Petersburg
•Caledonia Road Free church by
Alexander Thomson
Caledonia Road Free church-Glasgow
  Recreated larger than life in
heart of Paris for Napoleon
Bonaparte.
 Eventually as a church

La Madeleine, Paris
british-museum-panorama- Styled like an Ionic temple
The building is topped with a flat roof, the pediment therefore
being false(decorative)
its pinnacle creating a vertical axis that bisects the main
entrance way.
The projecting wings, like the scenic backdrop in an ancient
Greek theatre, channelling the eye of the viewer to the main
entrance.
 the Museum and the Reading
Room, were now connected
with a huge glazed canopy
spanning the two acres of the
courtyard.
pediment sculptures, designed by Richard Westmacott
and given the grandiose name, The Rise of Civilisation.

Here we see a female Britannia-like figure

representing Enlightenment, surrounded by other
allegorical figures standing for various artistic and
scientific disciplines.
Here early man emerges, crawling from rubble to
be handed the Lamp of Knowledge by the Angel of
Enlightenment, behind him is a dog-like animal
and behind that a crocodile.
ELEMENTS GREEK ARCHITECTURE
1. Tympanum : semi-circular or triangular decorative wall
surface over an entrance. It often contains sculpture or
other imagery or ornaments.

2. Acroterium : architectural ornament placed on a flat base

called the acroter, and mounted at the apex of the
pediment of a building in the Classical style.

3. Sima : upturned edge of a roof which acts as a gutter and

runs around all four sides of a building.

4. Cornice : horizontal decorative moulding that crowns any

building. The function of the projecting cornice is to throw
rainwater free of the building’s walls.

7. Frieze : is the wide central section part of an entablature

and may be decorated with bas-reliefs.

8. Triglyph : is an architectural term for the vertically

channelled tablets of the Doric frieze.

9. Metopes : The rectangular recessed spaces between the

triglyphs on a Doric frieze.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURE

EXAMPLES
• Acropolis & the Temple of Parthenon.

• Epidaurus Theatre.

• Stoa.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
21-02-2017
Using cast iron, concrete and glass
bookshelves were state-of-the-art, built of iron to carry the
weight of the books

42.6m in diameter,
 a blind frieze above (without sculptural decoration)

(dentils are the repeated blocks forming a pattern at the base of the cornice- south portico
started with the
east wing, built to
house the King’s
Library.

impressive
colonnaded
portico and two
acre courtyard

same number of
eight columns as
the Parthenon
itself.

 slender
columns and
scrolled capitals of
the ionic order,
 extensive use of concrete, laying it as a base
for the cast iron frame for the entire structure
 a frame filled with London stock brick and
covered in a facing of Portland stone,
the floor of the entrance hall—the Weston
Hall—being paved with York stone,
staircase balustrade and ornamental vases
carved from Huddlestone stone
sides of the Grand Staircase lined with red
Aberdeen granite.
Altes museum
Altes_museum_berlin-Colonade Neo classical in design
Berlin_Brandenburg_Gate
Structural Neo classicists

LAUGIER
ABBE MARC-ANTOINE LAUGIER 1713-1769
 Developed interest in architecture and began
discovering buildings on his own.
 Spoke publicly to the king and his consorts
regarding religious and political problems
 Wrote the Essai. Easy for people to read and
understand.
 Observations sur l’architecture-Venetian history
 devoted his time to examine existing architectural
theories making a list of mistakes including
columns, entablatures and facades
SOUFFLOT
SOUFFLOT
JACQUES GERMAIN SOUFFLOT- 1780

 French architect in the international circle

that introduced Neoclassicism.
 His most famous work is the Panthéon,
Paris, built from 1755 onwards
 originally as a church dedicated to Sainte
Genevieve
SOUFFLOT

 Marquis de Marigny gave him control of all royal

buildings in Paris
 Influenced by the brilliant lightness of Gothic
construction
 Design of Pantheon

 Adopted medieval techniques to achieve Neo-

Classical ends
SOUFFLOT

 Roman arched ceiling vaults

 slender supporting piers and freestanding
Corinthian columns.
 plan was essentially a Greek cross
 the facade an enormous temple front.
 The freestanding columns proved
inadequate to support the building’s dome,
which eventually had to be buttressed.
83m high dome
 In his architecture he tried to unite the lightness of
Gothic construction with the purity and order of
Greek forms.

strictness of
line

firmness of
form, simplicity
of contour,
SOUFFLOT

 Like St Paul’s London, it rises from a church with

narrow naves and aisles
 High walls give building massive appearance

 Greek cross plan and Neo-classical facade

 Corinthian temple front

 Inside covered by domes and barrel vaults

SCHINKEL
Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Elisabethkirche in Berlin
 Early Life
•He was a Prussian architect, city planner, and
painter who also designed furniture and stage
sets.
•prominent architects of Germany and designed
both neoclassical and neogothic buildings.
•Schinkel's style, is defined by a turn to Greek
rather than Imperial Roman architecture
• an attempt to turn away from the style that
was linked to the recent French occupiers.
 Imperial Roman architecture
Greek architecture

Roman architecture
 Early Life
•His most famous buildings include Neue Wache
(1816–1818), National Monument for the
Liberation Wars (1818–1821), the
Schauspielhaus (1819–1821), and the Altes
Museum (old museum)on Museum Island
(1823–1830).
• He also carried out improvements to the Crown
Prince's Palace.
•relatively few buildings that were actually
executed to his designs.
Neue Wache: 1816
neogothic buildings

Prussian National Monument for the Liberation

Wars (Berlin)
ALTES MUSEUM
 INTRODUCTION
•The Altes Museum (German for Old Museum) Island
in Berlin, Germany.
•it houses the (antique collection) of the Berlin State
Museums.
•built between 1823 and 1830 by the architect Karl
Friedrich Schinkel in the neoclassical style to house
the Prussian royal family's art collection.
•The design of the building follows the pattern of an
antique temple and reminds the Roman Pantheon.
•The Altes Museum is the eldest museum building in
Berlin.
PLAN
 Altes Museum EXTERIOR
• Statues along the portico
•takes the Greek Stoa in Athens as a
model
• Greek antiquity and classical
architecture.
• employs the Ionic order to articulate
the 87 m (285 ft.) face of the building
• the other three remaining facades are
of brick and stone banding.

• Eighteen Ionic columns grace the front

• The rectangular shaped building encloses
two generous courtyards
• centrally-located rotunda
• the portico leads through a bronze
portal to a double staircase ending
in an upper hall.
• The staircase and hall are
separated by a colonnade providing
a panorama of Berlin
•The exhibition rooms are grouped
around two inner courtyards
• center of the building is the skylit
rotunda
• a gallery supported by twenty
Corinthian columns.
• interior surface is adorned with
coffering (rectangular, sunken
panels).
• statue collection is displayed
between the rotunda's twenty
columns.
•From behind the entrance lobby rises a two-
winged, grand stairway
•Schinkel illustrated his idea of the purpose of the
building with decorative figures on the walls of the
stairway
• Originally the ceilings were built as vaults.
• After the destructions of Second World War the
ceilings were rebuilt as reinforced concrete
constructions.
•The walls are built by quite regular limestone in
the basement and brick for the upper storeys.
SECTION
LABROUSTE
PIERRE FRANÇOIS HENRI LABROUSTE (1801–
1875)
 was a French architect
 After a six year stay in Rome, he opened an
architectural training workshop
 use of iron frame construction
 Already in Italy, Labrouste showed a distinct interest in
complex building programs:, charterhouses,
slaughterhouses.
 The first competitions that he won, for a cantonal
asylum in Lausanne (1837) and a prison in Alessandria
(1840), brought him his first professional successes.
BIBLIOTHEQUE STE. GENEVIEVE

 One of the greatest cultural buildings of the

nineteenth century to use iron in a prominent,
visible way
 designed by Henri Labrouste and built in 1842-50.

 the lower floor- rare-book storage and office,

 central vestibule and stairway leading to the

reading room which fills the entire upper story.
BIBLIOTHEQUE SAINTE-GENEVIEVE
 a French National Library in Paris, France.
 built by architect Henri Labrouste in 1851, was built on the original
site of the College de Montaigu.
 The Library is built on a narrow piece of land 85 meters long and 21
meters wide on top of the Montagne Sainte-Genevieve.
 evolved into an encyclopedic library for scholars, students, and the
general public. In the 18th century it had one of the largest collections
in France
 The driving factors behind the new construction are twofold :
 The previous structure had fallen on disrepair.
 the space become overcrowded. To accommodate the needs of
patrons.
 On peak days, the library would receive around 1000 visitors.
BIBLIOTHEQUE SAINTE-GENEVIEVE

 Ferrous structure
 slender, cast-iron Ionic columns dividing the space
into twin aisles
 supporting openwork iron arches

 barrel vaults of plaster reinforced by iron mesh

 Upon consultation by the Parisian
government, architect Henri
Labrouste suggested a demolition
and new construction on the historic
site.
 Henri's design and "outstandingly
sympathetic" handling of iron as a
building material is considered
revolutionary.
 rely upon very thin columns for the
bearing points in the middle of the
room, letting air and light circulate in
all directions; I was thus led to
propose an iron structure.
 Slender cast-iron columns that run down the center of the
room, and the pierced leaf-patterned cast-iron arches that
support the twin barrel vaults
 Lined the reading room with two tiers of books, one along
the floor and the other on a level backed up against the
exterior walls.
 On the outside of these walls, Henri inscribed the stone
with the names of the great thinkers to show the chain of
human thought.
 A copy of Raphael's School of Athens was painted on the
wall of the ceremonial stairwell that leads to the main-floor
reading room.
 The ground floor consists primarily of storage areas to
house the three collections: the General Fund collection of
over one million volumes,
 The main floor houses the famous reading room. This
large, central hall is the length of 18 fine fluted iron
columns supporting the roof.
Romantic Neo classicists

LEDOUX
CLAUDE NICHOLAS LEDOUX

 Designed a
pavilion in 1771
for the Comtesse
du Barry at
Louveciennes.

 Designed a series of
city gates for Paris
(1785-1789).
Claude Nicholas Ledoux

Rotunde de la Villette, Paris

construction cut stone
Romantic Neo classicists

BOULLE
Boullée- 1778 to 1788
biggest impact on architecture.
He developed a distinctive abstract geometric style
inspired by Classical forms
Characteristic
removal of all unnecessary ornamentation
inflating geometric forms to a huge scale
repeating elements such as columns in huge ranges.
DOCTRINE
Architecture should express its purpose

Cénotaphe a Newton (1784)

sphere form of 150 m (500 ft) high embedded in a
circular base
structure was never built
Cénotaphe a Newton (1784)
BOULLÉE
 his book Architecture, essai sur l'art ("Essay on the
Art of Architecture published in 1953.
 Consist of his work which mostly comprised
designs for public buildings on a wholly impractical
grand scale.
 Fondness for grandoise design - a visionary
 Innovative design ideas
 Use of light to evoke divine feeling
The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans
Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans

Project for the ideal city of Chaux: House of supervisors

Romantic Neo classicists

DURAND
 (1760-1835)
INTRODUCTION
 Was an architect, professor and French
theorist of architecture.
 Was important figure in Neoclassicism.
 His most famous treatise, Précis des leçons
d'architecture (Specific architectural lessons)
presents a schematic and rational way to
design buildings, used by Beauxartiana
Architecture until the arrival of modern
architecture.
HORIZONTAL CONNECTION BETWEEN COLUMNS, PILASTERS, DOORS AND
WINDOWS
VARIOUS TYPES OF BUILDING DEVELOPED FROM A SQUARE GROUND PLAN
 Examinations of the Principal Kinds of Buildings:
Principal Parts of Cities - approaches to Cities, Tombs, Streets, Bridges, ect.
Public Buildings – Temples, Palaces, Museums, Theaters, ect.
Private Buildings – Townhouses, Apartments, Inns, ect.
DURAND

 Started to work at the office of Étienne-Louis

Boullée(1728-1799) for some time, where he
trained as an architect.
 Has teaching vocation and is a sort of
collection of highly illustrated notes.
 Standardization and systemization of the
concept of architecture
DISREGARDING:

 Architectural traditions.
 Symbolic levels of expression.

 Topography.

 a theorist who cared too much about the

economy and the rationality of the projects
DURAND

He had three outstanding contributions:

― The graph paper, which to date is still used.
―The initiative to worry about the economy;
crucial aspect of any work.
―The book "analogy collection and all kinds of
old and modern buildings" was dedicated to
exposing the correct construction of
buildings.
Romantic Neo classicists

JEFFERSON
JEFFERSON
 State Capital building at Richmond, Virginia
 Travelled extensively in Europe

 Inspired by ancient Roman buildings

JEFFERSON
 self-taught architect influenced
by Andrea Palladio.
 Five years in Europe in the
1780s -exposure to modern
neoclassical works, primarily
French
 Virginia State Capitol, the first
modern government building
 His last symbolic public work
was the University of Virginia.
 The result was an American
form of neoclassicism.
JEFFERSON
 Jefferson designed his own home Monticello, the
campus of the University of Virginia, and the Capitol of
Virginia in this style, using ancient Roman temples as
his guide.
 The Roman Classical Revival style was rarely found
north of Pennsylvania, with most examples occurring in
southern states.
 The Bank of Pennsylvania, built in 1800 in
Philadelphia, was an early important example of this
style.
Bank of Pennsylvania
ROBERT ADAM (1728-1792)
• Was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior
designer
•Influenced architecture in Europe and North
America.
•Specialized in design of English country houses,
large homes based on ancient decorative themes
•Also influenced by Andrea Palladio
 Robert Adam

Syon House
Scottish architect The Red Salon
& designer
Syon House
1760s
 At Osterley the Long Walk and the
Wisteria is greatly treasured in Japan Great Meadow are full of bluebells
osterley park london
 redirected rivers to form a chain of sinuous
lakes through the Park, and created a drive
which brought people in a tantalising loop
before finally arriving at the House.
The house is of red brick with white stone details and is
approximately square, with turrets in the four corners.

One side is left almost open and is spanned by an Ionic pedimented

screen which is approached by a broad flight of steps and leads to a
central courtyard
PRE ADAM ALTERATIONS

 South Front 1760

 Gallery Fireplaces designed by Sir William

Chambers
ROBERT ADAM & OSTERLEY

 Grand Tour 4 years in Italy

 Study of Roman domestic architecture

 Returns 1758

 From 1761 he was employed on a number of

projects including Syon House
 1761 – 1772 Adam worked at Osterley
Tudor mansion
Adam left the exterior very plain, apart from adding a portico and casing it with red
brick.

Inside he designed a series of seven state rooms, along with their furniture, which mainly
survives today, and a grand staircase in typical Adam style.
The rooms are
characterised by
elaborate but
restrained
plasterwork,
rich, highly
varied colour
schemes, and a
degree of
coordination
between decor
and furnishings
unusual in
English
neoclassical
interiors.
Kedleston Hall
The South front by Robert Adam, based on the Arch of Constantine in Rome
Entering the house through the great north portico on the piano nobile, one is confronted by the
marble hall designed to suggest the open courtyard or atrium of a Roman villa.
Twenty fluted alabaster columns with Corinthian capitals support the heavily decorated, high-coved
cornice. Niches in the walls contain classical statuary; above the niches are grisaille panels. The floor
is of inlaid Italian marble- term for a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral
greyish colour
Kedleston Hall, the corps de logis
PALLADIANISM
• architect Inigo Jones introduced Palladianism to
Britain
•Earl of Burlington designed houses for friends and
Chiswick house for himself
•Influence seen in Monticello-Thomas Jefferson
house
•John Nash 19th century design for Buckingham
Palace
•Sir Aston Webb façade on the Mall in London
 OVERVIEW OF NEO-CLASSICISM
• Art produced in Europe and North America from
the mid-18c to the early 19c.
• More than just an antique revival  a reaction
against the surviving Baroque & Rococo styles.
• Linked to contemporary political events:
• Revolutions established republics in France and
in America. [Neo-Classicism was adapted as the
official art style].
• Association with the democracy of Greece and
the republicanism of Rome.
• Napoleon  used the style for propaganda.
THE PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE

 The White House is a grand mansion in the neo-

classical Federal style
 with details that echo classical Greek Ionic
architecture.
 James Hoban's original design was modeled after
the Leinster House in Dublin, Ireland and did not
include the north and south porticos.
 Residence Construction: 1792-1800
JEFFERSONIAN ENHANCEMENTS: 1801-1809
 The house that Thomas Jefferson entered in March of 1801
was still unfinished.
 Among his first acts was to have proper water closets (early
toilets) built in the upper.
 He created a wilderness museum in the Entrance Hall, with
mounted animals and Indian artifacts.
 He housed his private secretary in canvas-walled chambers
in the south end of the unfinished East Room.
 He also had a revolving cabinet built in the Public Dining
Room (today's Family Dining Room) similar to ones he had in
Monticello.
 And he built pavilions on the east and west sides for servants
and stables.
In 1948, President Harry S
Truman added a much-discussed
balcony to the South Portico at
the second-floor level.

Not long after the Truman

Balcony was constructed, the
main body building was found to
be structurally unsound.

The old interior was dismantled,

leaving the house as a shell. It
was then rebuilt using concrete
and steel beams in place of its
original wooden joists.
The White House Residence

South face, with round portico in 2007

North face, with square portico in 2007
The first floor of the West Wing includes the Oval Office and offices of the
president's highest staff (and their secretaries) as well as meeting rooms
and White House Press Corps offices
the Rotunda where several Presidents have laid in state prior to their
funerals
the Crypt which was originally instead as the burial site of the first
President George Washington and the National Statuary Hall which holds
numerous statues of prominent Americans.
House of Representatives Chamber
largest room in the Capitol and is located in the south wing where both the House and
the Senate hold joint meetings
The National Statuary Hall is located in the south wing of the Capitol and was the
original House Chamber.
Around the perimeter of the semicircular high-ceiling room are several large Breccia
marble columns, quarried from the nearby Potomac River, and each is topped with
white marble Corinthian capitals which were carved in Italy.
THE ROTUNDA

 the circular room measures 96 feet in diameter

and soars to a height of 180 feet from the floor to
the interior of the dome.
 At the base of the dome is a frieze depicting the
history of United States arranged in chronological
order, such as Christopher Columbus “discovering”
America, the Pilgrims, Pocahontas and the first
flight the Wright Brothers
The Crypt
Located on the basement floor directly under the
Rotunda is the Crypt.
1. EXCAVATIONS OF THE RUINS
OF ITALIAN CITIES

Pompeii in
1748.

Herculaneum in
1738.
2. PUBLICATION OF BOOKS ON
ANTIQUITY

James Stuart & Nicholas Revert

Antiquities in Athens: 1762-1816.
3. ARRIVAL OF THE ELGIN MARBLES

Thomas Bruce,
7th Lord of Elgin
British Museum, 1806 From the top façade of the
Parthenon in Athens.
4. JOHANN WINCKELMANN’S ARTISTS
CIRCLE
• Artists should “imitate”
the timeless, ideal
forms of the classical
world.

• A circle of
international artists
gathered about him
in the 1760s in Rome.
German art historian.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEO-
CLASSICISM
• Return to the perceived “purity” of the arts
of Rome.
• Model the “ideal” of the ancient Greek arts
and, to a lesser, extent, 16c Renaissance
classicism.
• A conviction that there is a permanent,
universal way things are (and should be),
which obviously entails fundamental
political and ethical commitments.
• Sometimes considered anti-modern or even
reactionary.
 FURNITURE
• The furniture designs used Greco-Roman
motifs.
• Became known as style étrusque [“Etruscan
style”] in France.
• Were favored by the court of Louis XV and
later by Napoleon I.
 JOSIAH
WEDGWOOD

Greek vases found in excavations became

models for this new type of ceramics.
 NEO-CLASSICISM CONTINUED
INTO THE 19C AND BEYOND….

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Buckingham Palace, London

The Gate of Alcala, Madrid

• By the mid-19s, several European cities were transformed

into veritable museums of Neo-Classical architecture.
 AMERICAN RENAISSANCE”
•
MOVEMENT
American Museum • National Gallery of Art
of Natural History

• Lincoln Memorial

• A Neo-Classical expression in Beaux-Arts architecture.

 THE “SUNSET” OF NEO-CLASSICISM
• Sir Edwin Lutyan  a monumental city plan
for New Delhi during the British Raj.

Rashtrapati Bhavan India Gate Monument

[President’s House]