Transitional Period Architecture

1750-1900
 1750-1900
Neoclassical
• This period traces the change over to modern architecture
• By 1750, there was a growing discontent with the gaudy Baroque and
Rococo architecture.
• The flamboyant qualities of Baroque and Rococo architecture came under
fire in the mid-eighteenth century for their perceived abuses of freedom—
combining Classical elements in unorthodox ways—and invention, such as
the creation of new capitals.
• It came under fire for being dishonest, meaning that its sculptural,
undulating walls and overzealous ornamentation deceptively hid the
building’s supporting construction.
• Critics thought that these features placed the emphasis in the wrong places
and architecture required a much needed return to its primitive origins.
• Neoclassical architecture was modelled after the classical style and, as with
other art forms, was in many ways a reaction against the exuberant Rococo
style. The architecture of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio became very
popular in the mid 18th century.
 Neoclassical style
• Neoclassical architecture, which began in the mid 18th century, looks to
the classical past of the Graeco-Roman era, the Renaissance, and
classicized Baroque to convey a new era based on Enlightenment
principles.
• This movement manifested in its details as a reaction against the Rococo
style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an
outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque.
• In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall and maintains
separate identities to each of its parts.
 Age of Enlightenment
• The height of Neoclassicism coincided with the 18th century
Enlightenment era, and continued into the early 19th century.
• The background for the Age of Enlightenment can already be found
in the 16th and 17th centuries when there were conflicts in the
existing structure of society.
• Centuries of belief in the bible and orthodox opinions were now
pushed into the background by a more astronomical and physical
understanding of the world.
• Thus, it was not new ideas the educated preached, but on the
contrary, the scientific breakthroughs of the Renaissance and
Baroque period.
• The difference was the way in which the messages were presented.
• The intellectuals of the time were able to pass on their knowledge
to the people in their mother tongue, and not as formerly in Latin,
German or French
 Neoclassicism
• The first phase of Neoclassicism in France is expressed in the Louis XVI
style of architects like Ange-Jacques Gabriel (Petit Trianon, 1762–68).
• Ange-Jacques Gabriel was the Premier Architect at Versailles, and his
Neoclassical designs for the royal palace dominated mid 18th century
French architecture.

Petit Trianon,
Versailles
 Neoclassicism
• After the French Revolution, the second phase of
Neoclassicism was expressed in the late 18th
century Directoire style.
• The Directoire style reflected the Revolutionary
belief in the values of republican Rome.
• This style was a period in the decorative arts,
fashion, and especially furniture design,
concurrent with the post-Revolution French
Directoire (November 2, 1795–November 10,
1799).
• The style uses Neoclassical architectural forms,
minimal carving, planar expanses of highly grained
veneers, and applied decorative painting.
• The Directoire style was primarily established by
the architects and designers Charles Percier
(1764–1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Arc de Triomphe
Fontaine (1762–1853), who collaborated on the
Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which is considered
emblematic of French neoclassical architecture.
 Palladian revival
• An architectural movement, primarily in England between 1710 and 1760,
set up in reaction to the Baroque style of architecture
• Palladianism, style of architecture based on the writings and buildings of
the humanist and theorist from Vicenza, Andrea Palladio (1508–80),
perhaps the greatest architect of the latter 16th century and certainly the
most influential.
– Palladio felt that architecture should be governed by reason and by the principles
of classical antiquity as it was known in surviving buildings and in the writings of the 1st-
century-BC architect and theorist Vitruvius.
– Palladianism speaks rationality in its clarity, order, and symmetry, while it also pays
homage to antiquity in its use of classical forms and decorative motifs.
• Palladio, like famous artists generally, was followed by many successors
who absorbed and worked in his style
– Successors applied old ideas in brilliant new ways.
– Interestingly, Palladio's greatest successors emerged primarily in England.D360
• It was Inigo Jones who introduced Palladian architecture into England
Upon his return from a trip to Italy (1613–14)
– Jones created Palladian style in London
 Palladian Revival
• At the beginning of the Georgian period (1714–1830), a
second and more consuming interest in Palladio developed.
– Partly as a reaction to the grandiose architecture of the later Stuarts, a
desire to return to a more rational and less complicated style.
• Their wish coincided with the publication of an English
translation of Palladio’s treatise I Quattro libri
dell’architettura (1570; Four Books of Architecture) and the
first volume of Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus (1715),
the designs of which had enormous influence in England.
• William Benson, had already built the first English Palladian
house of the 18th century at Wilbury House, Wiltshire, in
1710.
• Campbell, the first important practitioner of the new and
more literal English Palladianism, built Houghton Hall in
Norfolk (begun 1722) and Mereworth Castle in Kent
(c. 1722).
• The wealthy amateur architect Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl
of Burlington, and his protégé William Kent complete the
triumvirate responsible for the second phase of the style.
– Burlington’s home, Chiswick House (begun 1725), was designed by him as
a reinterpretation of Palladio’s Villa Rotonda.
• The other notable English Palladian architects were Henry
Flitcroft, Isaac Ware, James Paine, Roger Morris, and John
Wood the Elder.
 Greek Revival
• From the Classical point of view 1820 to 40 is characterized by the most correct neo-Greek.
• The success of so-called 'Hellenic Classicism' was the most striking feature of these decades.
• This was given impetus by a new generation of architects who had travelled in Greece. On their
return these architects substituted Greek Doric and Ionic profiles for the Roman orders.
• The success of neo-Greek designs marked the beginning of this movement, which soon spread all
over England.
• The greatest effect of the Greek Revival was felt in the new public buildings of the fast growing
cities.
• In this case, monumental temple forms were intended to express dignity, authority and
intellectual grandeur in cultural institutions.
• The Greek Revival proved particularly suitable for museum structures. The most prominent
representative of these new temples of the arts is this monumental composition of the British
Museum in London, one of the first public museums in Europe
• The Greek Revival also influenced English church building, which saw renewed activity in 1818,
after the end of the Napoleonic wars.
• The archaeological Hellenism has a charming effect in this small church, in Saint Pancras
Church in London, designed by William Inwood and his son, Henry William Inwood between
1819-22.
• They ingeniously mixed the classical shape with the traditional church-tower.
 Greek Revival
• A number of British architects in the second half of the century took up the
expressive challenge of the Doric from their aristocratic patrons, including Joseph
Bonomi and John Soane, but it was to remain the private enthusiasm of
connoisseurs (expert in fine arts) up to the first decade of the 19th century.
• Seen in its wider social context, Greek Revival architecture sounded a new note of
sobriety and restraint in public buildings in Britain around 1800
• Some of the features of Greek revival architecture were
– Front gabled roof
– Front porch with columns
– Front facade corner pilasters
– Broad cornice
– Attic or frieze level windows
 Gothic Revival
• The Gothic Revival was primarily an architectural movement that began in 1740s
England.
• Also termed Victorian Gothic and Neo-Gothic, the style sought to revive medieval
forms, much like the Neoclassical style sought to revive works from classical antiquity.
• During the 18th century, the ruins of medieval Gothic architecture began to receive
newfound appreciation after having been relatively dismissed in the overall history of
architecture.
• In England, the centre of the Gothic revival, the movement was intertwined with
philosophical trends associated with a reawakening of Christian traditions in response
to the growth of religious nonconformist.
• Ultimately, the Gothic style became widespread in the third quarter of the
19th century.
• Neo-classism allowed people more flexibility and freedom which reduced the power
of churches and the upper class of the society needed power back as a result more
rigid style emerged as gothic revival, utilizing forms and structural stability of gothic
period.
• As a result of industrialization the religious image was diminishing and also the sense
of structural grandeur.
• Writers like John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin showed middle ages as the golden
period and so acceptance of the same started.
 Gothic Revival
• Paralleling the ascendancy of Neo-Gothic styles in 19th century England, interest
spread rapidly to Europe, Australia, South Africa, and the Americas.
• Indeed, the number of Gothic Revival and Carpenter Gothic structures built in the
19th and 20th centuries may exceed the number of authentic Gothic structures that
had been built in Gothic’s original era.
• The Gothic Revival style is characterized by its stone and brick structures, many of
which are religious in nature, as well as heavy decoration.
• The most fundamental element of the Gothic style of architecture is the pointed arch.
• Columns that support arches are smaller in Gothic buildings, and continue all the way
to the roof, where they become part of the vault.
• In the vault, the pointed arch can be seen in three dimensions where the ribbed
vaulting meets in the centre of the ceiling of each bay.
• This ribbed vaulting is another distinguishing feature of Gothic architecture.
• The slender columns and lighter systems of thrust allowed for larger windows and
more light in Gothic structures.
• The windows, tracery, carvings, and ribs make up a bewildering display of decoration
where almost every surface is decorated with a profusion of shapes and patterns.
• Gothic revival cottages and smaller buildings also became popular and are referred to
as “Carpenter Gothic.”
• These structures are defined by their use of Gothic elements such as pointed arches
and steep gables.
People of Importance of the time:-
• Augustus Welby Pugin
• (1 March 1812 – 14 Sep 1852)
• was an English architect,
designer, artist and critic,
• chiefly remembered for his
pioneering role in the Gothic
Revival style;
• his work culminated in the
interior design and Palace
of Westminster.
• Pugin designed many
churches in England, and
some in Ireland and
Australia.
House of Parliament (Westminster
Palace)
People of Importance of the time:-
• Sir George Gilbert Scott
• (13 July 1811 – 27 March
1878)
• was an English Gothic
revival architect, chiefly
associated with the
• design, building and
renovation of churches,
and cathedrals, .
• He was one of the most
prolific architects that Great
Britain has produced,
• over 800 buildings being
designed or altered by him.
 Some examples of Gothic Revival

Exeter College chapel

St Pancras Railway Station

Oxford Natural History

Museum