Architecture StylesSpotter's Guide

Ci .ASSICAL TEMPLES TO SOARING SKYSCRAPERS

Sarah CunliffeJean Loussier

EDITORS

Sarah Cunliffe, Clare Haworth-Maden,Michael Kerrigan, Donna F. Shelmerdine,

Stephen Small, M. Jane TaylorCONTRIBUTORS

~\l/~~ ~

THUNDER BAY

P,R·E·S,S

San Diego, California

CLASSICISMREVIVED

The Henaissance had found inspiration in ancientGreek and Roman architecture, its order and symme-

suggesting what might be attainable by human rea­;;on, ingenuity, and enterprise. Those same values\vere at the fore in the Enlightenment of the eigh­teenth century, but by this time they were taking on adistinctly political edge. In its mounting revolutionaryferment, France was looking back to the heroic exarn-

of republican Rome-}acques-Louis David'sIconic painting The Oath of the Horatii was created in776. At this very moment across the Atlantic, the

\merican colonies were engaged in their own fIght £(Jrliberty; here too, fi-eedom was to find expression inClassical forms.

')PPOSITE: The Massachusetts State HOLlse (1798), in

designed by Charles Bu1jlnch, with its }nagnif~icent gilded dome, is considered one of the fInest build-­

in the United States.

PALLADIAN

II

THE MASTER

139

Born Andrea di Pietrodelia Gondola in Padua,Italy, 1508, this artistwas awarded his nick­name "Palladia" by acontemporary critic.It derives from PallasAthene, the ancientGreek goddess of wis­dom. A stonemason bytraining, Palladia made aclose study of Vitruviusand other ancienttheorists: his workbecame the conduit bywhich ClaSSical princi­ples made their wayinto the architectureof the modem age.

LEFT: Palladian detail

showing the charactcristic arch

and fanlights ahODCthe door,

with pillars to cither side.

OPPOSITE: The White House In

\Vashington, D.C .. is prohably

the most widely

Neoclassical

INSET, BELOW: WIndow detail

from one of Pallacli():~master­

pIeces, the Palazzo Valmarana

in Vicenza, Italy.

Classicism Revived

Anglo-PalladianismThe first great Palladian revival, however,

came as early as the seventeenth centmy,

when architects like Inigo Jones (1.573-1652,the creator of London's Covent Garden

Piazza) made it a part of the English scene.

Jones's Banqueting House (1619-22) atWhitehall, London, was arguably the first

great example of this influential

Anglo-Palladian style. In tIle eighteenth cen­

tury, IJaliadianism enjoyed another revival,

llshered in by the Scottish architect Colin

Campbell (1676-1729) and Hiehard Boyle,

Lord Burlington (1694-1753). Designed with

the belp of his hiend, William Kent, the lat­

ter's masterpiece, Lonclon's Chisvviek House

(1726), was explicitly modeled on Palladio's

original Villa Hotonda. Sir Christopher Wren

(16,32-1723, see also pages 86-87) was

another adherent of the Palladian style.

at the same time unmistakably a house-a

clwelling place for real people. An Old World

monarchy would have had a palace, of course,

but this would have been completely inap­

propriate in the United States: a great new

country, yet one that was to be governed in

the name of the "little guy."

Majesty and Modesty

Key to Palladio's achievement page 83)

was an understated simplicity that lent an

unexpected air of intimacy to his grandestbuildings. His basilica in Vicenza (c. 1547)and the Villa Hotonda that he built outside

that city (c. 1567) are among the most cele­brated examples of his work. Both rank

among the most imposing of Henaissance

momnnents, yet their beauty sets us at ourease: we never seem to lose the human scale.

Of all the many hundreds of later

"Palladian" creations around the world, per­

haps the most typical example is 'Washington,D.C.'s, White House (James Iioban, 1792­

J 8(0). All impressive seat of govenunent, it is

STYLE FILE

Notable Features:Clear Classical influence.

orders,INith emphasis

on understated graceand symmetry ratherthan on elaboration.

Major Influences:Italian Renaissancearchitect Palladia;

Greek,and Romanbuildings and features.

INhere and When:Britain, 17th-18th cen­turies; United States,18th and 19th centuries.

Classicism F~evived

No single architect did more to influence the rediscovery and reinvention ofClassical architecture: I<xthe modern age than the Italian master Andrea Palladio.

An important Hgure in his own lifetime, he was to loom still larger in later cen­

turies as an influence, thus enjoying not one, but several, posthumous careers.

Classicism Revived

141

BACK TO BASICS

Still more radical thanthe rationalism of theother philosopheswas Jean-JacquesRousseau's claim thatcivilization was corrupt­ing, society enslaving~that "Man was bornfree, but IS everywherein chains." His idealiza­tion of the "noblesavage" has no immedi­ately obvious bearingon architecture, yet itunderlies the profoundlyinfiuential thought ofthe Abbe Marc-AntoineLaugier. His Essav onArchitecture suggestedthat aesthetic beautywas rooted in the eter­nally endowed propor­tions of created nature,and that all architectureharked back to thesame basic prototype,the round hut ofprehistoric humanity.

BELOW: The Petit Trianon,

Versailles (1761-64).

The Primitive PantheonThe Pantheon, in Paris, was built between

1757 and 1790 to a design by Jacques-Gabriel

SouHlot. Its most obvious models may be theancient Pantheon and St. Peter's Cathedral,

both in Rome, but it also bears the imprint of

the theories of its time. If its austere, unfussy

symmetries suggest the rationalism of Boullee

and Ledoux, its overwhelming simplicity

evokes the values of Laugier (see feature,

right). That said, the Pantheon is actually a

good deal less simple than it looks: it is, in

fact, an example of two-in-one construction.

Outside, massive walls bear up the bulk of the

building's weight-including, with the help of

hidden flying buttresses, the shapely dome.

The spacious interior aisles can thus be sup­

ported with only slender columns.

these ideas so seriously that they designed"ideal" structures, which were never intended

to take physical form. But Ange-JacquesGabriel's (1698-1782) Petit Trianon, built in

the grounds of the royal palace at Versailles,near Paris (1761-64), shows the beautifulrealities such architecture could achieve.

Major Influences:Enlightenment rational­ism a reaction againstall relics of monarchismand clericalism;

Rousseauesque ideas of"natural" proportions.

ABOVE AND BELOW: The

Pantheon, Pads, soon after the

huilding opened. It appeaJ's

equally when viewed

from a distan(;e, as below.

Where and When:France; 18th century.

STYLE FILE

The French Hevolution of 1789 was the violent culmination of a wholesale

intellectnal overhaul that had occupied much of the eighteenth century. For

artists and architects of the day, Horne represented not only republicanism, but

an age apparently free of childish superstition and meddling clergy.

Notable Features:Basic vocabulary Cordersof columns, arches, etc.)Classical, but an interestin attaining a three­dimensional symmetryand "natural" simplicity.

Classicism Revived

FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL

Unbuildable IdealsFrcnch philosophes like Diderot and Voltairewere a tllO'rn in the flesh of the Church and

monarchy, hut their seH~conscjous rational­ism fouud echocs even in establishment

architccture. If the Classical influence is clear

in coustruetiolls of this time, so, too, is a con­

cern to capturc the perfect, "pure" shapes of

solid gcomctry. 'The eube, the sphere, thcthese were the forms to which

architects sl]()uld

no fimctional structure used by

real people could possibly embody such per-

fEcction hut thc closer the approximation,

thc thc theorists thought. Architectslike Etienne-Louis Bou]]ce (J728-99) and

Claude Nico]as Ledoux ( took

SWAGS

147

Classicism Revived

Carved swags of stone,stucco, or \Nood werea feature of Federalistbuildings: these decora­tive bouquets and fes­toons adorned every­thing from ceilings andpaneled vvalls to furni­ture. Generally compris­ing flovvers, fruit, sheafsof grain, or other pro­duce. they lent an air' ofelegant Classicism andcomfort at the sametime. Harking back tothe decorative art ofancient Rome, assymbols of fertility andplenty they also strucka real chord vvith whatvvas still an agriculturalsociety.

BELOW: Adelphi '1(:rrace,

London (1768-74), built hI} the

h mthers Adam and named rifie'r

adelphoi, Greek f'n- "brothers."

Sadly, the terrace was demol­

ished in 1936.

The Ne'W RepublicAs such it was the ideal style for thc newly

independent United States-proud and self­

confident, yet still recognizably puritanical in

its values. That the Adam style bore more

resemblance to Roman models than English

only enhanced it in American eyes. Not that

U.S. architects were content simply to replicate

the Adam style: over time, they would make it

very much their 0\'.11. Their innovations ranged

from the flagrantly patriotic (the use of the

eagle motif) through the practical (the additionof decorative window shutters) to the more

subtle (tbe introduction of oval and elliptical

shapes for windows and even rooms).

Fun Without Frivolity

Just as distinctively Adamesque, however,were the httle decorative touches he used to

counte11)()lnt the severities of Neoclassical

design. Flat panels and pilasters broke upblank walls; decorative devices, from urns and

arabesques to stucco scrolls and sphinxes,adorned interiors: the final effect combined

vigor and visual interest with sobriety.

Antiquarian AdamHobert in 'particular had made an enthusiastic

study of ancient rnoTlurncnts, including tbe

excavatcd ruins of Pompeii, His

ancieut inspirations, however, were not just

Homan, but Etruscan, and even Egyptian­

and be noted interior design and decoration

as well as external forms. Whcre his eountiy­

men were contcnt to evoke thc symmetricalspirit of' Classical architecture, he worked

Homan motifs directly (thougb always imagi-into his work. Commissioned to

tbe south front of K8dleston Hall, a

country house in the English Midlands, f(JI'

he used as its centerpiece a four­

story reproduction of the rnagnificent Arch of

Constantine in Home (see page

Major Influences:Classical principles,filtered through the

of the Adambrothers'modemreinte'rpretations.

STYLE FILE

Where and When:Adam style, Britain, midc

18th century; Federal.United States,

1800.

Notable Features:Simple, Classical linesand proportions, butcompar$tively elaboratedecoration, both insideand

roofsscreened by stonebalustrades;

Shutt;ered vvindovvs.

FEDERALIST/ADAM

Classicism Revived

So-callcd becausc it dates from the first decades of the Ullited States' exis­

tence, "Federal" architecture was not altogether independent of British mod­

els. The Scottish brothers H.obert (1728-92) and James Adam (1732--94) were

a big inHuence-though to some extent this was precisely because in theirwork they looked beyond the British hshions of the time.

ABOVE:

sunAvingFedero!isl ,s'free{s in

tile United Stoles. The his(()r;c

district aUracts IIWrlY iourrsts.

ABOVE: Oak Alley Plantation.

OPPOSITE, JUCHT: Germany's

Reichstag.

OPPOSITE, LEFT: A church in

Glasgow, Scotland, hy

Alexander "Greek" Thompson.

Classicism Revived

151

Back to the FutureNeoclassicism had become the "nahlral"

mediulll for any expression of pride in archi­

tecture. 'When, in the 1870s, a newly unihed

Germany first envisaged a national parliament

building in Berlin, it was no surprise that a

design ill tbis style was chosen. Paul Wallot(1841-1912) was its architect. When it was

constructed in 1884-94, tbe Reichstag~) glass­

and-steel cupola represcnted an engineering

breakthrough, but its aesthetic principles had

been laid down over 2,000 years before.

Britain's provincial cities had a degree of civic

pride and pretension that prompted tbem to

identify with the achievements of ancient

Greece alld H.ome. The outstanding example

is, perhaps, that of Glasgow, Scotland, then

grown to be tbe second city of tbe British

Empire, whose leading citizens set out to

construct an appropriately grandiose archi­

tectural heritage almost from scratch. It

seem cd almost inevitable that the preferred

medium lor this should be the Classical style

l~wored by leading local architects likeAlexander "Greek" Thomson (1817-7.5).

A Transatlantic Athens

In 1803, as president, Jefferson appointed

Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1766-1820) to

supervise construction of the U.S. Capitol

(see page 15). In his Bank of Pennsylvania,

Philadelphia (1799), built very mnch along

the lines of an Athenian temple, Latrobe hadalready shown his enthusiasm for the archi­tectural forms of ancient Greece. His own

work in this style found its nltimate expres­sion in the Homan Catholic Cathedral,

Baltimore (1805-18), but it was developed inworks by William Strickland (1788-18.54) like

the Second Bank of the U.S. in Philadelphia(1819-24). In the Old World as in America,

the Greek Hevival was gathering momentum:

by mid-century, it seemed, the stylc held

sway. Enriched by the 1ndustrialHevolution,

GREEK REVIVAL

STYLE FILE

Notable Features:style.on

Greek examples: moredehcate in design. lesssimply monumental.than Roman buildif)gs.

Major Influences:Continuing Classical crazein Europe;

In United States. GreekReviyal flowed naturally

from stYI~a well-

established nation feltless need to identify

with specific.3llyrepublican. models).

Where and When:United States andEurop,". c.. 1820-90.

Classicism Revived

It wasn't just ]c!hnson's designs, but his commissions that made a difference

to the development of American architecture. Increasingly, these, too, tended

toward the Greek Revival style, with its columns and pediments.

ROMANTICNATIONALISM

What Horace Walpoledid for the Gothic inEngland, Victor Hugowould repeat, evensurpass, inFrance withthe 1831 publication ofThe Hunchback of NotreDame. The action tookplace in the cathedral,with its almost spookymedieval ambience.The French believedthat "true" Gothicdesign was French,while English andGerman scholars heldtheir own nations to bE;!thE;! rightful heirs toglorious tri3dition.

Victorian Styles

ABOVE: The Peace ])Jwer (1927)

on Parlianllmt Hill, Ottawa.

Canada's parlillTruent

(1857-66; s1lh,Sl"I',:entren.lOdeling

after jire were all in

the Gothic Revival

Crossing the AtlanticThe first American Gothic Revival building,

Glen Ellen in Baltimore, was designed in 1832

by Alexander Jackson Davis, who would

become the nation's most prolific Gothic

Rcvival architect. In 1837 he published a book

of house plans that introduced the style to the

masses. Its popularity was further advanced

by two pattern books by Davis's colleague

Andrew Jackson Dowl1ing, who offered themiddle classes more affordable alternatives to

the expensive stone Gothic-style mansions.

Meanwbilc, the Gothic Revival also gained

exposure in thc United States through the

high-profile projects of architects like Richard

Upjohn, an Englishman whose landmarks

included New York City's Trinity Church

(1846). Soon, the Gothic style was every­

where: picturesque cottages flourished in the

countryside with multiple gables, turrets, and

wide porches, and elements of the style were

adapted f()r use in city houses-like theGothic door, "vindow, and cornice detailing.

The Rise of Romanticism

In England, prominent architects-even some

Neoclassicists-continued to apply Gothic fea­

tures to ecclcsiastical buildings well before the

rise of the Homantic movement that inspired

the Gothic Revival. One notable example is SirChristopher Wren's 1681 "Tom Tower" at the

chapel of Christ Church, Uuiversity of Oxford.But the first celebration of Gothic decoration

per se is attributed to Horace \Valpole, who

rcLtshioned his country estate near Londonwith fanciful decorative f(catures-exterior and

interior-including turrets, pointed arches,

and crockets. This eighteenth-century confec­

tion gave rise to the label "Strawbeny HillGothic," named for his famous estate.

Iii

Where and When:Western Europe andNorth America; 19thcentury.

GOTHIC REVIVAL

Major Influences:Gothic architecture.

56

Victorian Styles

Some historians consider the term "Gothic Revival" a misnomer because

Gothic architecture persisted in Europe from medieval times through sueceed­

ing centuries without entirely fading from use. But the widespread readoption

of Gothic decoration emerged in England, France, and Germany in the earlynineteenth ccntury; hy mid-century, it had swept across North America.

RIGHT: The

cSt l..Amege,c,({})wnagc, ar/,

GIJthic /{cuioa! !alldmark

In; I-Iell n; /{lltdlillsIJIlIiIlIllwd; ill 183;

Ol'l'OSITE: The

blj

in the seDen/een/h (century and

considered a preel/J:wr /0 the

(;otlLic }{tTivalllwv(-nneJli.

I STYLE FILE

Notable Features:

pOint.ed arChe. 5 overdoors and \/'Jirldows;Intenor vaulting;Steeply pitched roofs;Tall turrets;Pinnacles;Crenelations;Angular chimneys;Leaded glass.

161

Victorian Styles

European and Classical RootsThe German Bundhogenstil was not an archi­

tectural rcvival, though it was influenced byNeoclassicists, and the rounded arches were

similar to those of Roman buildings. Thc new

style was functional and less ornate than the

revivals. The Homanesque Hevival combined

elements of this \vith more Classical detailing.

The Economics of Fashion

'With features such as grand, rounded arches,

domes, and conical-topped towers, masonry

buildings and mansions in the Homanesque

Hevival style were not cheap to build. But, in

the late ninetcenth century, America, where

the style flourished, was enjoying a rush ofwcalth and technology that lent itsclf to the

builcIing of lavishly impOSing public buildings

designed in a variety of revival styles. The

commanding Homanesqnc style naturally lent

itself to the construction of major public

buildings. Howcver, somc private homes

were also constructed in this style; those that

remain today (which look much like small,

medieval stone castles) can be found mostlyin citics that werc wealthy in the Victorian erain the northeastern United States.

thelIulr/iewl rlell/iis.

RIGHT: The imposing entr-anr:e

to thewm"th fencer at the

Smith SOIlilll I fllslduliol/.

Major Influences:ROlllanesque;Medieval styles.

\/ictonan Styles

Notable Features:Rounded arches;Asymmetrical groundplans and facades;

Heavy stone walls;Decorative belt courses;Polychromatic masonry;Medieval ornamentation,e.g., quatrefoil orroseatewindo\Ns anddecorative carvings;

Decorative, archedentryways.

STYLE.FILE

The origins of this popular Victorian architectural style lie ill Germany, where

the or "round-arch style," took off in the early nineteenth cen­tury, and in Classical and medieval construction and decoration.

ROMANESQUE REVIVAL

OpposnE, ABO\'I<: Tilis view qf

the S/nUhIOljial/" "emf;le" show.I

. Where and When:

I Principally North A.merica;mld-to-Iate 1800s.--~.~ .._--

deeomlire willdows flild fowerl·.

OpP()srf'l~:, BELOW: Tlte North­

El)an:~' C!w(eo!.l in A..'If,\;tin,

-ICe.VIS, IDOl' built ill tllIl 18701'.

In Ilse (~lruslic(Lted ston.e, it

Ihe

mc!wrdsollifln

})flges 174-75).

A Second RevivalSome of the Henaissance Hevival architects

were graduates of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in

Paris, though their buildings perhaps lackedthe restraint more often associated with the

school. Opnlent homes were popularly built

iu North America during "boom" periods,

and especially in the "gilded age" of the late

nineteenth century. The architect most asso­

ciated with this period is the exuberant

Hiehard Morris Hunt, who conceived many

of the mansions of fashionable Newport,

Hhode Island. Later Renaissance Hevival

homes are often larger and more elaborate,

and are characterized by; columns supporting

entablatures, archcd, recessed openings, and

balconies; full entablatures between story lev­

els; and a ground-story facade of rusticated

stone. Usually, each story of these homes is

expressed differently (so that if the Doric

order is used on the first story, then the next

story will be of the Ionic or Corinthian orders,

and so on). Many of these features can beseen at the Breakers, featured hcre.

Victorian Styles

Location: Newport,Rhode Island.

Date: 1892--95.Architect: Richard

Morris Hunt.Significance: Now a

National HistoricLandnlark, this seventy­room mansion, whichsits upon a beautifulestatE; overlooking theAtlantic Ocean, resem­bles a grand ItalianRenaissance palazzo.Conlmissioned byCornelius Vanderbilt IIas a summer home,its featur-es include giltcornices, Corinthiancolumns, a 45-foot-highgreat hall. rare marble,elaborately paintedceiling5;'j,arcades, anda central covered court­yard. The rooms weredesigned and built inEuropEc, shipped to theUnited States, and thenreassembled on site.

THE BREAKERS

Rebirth of the ClassicalThe word "Henaissance" means "rebirth," and

refers to the period in Europe in the hfteenth

and sixteenth centuries in which literature,

art, and architecture flourished, beginning inItaly. During this time, an educated culturalelite, and the artists and craftsmen that it

sponsored, studied and admired tbe intellec­

tual and artistic accomplishmcnts of Classical

antiquity. Renaissance Hevival architecture

also looks back to Classical antiquity, but

unlikc its Henaissance predecessors, it is often

seen as derivative and lacking subtlety, withmany eclectic and lavish features combined in

a singlc building. Henaissallce llevival build­

ings were, critics say, built for the wealthy to

imprcss rather than embodying an artistic

vision. In the United Statcs, the style is mostoften seen in ostentatious lnausions, wilde in

Europe, the style was especially popular [ill'public buildings in newly prosperons cities of

the confldent, industrial Vidorian age.

Germanic

Horizontal stone bandingdividing the ground storyfrom the upper stories;

Smaller" squ8re windowson the top story;

Low-pitched hipped ormarlsclrd roofs;

Roofline entablatures,topped with balustrade.

STYL~Noti'lble Features: .Symmetrical facades;Smooth ashlar walls;Quoins;Architrave-framed

windows (with ornatemolding);

Major lnfluences:Europeoon Renaissance;Classical buildings.

Where and When:EuropE=::, North Amc.;?rica;c.1840-·1920.

Victorian StylE'S

RENAISSANCE REVIVALOpulent turn-oftlle-century Hcnaissance Hevival buildings mimic thc stylcs of

the Italian and French Henaissance; they are both elegant and explicitly for­

ma!. Because the elaborate style required highly skilled craftsmanship and

materials, such as ashlar, it is mainly seen in large-scale public and

commercial buildings and luxurious mansions for the wealthy.

HIGIIT: f{OI1/1fJ1to\ Pel!:\' Casllc,

bll ill J 87:J-b'3 li'/uler Viennese

orcl,i/e(·t iVilhcl1ll f)or/erel; is

l1elutissance revlect!.

an

OPPOSITE: 'I'll!' BreakelC"

hy l1icluml Morris

lhmt, VClI'port, Ftlwde island

165

Victorian Styles

ABOVE: An 1853 Itillianate house

in the Hudson New York,

where the style flourished.

BELOW: A hancLome townhouse

in Detmit, Michigan, displaying

the decorative elements typical

of an Ita/ianate villa.

Cast-iron Palaces

The development of the cast­

iron and pressed-metal indus­tries in the mid-nineteenth

century allowed for the cost­

effective large-scale produc­

tion of many of the Italianatedecorative elements. These

included cornices and brack­

ets, which were previouslymade of carved stone. A num­

ber of U. S. cities have historic

neighborhoods featuring cast-iran-clad build­

ings that resemble grand Italian villas. Inaddition to new mansions and commercial

buildings, colonial-stylc homes were often

extensively remodelcd during the late nine­

teenth century to incorporate these highlyff\shionable Italianate features.

A Plastic StyleThe Italianate style was made f~\shjonahle in

America in part the designs of Calvert

Vaux and AlexallCler Jackson Davis, which

were published in the pattern books of

Andrew Jackson Downing. The stylc was

widdy adopted because of its highly adaptablenature; it could be as romantie as the Gothic

or as reserved as the Neoclassical, making it

suitable for a range of tastes and budgets,

These houses are com mon evelywhere except

the Deep South (which was wracked witb the

economic hardship ofthe Civil War during the

period in which the popularity of the style was

at its height). The decline of tbe ltalianatcin the United States is associated with

tbe financial panic of 187:3.

Major Influences:Purai-Italian buildings;I~enaissanc:e s'tylE:';s.

Notable Features:Square. rectangular, orL-shaped massing withaver-tical ernphasis;

Squar"0': cupolas or- towers;Elaborate detailing;Overhanging eaves withdecorative brackets;

Tall, narro\lv windows,usually arched or curvedat the top;

Side bav windows;\A/lndows along thefacade aligned in threesabove the doorvvay;

Low-rJitched 01' flat roofs;Centered front-facinggables, or cross-hippedor crossed~gabJed(L-shaped plans);

VI/ood ,frarning:Arcaded porche'3 with

balust'raded balconies.

Where and When;.Western Europe at-Klthe UnrtecJ States;c. 1840-85.

STYLE FILE

ITALIANATEby tbe architecture of rural Italy, the Italianate style (also known as

Tuscan, or Lombard style) was adopted by English architects in the

late 18:30sas a romantic rebellion against the Classical styles that had prevailed

in architect! Ifal design f(lr the previous two centuries, and soon swept America.

Victorian Styles

(It

ill the [flJitcr! Sillies. Its sq{lIlI'e

m[/s'sinI~) cerU('fll eilm/wsis, low-

ABOVE: TIUs ft(fli!iIIllte !Jilll! is

171

Victorian Styles

allowed fc)r hwtoq-made, precut architec­

tural details that were transported economi­

cally via the rapidly expanding railroad sys­

tem. Suddenly, people all across the conti­

nent, including those in rural areas, wanted

the fancy houses that they saw in the popular

pattern books that were being disseminatedat the time, which often featured circular cor­

ner towers and other features commonly

associated with Queen Anne architecture.

Patterned shingles, spindles, and finials were

sometimes added; the most elaborately orna­

mented Queen Anne homes may be known as

"Eastlake," "gingerbread," or the polychro­

matic "painted ladies." In Queen Anne homes

where masonq, rather than wood, was used

as the primary construction material, decora­

tive stone, brick, and terra-cotta patterns areseen, wit] I little or no wooden ornamentation.

Other Queen Anne homes arc half-timbered,

with exposed wood framing. In these homes,

the spaces between the timbers may be filled

with plaster, stone, or even brick.

What's in a Name?

This style had its origins in England, underthe influence of architect Richard Norman

Shaw (18.31-1912). The name "Qneen Anne"

is perhaps misleading, since popular architec­

ture during this qncen's reign (1702-14) wasdominated by a more !cmrml, Renaissance­

inspired style. In developing the prototypicalEnglish version of the Queen Anne brick

honse, Shaw and others drew npon Tlldor

architectural models, adding details like orielwindows and comer towers.

Machine-Age Architecture

The Qneen Anne style was propellcd to its~enith in the United States and Carmda the

advent of the industrial machine age, which

in

the most

Anne

these

Where and When:North America;

c. 900.

Maj9.r Inf]\..Iences:Gothic Revival;English Tudor styles;Charles I_ocke Eastlake.

STYLE FILE

QUEEN ANNE

plans;Peltten,ed shingles and/or

panels;Stained glass.

Victorian Styles

Of all the Victorian housing styles popular in North America, the eclectic

Queen Anne was the most widespread, and some consider it to be the qmntes­sential Victorian style-the culmination of eveqthing that had come before it.

ABOVI': All 189(Js. SlllJlt rhan

Qlleen AII1Ie hOllse i1l

SllItl'.

'painted llldic.\' " lire among Ihe

Sa 11 Francisco

)/10.\1

170

OPPOSITE:

j(n (ton) niLe

ImuII!u)use.s

Victorian Styles

AJ30VE: Mainstream Vietoriana

meets Exotic Hevival in Glasgow,

Scotland, in this view towarcl

the Templeton Carpet Factory

(1888-92), by Willimn

Leiper Venice~\ ])oges'

Palace, with eclectic

details and colon'.

BELOW: Olema, Nell; Yori, State,

Eclectic DiversityExotic Revival architecture mirrored a

romantic interest in history and archeology.In the United States, it was not uncommon

for Exotic~style details to be superimposed

upon typical, cube-shaped ltalianate houses.

A number of synagogues were also built in

Moorish styles, recalling M()orish~inf1uencecl

synagogues built in medieval times in Spain.

An Unconventional StyleCalled "exotic," these Eastern and Mideastern

architectural femns were something of a fad in\iI/estern European and American architec­

ture, quite at odds with the styles in vogue inthe 'Western world at the time. Therefcxe, to

build one's house, palace, or hl11cifillfolly in

these elaborate and expensive Exotic styleswas both a show of wealth and a defiance of

convention. John l\iash's design for thc Royal

Pavilion (1815-23, see page 1.53) in the

English coastal town of Brighton was one suchwhich combined elaborate Chinese

and Islamic forms and motif's.

IJrick

Where. <'IndWhen:Western Eurooe. North

930.

MeNOr Influences:Asian styles;Islamic styles,

'IF;

STYLE FILE

Victorian Styles

EXOTIC REVIVALThe Exotic Hevivals were inspired by, and expressed in, various Asian and

Islamic styles, some of which werc popularized by French archeological work

in Eg}1)t dl! Napolcon's campaigns. In Europe and the United States,

these styles were adapted to the design of contemporary public buildings, as

well as expensive private hornes, beginning in the early nineteenth century.

Notable Features:Egyptian Revival:Battered walls;columns with lotus orpalm capitals; concavecorelices; Vvingi?d-diSkmotifs,

Oriental Revival: 5-curve(ogee) arche:;;; onion­:;;haped Turkishcstyledomes; geometricmasonry patterns.

Moorish Revival: Moori:;;harches; domes ofvari.ous sizes and

minaret-stylespires; and tilesurface decorations.

ABOVE:

patterns (f/u! ogee arches

lire IInlOn!!, the details

{hat {his Moorish-

Florida nUliM'iofl as tin

Ex()U(' Bpuiv{IL

Victorian Styles

179

ABOVE: The landmark Union

Station in Washington, D.C.

(interior detail. inset

OPPOSITE, TOP: Interior detail

of the imposing, domed chapel

at Annapolis Military Academy

OPPOSITE, BELOW: Period view

of Central Station, Milan, Italy;

the Imilding was

damaged World WaT II.

Public to PrivateMany of the great exhibitions-including

thosc held in Philadelphia (1876), Chicago(1893), and St. Louis (1904)-featured. Beaux

Arts structures that rocketed this style to

immense popularity. In Europe and in North

America, the earliest Beaux Arts designs were

generally reserved for grand and colossal pub­lic structures like museums, railroad stations,

banks, libraries, memorials, courthouses, and.

government and municipal buildings.

Though Beaux Arts began as the preferred.

style for grand. public structures, wealthy citi­

zens soo" adopted the lavish style for the

dcsign oj their own private mansions. In theUnited States, there were entire neighbor­

hoods designed in the Beaux Arts style, with

massive, opulent houses, wide thoroughf~lres,

and vast green spaces. The popularity of the

style to decrease in the 1920s; twenty­

five years later, these buildings were consid­

ered pretentious and showy. Later in the

twentieth ccntury, however, a new crop ofPost modern architects rediscovered an

appreciation of the Beaux Arts principles.

Classical Meets RenaissanceAlso known as "Beaux Arts Classicism," or

"Academic Classicism," this style combines

Classical design aesthetics \vith Henaissanceideals. The Ecole des Beaux-Arts stressed the

study of Greek and Roman structurcs, and

the main principles of the Beaux Arts style

arc order, symmctry, formality, grandiosity,and elaborate ornamcntation. The doctrines

and teachings of this school dominatedFrench architecture from the sevcntcenth

until thc early twentieth century. An abhor­rcncc of undecorated surhlces (or horror

vacui) is one characteristic or its teachings-aprinciple that also guidcd architects who cre­

atcd works in the Second Ernpiw style.

and

d(,~coration

STYLE FILE

Notable Features:GrancJiosE~ c:or-npositions;5yrnrnetric:al facades;Projectir-)9 facaciE.:-::-s orpavilions \Nith arche~:;;

Colo:;saJ c()lurlln~" oftenpail-ed, at-lcl ~)jtasters;

BEAUX ARTS

<;-;\1\1,'=:195, c:ar~aneJst,jtuary);

Stonc.:::'

Gr-c:~l(ld

Major influences:Classical buildings.

VVhere ancl When:hkJrt:h Arnerica;

18(35-1925.

Victorian Styles

This which is characterized by the extravagant use of Classical elements,

is named fe)l" the legendary l~cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, where some

of tbe bcst-known European ,md American architects studied at around the

turn ofthc twcntieth century. The tenn heaux arts is French for "fine art."

Victorian Styles

Estate, which was designed for George W.

Vanderbilt by Bichard Morris Hunt (see also

pages 154-55). Other notable Americanarchitects of similar mansions included

Daniel Burnham and John vVellborn Root.

The popularity of the Chateauesque style

began to fade not long after Hunt's death in

189,5. At around the turn of the century,

inventions like the automobile, electricity,

and the telephone had rapidly begun to trans­form the lives ofWcsterners. A more informal

lifestyle began to emerge, replacing the rigid

formality embodied in Victorian tastes.

ABOVE: Heckel' 1101lse, Detroit.

BELOW, RIGHT: Chateau

Frontenac ilLitel, Quebec.

STYLE FILE

Where and When:Europe, North AJl1erica;c. 1860-1910.

Major Influences:French Renaissance;Gothic.

Notable Features:Steeply pitched hipped orgabled roofs with multiplevertical adornments;

Relief-sculptured gables;Multiple dormers;Belt courses;Conical "candle-snuffer"roof towers;

Tall, ornamented, cor-beled chimneys:

Numerous balconies;Corbeled brackets:Semicircular arches;Pilasters;Paired cross-windows,or arched windows;

Gothic tracery;Gothic finials.

LEFT: The Biltmore Estate.

Asheville, North Carolina, built

for George W Vanderbilt by

hunch-cd, of workers between

1888 and 1895.

11~1'~i1

CHATEAUESQUE

Victorian Styles

\Vith its epic scale and lavish stone construction, the Chateaucsque style was

well suited fell' the opulent country mansions of the wealthy. These structures

were usn ally built of marble or limestone, and, unlike many other Victorian

the sheer size of these stately homes precluded cheaper reproductions.

homes are

both in

Gothic and Renaissance InfluencesThe recogni7;able Chateauesque stylecornbincd Gothic clements with Henaissance

dctails fi!Und in sixteenth-century French

chateaus pagc Though luxurious, the

has a rustic, yct l()rbid­

fact, most ChateauesqueIfluncl in isolated, rural locations,

and in the United States.

Ostentatious AffluenceafHuent patrons who commissionedlilT such mansions a desire

or the lavish homes of their

well-oFf neighbors. OFten cited as aofthis is the hunous Biltmore

183

Victorian Styles

BELOW: A view of the Louvre,

Paris, ,)'oon

its Second Empire

ABOVE: Glen AlIhum Mansion

in Natchez, Missis.\·i/Jpi, has a

concave 1/ wnsard

Haunted Houses

Imagine the haunted houses that loom upon

lonely hilltops in a multitude of Hollywood

horror movies, including Alfred Hitchcock's

Psycho, and you've got the classic Second

Empire house. Because of its tall mansard

roof (which has a distinctive profile) and its

elaborate wrought-iron cresting, a mansard

mansion is likely to appear forbidding and

spooky. However, this is not at all how these

homes were viewed in their heyday, when

they wen: considered quite styljsh, modern,

and majestic. TheLtct that these homes could

be built in a tall, narrow shape made them

particularly attractive for city building on

slnall lots in the nineteenth century.

Horror Vacui

The Second Empire style is generally highly

ornamented, which is why critics apply to it

the term hOr1-or Dac1li, or the fear of empty

space or unadorned surfaces. The Louvre,remodeled 1852-57, is one of the bmous

Parisiau examples of this style, which rapidly

became fashionable elsewhere in Europe and

in North America. \tVhile many Second

Empire buildings are large-scale ornate pub­lic and residential structures built of stone,

the style was also flexible enough to allow f()r

srna]]er, more modest wooden cottages.

Penn.

II/llesllal!, litis. 0111'

Italian

STYLE FILE:

Notable Features:High mansard roofs \Nithrounded cornices;

Wrought-iron cresting;DormE~rwindo\NS projectingfrom the attic;

Brackets belo\N eaves,balconies, and bays;

Cupolas;Patterned slate roofs;Classical pediments and

columns;Tall first-story \Nindo\Ns;Small entry porches.

Where and When:Western Elirope andNorth ·America;c. 1855-85.

SECOND EMPIREHouses and public buildings in the Second Empire style were modeled on the rich

Baroque Revival that flourished during the rebuilding of Paris, France, supervised

Baron Haussmann in the reign of Napoleon III (18,52-70, the Second Empirc).

Victorian Stvles

ilirp(),<,.iiig;,<.;fall{('

HICHT: Thl' I!JJ/llclil Plli/adelphil/.

CUI/HI/II,lmi/r

18i'j-},(j()i. III,ore illfln SO{)

IJwsonry sir'luIure,<; in lhclcorlrf

Till' roof i\ ('mll;II{'(!l.cilh (I.)]

LEFT: A Tudor Revival-style

house in Des Moines, Iowa, with

typieal features half-

timbering and steep

BELOW: An English C{)tswold­

style cottage, with (l thatched

roof that adds to its

{)ld-fashioned appearance.

Victorian Styles

CotS\Nold CottagesIn the United States, "Tudor Revival" also

refers to a regional English cottage style

known as the Cotswold Cottage, which imi­

tates cottages built since medieval times in the

hilly Cotswold region of England. These were

originally built of honey-colored Cotswold

limestone and had steeply pitched, thatched

roofs, Their popularity in America peaked

around the 1920s; these charming homesoften have a "mock-thatched" roof of slate or

cedar, large chimneys, an uneven sloping

roofline, small window panes, and short doors.

Thc Tudor H.evival and Cotswold Cottage

styles saw a brief comeback in the 1940s, Then,

after another disappearance Ii'om the scene,home-builders showed renewed interest in

these rural-looking homes in the 1970s and '80s,

PEWABIC POTTERY

Location: Detroit,Michigan.

Date: 1907.Architects: William B.

Strattan and Frank D.Baldwin.

Materials: Brick, stuccO',and waod.

Significance: Strattonand Baldwin designedthis English Tudor-stylepottery building as aciafts center ratherthan a factory.Elabarately constructedand decorated, the half­timbered building has asteeply pitched roaf, arustic-looking facade,and large chimneys,Pewabic Pottery haschanged very little since1907, and the originalcabinets, tables, clay­workin~;J machine', anddumb vvaiter are still in

use by ceramicists.It was designated aNational HistoricLandmark in 1991 .

OPPOSITE: Pewabic Pottery, in

Detroit, Michigan, combines the

Tudor Revival with English

Arts and Crafts features.

~!:i

Suburban PicturesqueMore broadly, the revival of the old-fashioned

'fudor cottage, with its rural connotations,

may be tbought of as part of the romantically

nostalgic Victorian trend against urban living

and the fast pace of industrialization, Though

evocative of the old Englisb country house,

the Tudor H.evival was a largely suburban

phenomenon, Houses in this style span areasof the suburban neighborhoods of the U,S.

Northeast and Midwest, as well as English

eities, And, in pleasing contrast with many ofthe other, more formal, Victorian revival

styles, the form and material of Tudor homes

lend them a tendency to merge attractivelywith the natural landscape,

Notable Features:

Half-timbering; .Steeply pitched roofs;Prominent cross-gables;Grouped, leaded windowswith small panes;

Tall chimneys, oftenwith decarative pats;

Mix of stone or brick withstucco and \Nood;

Asymmetrical plan.

STYLE FILE

Victorian Styles

TUDOR REVIVALTudor-style homes (see pages 84-8.5, also referred to as "Old English") enjoyed aVictorian-era revival in Britain's growing suburhs and, at the same time, found

popularity in Continental Europe and the United States, where the style endured

until the J 920s. The style is easily identified by ha1f~timbering and a rustic mix of

stone or brick with stucco and wood, and (usually) steep roofs and gables.

Major Influences:

lEnglish Tudor.

Where and When:

North Amenca, Eu~ope;c. 1880- 19405, 1970-85.

A HUMAN SCALE?

243

In the United Kingdom,architects likeSpence created newlandmarks in concrete,including large, public­sector housing blocks.These soon becameassociated with socialproblems, however, andcame toseem tooimpersonal· in sC2'lte.

Postwar Modern Architecture

Gray MatterInterestingly, Le eOl'busier is considered the

f(mnder of this style because of his experi­mentation with concrete and his designs for

enormous block housing, but it was John

Portman & Associates that popularized

Brutalisrn with such buildings as Atlanta,

Georgia's, Marriott Marquis Hotel (1985) and

Singapore's Marina Mandarin Singapore.

Tbese gigantic structures transform the space

around them, changing the massing of the

area. Another influential architect working in

this style was Paul Rudolph, who received tbe

important and prestigious commission for theHew Arl and Architecture Building at Yale

University, New Haven, Connecticut (196.3).

The Joy of Concrete

The style's name is derivcd from the French

term heton hrut ("rough concrete"), but

there is an elemeut of brutality as well in thestolid and unrefined molded surhlces that are

gencrally made of exposcd concrete. Thesc

buildings explore the simplicity of concrete

in their crude, natural forms. Brick and glass

wcre occasionally used, but again, the build­

ings conformed to the bloeklike figures of the

basic, blank-looking shapes of Brutalism.

environments.

Major Influences:Modernisnl.

STYLE FILE

Where and When:Industrialized countriesarOund the world;1950-85.

Notable Features:Concrete surfaces;Simple lines;Rectangular, regular,blocklike shapes;

BRUTALISM

OPPOSITE: Till' Brulalists

Ihe

rise alJllrlllll'lI1

[{ICUT A'\IJ BI';I.OW: CUllcrete

a1111 .'()(ill heC!lll1l' stancillI'd

II/aterials

lors', /W/l.'j1ng (!lid

fJuilrlill;!.,s alike.

A pronounced, and much reviled, offshoot of the Modernist style (see pages

240-4 L) was Brutalisrn, whose buildings are similar in many respects to

Modernist structun:s, but celebrate the rough qualities 0[' concrete.

Postwar Modern Architecture

251

Postwar Moclern Architecture

The Glass CeilingAt the Louvre (see feature, left) Pei solved

the problem of grafting a rnodern design ontoan historic landmark with a glass pyramid, its

proportions based on the ancient wonder atGiza. He surrounded this new main entrance

(which is capable of admitting LS,OOO people

an hour) with three small pyramids and three

reflecting pools, placing it in the center of the

Napoleon Court, with the V-shaped Louvre

around it. The main pyramid is a cOlnplex,interlinked stcel structure sheathed in reflec­

tive glass; its genius is in the sheer simplicityof its form. The translucent pyramid is of its

time, hut refers to the ancient world; it defers

to the larger presence of the surrounding

building by literally reflecting it. It was whatPei claimed to be "a natural solution."

HIGHT: The 790-jiJOt Hancock

7()tueJ~ Boston (1972-76), was

by I.M. Pei with his

]JartJieJ~ Henry Cobb.

OPPOSlTI·: Detail view of the

Louvre Paris, France.

Immigrant to IconBorn in China, Pei studied in the United

States, fell" a time under vValter Gropius at

Harvard. His buildings combine abstract

shapes with simple, elegant finishes, creating

monnments of huge cultural importance. The

East of the National GalIeJ)' of Art

974-78), Washington, D.C., which homes

the United States' modern and contemporary

art collcetion, is noted for its exquisite siting

and breathtakingly expansive interior spaces.Pei made beautihd accomrnodations fen' the

building and its visitors: there are wide pedes­

trian walkways to manage the trafflc patternswithin the exhihition halls. In what has

hccO\nc his signature, there is an underground

passageway with glazed, pyramidal

l~o r--listnr-lc:al

STYLE FILE

Notable Features:Abstri:'lct, ~Jeornetric

sr''lape's;

CONTEMPORARYMODERNISM

Where and When:Major CitiF'::5 \'vorld\Nicle;

1970<.:.; onwarri,

Conlplex or- high-techstructural cl(~sigrl;

Plain c;spec:iallv~~I'::':'J~;sand other

Feature sj",yli9ht~s.

Major Influences:Bauhaus;International 5tvle;iVlodel--ni<;-3rn.

Postwar Moclern Architecture

Modernism at its most elegant is exemplified in the work of one of the last cen­

lllost celebrated architects, I.M. (Ieoh Ming) Pei, in whose work can be

scen tbe spare aesthetics of the Bauhaus (see pages 228-29) and Modernist

pages 240-4!) lllovernents, but also culturally sensitive~even rmnantic~dcsign.

MAll...OROER. HOUSES

Modular housingandprefabrication areinnovations that have

been around in theUnited States sincethe 18905.houses were sold out

catalogsthe cross-

Top: The arcs of Toronto City

Hall (1965j, Ontario, Canada,

designed hy ViVo Revell

LEFT: The Epcot Center,

Orlando, Florida.

Postwar Modern Architecture

there is little usable living space-and then

there are problems of placing plumbing, elec­

tricity, and fittings. The dome has become

popular in commercial applications, however.

The famous Epcot Center (see photograph)

or the Eden Project, Cornwall, England, are

examples, as well as any number of sports andentertainment arenas and stadiums around

the globe. Because domes are strong, and

grow stronger vvith size, they lend themselvesmore to commercial than domestic use.

Domes and Modules

Hichard Buckminster Fuller, motivated by a

desire to benefit humankind, set about exper­

imenting with WilYS of "doing more with less."

.Most famously, this took the form of the geo­

dcslc dome that captured our romatic imagi­nation. He developed this based on his theo­

ries of "energetic-synergctic geometry," and it

was seen as another possible sohltion to tbe

postwar world housing shortage. Fuller's

clollie was the centerpiece of the American

Pavilion at Expo '67, the world's fair held inCanada. However, the dome never

on for domestic llse: due to its

Housing-Shortage Solutions

The search for inexpensive, quickly built

houses as the population grows has led to

many innovations in construction engineer­

ing. The Quonset Hut, created in response to

military needs during World War II, with its

floor and continuous halt~cylinder walls of

corrugated metal, had a powerfi.ll impact ondomestic architecture after the war.

energy-

r.q]{!(x:s.

CONTEMPORARY TRENDS

mirroringof the earth,

and moon--'-andtherefore often

incorporated in modernbuildings, The ArthurErikson ArchitecturalCorporation designedtwo ·towers in theUnited Arab Emirates,both topped by a largesphere: the EtisalatTower 1 (1992) in Dubaiand the Etisalat Tower(1997) in Fujairah, Evenmore impressively, theball atop The Westpoint(1999) in Hong Kong,by Ho 5< PartnersArchitects Ltd.,contqiQs a club. Below,a semicircul",rformgives the Westendturm,Frankfurt. Germany. itsdistinctive profile.

CIRCLES AND SPHERES

ConternpclfCUYarchitecture continues to push the boundaJies of materials and tech­

nology, and, especially in the last three decades, geometry, while factors like the

environment and globalization are increasingly corning into play. Current trends are

moving our dynamic built landscape in divergent, but always fascinating, directions,

Postwar Modern Architecture

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