Neo-Classical architecture

Architectural style which readopted classical elements in the middle of the 18th century (about 1760), turning away from the Renaissance and returning to the antique aesthetics of Athens and Rome.

The Neo-Classical movement became very popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Europe and also applied to fields other than architecture.

In Britain Robert Adam (1728-1792) became well-known internationally for being the herald of the “Classical Revival“, Neo-Classicism in British architecture. Adam is using delicate ornaments and light constructions which can be seen in Adam’s Syon House (Middlesex, 1761). His books on antique ruins in Italy and those of other contemporaries like James Stuart and Nicholas Revett provided English architects and artists with an idea of the strength and plainness of the Doric style. A strong preference for the Greek antique was exerted by James Stuart (1713-1788) who built the first “copy“ of a Greek Doric temple on English ground in Hagley in 1758. Robert Adam and his brother James created the Adelphi Buildings in London in 1767, a Neo-Classical terrace house. Some years later Sir William Chambers (1723-1796) elaborated and built Somerset House next to the Thames. Furthermore, John Nash (1752-1835) contributed to London’s cityscape by designing Regent’s Park and Regent’s Street (1812-13) which shows Neo-Classical facades.

Sources

Pevsner, Nikolaus. Europäische Architektur – Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. (English original, 1943) München: Prestel-Verlag, 2008. 309-361.

Crook, J. Mordaunt. The Greek Revival. Neo-Classical Attitudes in British Architecture 1760-1870. London: John Murray, 1972.

Crespi Morbio, Vittoria. “Vom 18. zum 19. Jahrhundert. Der Klassizismus. Die Romantik. Exotismus. Der Historismus.“ Kunst. Die Weltgeschichte. Mailand: Leonardo Arte srl, 1997. 365-371.