Georgian architecture

 

It includes several trends in English architecture that were predominant during the reigns (1714–1830) of George I, George II, George III, and George IV. The first half of the period (c.1710–c.1760) was dominated by Neo-Palladianism (see Palladio). Colin Campbell, with his first publication of the Vitruvius Britannicus in 1715, inspired the patron-architect Richard Boyle, earl of Burlington, and his protégé, William Kent, to return to a classicizing form of architecture, based on the works of Inigo Jones and Palladio. Campbell's Mereworth Castle, Kent (1723), is an outstanding example of this style. Another exponent of Palladian theory was Giacomo Leoni (1688–1746), who published an edition of the Architecture of A. Palladio in Four Books (c.1716–c.1720). The Palladian tradition exerted an obvious and powerful influence throughout the Georgian period both in England and America. During the first half of the 18th cent. there was a countercurrent of baroque architecture stemming from buildings by Sir Christopher Wren and carried on by Sir John Vanbrugh, Nicholas Hawksmoor, and James Gibbs. From the second half of the 18th cent. new archaeological discoveries in Greece and Italy led architects to draw freely from antiquity and other sources (see classic revival). Neoclassicism had for its principal exponents Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam, George Dance II, and Sir John Soane. A vast increase in population and the birth of industrialism brought an increasing demand for formal mansions for the aristocracy and for dwelling houses for the middle classes. A purely English type of dwelling, somewhat standardized as to plan and materials, was produced for the needs of town and country. The use of brick had become common under William of Orange (William III), as an element of Dutch influence. The red brick house, with courses and cornices of white stone and trimmings of white painted woodwork, is what is popularly termed the Georgian style. New types of public, commercial, civic, and governmental architecture arose, examples of which are Queensberry House by Giacomo Leoni; the Old Admiralty, Whitehall, by Thomas Ripley; the treasury and Horse Guards buildings, by William Kent; Somerset House, by Sir William Chambers; the Bank of England, by Sir John Soane; and monumental street groupings, such as those by John Wood and his son at Bath and by the Adam brothers in London. Among notable churches are St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. Mary-le-Strand, both by James Gibbs; other important architects of the period were James Gandon and Henry Holland. American buildings and arts of the period, which closely resemble their English prototypes, are also usually designated as Georgian.

Bibliography

See J. Harris, Georgian Country Houses (1968); J. Summerson, Architecture in Britain 1530–1830 (3d ed. 1958) and Georgian London (1962, repr. 1970).

Georgian architecture is the name given in English-speaking countries to the architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840, named after the four British monarchs named George.^[1]

It succeeded the English Baroque of Sir Christopher Wren, Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Among the first architects to promote the change in direction from baroque were Colen Campbell and the engravings in Vitruvius Britannicus, Lord Burlington and his protegé William Kent, Thomas Archer and the Venetian Giacomo Leoni, who passed his career in England.

The styles that resulted fall within several categories. In the mainstream of Georgian style were both Palladian architecture— and its whimsical alternatives, Gothic and Chinoiserie, which were the English-speaking world's equivalent of European Rococo. From the mid-1760s a range of Neoclassical modes were fashionable, associated with the British architects Robert Adam, James Gibbs, Sir William Chambers, James Wyatt, Henry Holland and Sir John Soane. Greek Revival was added to the design repertory, after about 1800. See also: Adam style, Georgian Dublin.

Distinguishing Characteristics

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. "Regular" was a term of approval, implying symmetry and adherence to classical rules: the lack of symmetry, where Georgian additions were added to earlier structures, was deeply felt as a flaw. Regularity of housefronts along a street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning. Georgian designs usually lay within the Classical orders of architecture and employed a decorative vocabulary derived from ancient Rome or Greece. The most common building materials used are brick or stone. Commonly used colors were red, tan, or white. However, modern day Georgian style homes use a variety of colors.

Georgian style was usually defined by reddish brick walls that contrasted with white used for window trimming and cornices. The entrances were often emphasized by a portico.

General Characteristics

Georgian houses mainly feature - roof to ground-level:

• A hipped roof
• Chimney on both sides of the home.
• A stone parapet surrounding the roof
• A portico in the middle of the roof with a ring window in the middle
• 6 paned sash windows in the upper floors for servant's quarters
• Larger windows with 9/12 panes

Colonial Georgian architecture

Georgian Architecture was widely disseminated in the English colonies of the time. In the American colonies, colonial Georgian blended with the neo-Palladian style to become known more broadly as 'Federal' building styles. In the American colonies, Georgian buildings were also built of wood with clapboards; even columns were built of timber, framed up and turned on an oversized lathe. The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is an excellent example of Georgian architecture. Unlike the Baroque style that it replaced, a style which was generated almost solely in the context of palaces and churches, this style had wide currency in the upper and middle classes. Within the residential context, the best remaining example is the pristine Hammond-Harwood House (1774) in Annapolis, Maryland. This house was designed by colonial architect William Buckland and modeled on the Villa Pisani at Montagnana, Italy as depicted in Andrea Palladio's Four Books Of Architecture. The establishment of Georgian architecture was to a large degree aided by the fact that unlike earlier styles, which were disseminated among craftsmen through the direct experience of the apprenticeship system, Georgian architecture was also disseminated to builders through the new medium of inexpensive suites of engravings. From the mid-18th century, Georgian styles were assimilated into an architectural vernacular that became part and parcel of the training of every carpenter, mason and plasterer, from Edinburgh to Maryland.

Post-Georgian developments

After about 1840 Georgian conventions were slowly abandoned as a number of Revival styles, including Gothic revival, enlarged the design repertoire. In the United States this style declined in popularity after the revolution, due to its association with the colonial regime; but later in the early decades of the twentieth century when there was a growing nostalgia for its sense of order, the style was revived and came to be known as the Colonial Revival. In Canada the United Empire Loyalists embraced Georgian architecture as a sign of their fealty to Britain, and the Georgian style was dominant in the country for most of the first half of the 19th century. The Grange, for example, a manor built in Toronto, was built in 1817.

Modern Georgian developments

In the late 1980's, Leslie Wexner, founder of Limited Brands began development on a $47 million, Georgian inspired estate, situated on nearly 1000 acres (4 km²) in New Albany, Ohio. New Albany is an old village outside of Columbus dating from the pioneer era, which Wexner developed with the "New Albany Company". The Plain Local School District Campus, New Albany Country Club, and surrounding neighborhoods feature many classic Georgian elements.

See also

• John Nash (architect)
• Robert Adam
• Christopher Wren
• Victorian architecture
• Golden ratio

Notes

References

Further reading

• Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 3rd ed. 1995.
• John Cornforth, Early Georgian Interiors, (Paul Mellon Centre) 2005.
• James Stevens Curl, Georgian Architecture.
• Christopher Hussey, Early Georgian Houses,, Mid-Georgian Houses,, Late Georgian House,. Reissued in paperback, Antique Collectors Club, 1986.
• Frank Jenkins, Architect and Patron 1961.
• Barrington Kaye, The Development of the Architectural Profession in Britain 1960.
• Sir John Summerson, Georgian London, (1945). Revised edition, edited by Howard Colvin, 2003.
• Sir John Summerson, Architecture in Britain (series: Pelican History of Art) Reissued in paperback 1970

External links

• Georgian Terrace in Horsham

Donate to Wikimedia