Pathways Into Architectural
History – Themes and Images
From the Department For
Continuing Education
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
The images which follow all relate in one way or
another to the theme of Classicism in
architecture. The term Classicism is used to
indicate that a particular example of
architecture derives its essential structural
and decorative forms from the examples
bequeathed from ancient Greek or Roman
architecture…
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
When we ordinarily think of the legacy of
ancient Greek or Roman architecture, we tend
to imagine massive fluted stone columns
topped by elaborate horizontal entablatures,
with an overriding air of immense grandeur
and pomp… What, then, are we to make of
our first example of Classicist architecture…?
Inigo Jones: Queen’s House, Greenwich,
London (c.1614-35)
This feature
– the Ionic
‘loggia’ –
was among
the first of its
kind to be
built in
England…
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
In the case of Inigo Jones’ Queen’s House, we
seem to see the opposite of the elaborate
ornamental grandeur which we might
ordinarily expect to find with Classicist
architecture. Clearly architectural Classicism is
a many-faceted style, capable of severe and
restrained elegance as well as lavish
ornamentation…
Inigo Jones: façade of the Banqueting House, Whitehall,
London (c.1619-22)
Balustrading
Decorative ‘swags’
(notice the innovative neo-Classical features
incorporated into Jones’ design…)
Composite pilasters
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
The next sequence of slides stand in direct
contradiction to the restraint of Jones. The
buildings which follow are all examples of that
most lavish and exuberant interpretation of
the Classical aesthetic: the Baroque. Here we
do indeed encounter the full expressive
ornamental flourish of Classicism at its most
emotional and dynamic…
Sir John Vanbrugh (with Nicholas
Hawksmoor: Castle Howard, N.
Yorkshire (c. 1699 - 1712)
The ‘Atlas Fountain’
(The south front)
Notice how much more lavish and exuberant
the ornamentation is here…
Although the essential architectural
‘language’ is still that of Greco-Roman
neo-Classicism – as with Inigo Jones’
earlier works
The north front
What is the overall aesthetic effect of this
combination of architecture and
sculpture? Which variant of neoClassicism do you prefer: that of Jones, or
that of Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor?
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
Another quintessential example of the English
Baroque style is to be found in central Oxford:
the Radcliffe Camera, by James Gibbs –
although, as with Castle Howard, also with
contributions by Nicholas Hawksmoor –
embodies much of the aesthetic drama and
expressiveness of the Baroque style…
Radcliffe Camera,
Oxford (1737 – 49)
Notice once again the rich
combination of decorative
flourishes alongside strict neoClassical logic…
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
Perhaps the grandest manifestation of the
English Baroque era is to be found in London.
St Paul’s Cathedral was designed by Sir
Christopher Wren (assisted, again, by
Hawksmoor) in order to replace the massive
Gothic cathedral which was destroyed in the
Great Fire of 1666…
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
Wren originally intended to build a centrallyplanned Italianate basilica, very much along
the lines of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome –
however the deeply conservative Anglican
clergy of the day fought against his plans at
every stage… The result of this protracted
aesthetic tussle is the exquisite example of
modulated high Baroque which we see
today…
Sir Christopher Wren: St.
Paul’s Cathedral, London
(c.1666 – 1710)
What characteristics of the high Baroque style, as we have now come
to understand it, are visible here?
Notice here how regular and
‘correct’ Wren is in his use
of the essential elements of
neo-Classicism…
In spite of the vigorous high
Baroque feel of the cathedral
as a whole
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
By the time of the Georgian era, Classicism as
the predominant architectural style of the day
had begun to influence the design of domestic
buildings, as well as of cathedrals and grand
country houses…
Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, London (c. 1775 – 83)
Does the overall shape and outline of this urban terrace remind you of any of
the previous views which we have examined? This, perhaps...?
In what ways does the London terrace resemble, or differ from, the high
Baroque of Castle Howard?
Pathways Into Architectural History:
Variants of Classicism
As the Georgian age gave way to the early
Victorian era, Classicism refused to relinquish
its hold upon architecture of all kinds…
William Wilkins: the National Gallery,
London (c. 1832 - 38)
Notice here
the use of the
Corinthian
order – with its
distinctive
‘acanthus leaf’
capitals and
fluted
columns…
John Nash: Carlton House Terrace, London (1827 - 32)
Here, again, we see the use of the Corinthian order…
Sir Aston Webb: Admiralty Arch, London (c. 1912)
This is a building designed in a style known as ‘Edwardian
Baroque’. What features do you see here which might merit
the use of such a term?
Charles William Long: Victoria
House, Bloomsbury, London (1922
– 32)
Notice here the
combination of
monumental
Ionic columns
with Art Decostyle pediment
sculpture…
Sir John Burnet: King Edward
VII Galleries, British Museum,
London (1907 – 14)
Notice here, again, the
prominent use of the Ionic
order – with monumental
fluted columns and ‘volute’
capitals…
Sir Robert Smirke: British Museum
(south front) – c. 1823 - 52
Here, once again, we see the prominent use of the Ionic order – with fluted columns and volutes,
combined with lavish allegorical pediment sculptures…
Sir Robert Smirke: King’s Library, British Museum,
London (c.1850)
An opulent and luxuriant example of a Corinthian
styled interior (note the Corinthian column to the
extreme left…)
Sydney Smirke:
Round Reading
Room, British
Museum (1854 –
57)
An example of the
application of
innovative steelframed
construction
techniques to the
creation of a
Romanesque /
neo-Classical
interior space…
Sir Robert Smirke: Great
Court, British Museum (c.
1823 – 52) / Sydney
Smirke Round Reading
Room (exterior, 1854 –
57) / Norman Foster:
Great Court Roof (1999 –
2000)
In one of the great
architectural set-pieces of
modern London, Norman
Foster’s CAD-designed
roof physically joins the
earlier works of Robert,
and Sydney Smirke, so
as to create a unique
architectural space…
Learning to Look at Western
Architecture
If you have enjoyed this brief tour through the
architectural language of Classicism, you may
wish to consider delving more deeply into the
history of western architecture as a whole. In
which case you may find the following 10
week on-line course, taught under the
auspices of the Department of Continuing
Education at Oxford University, of interest…
Learning to Look at Western
Architecture – 10 week on-line
course from the Department of
Continuing Education at Oxford
University … [click here for details]