History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

INFLUENCE OF ROMAN ARCHITECTURE ON NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE

Term Paper for History of Architecture (AP131)

Samridhi Sharma
Roll Number: 03216901611 Sushant School of Art and Architecture

ABSTRACT
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both 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 its purest form it is a style principle derived from the architecture of Classical Greece and Rome and the architecture of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Since it describes the buildings that are inspired by the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, In a Neoclassical building echoes of the Parthenon in Athens or the Pantheon in Rome can be seen This report mainly deals with the influence of roman architecture on neo classical architecture. In 1870, Rome became the capital city of the new Kingdom of Italy. During this time, neoclassicism, a building style influenced by the architecture of antiquity, became a predominant influence in Roman architecture. During this period, many
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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

great palaces in neoclassical styles were built to host ministries, embassies, and other governing agencies. One of the best-known symbols of Roman neoclassicism is the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II or "Altar of the Fatherland" which is used as a reference further ahead in the report.

A Neoclassical building is likely to have these features: symmetrical shape, tall columns that rise the full height of the building, triangular pediment, and a domed roof.

The Neo-classical style is rooted in Roman architecture, like that of the Roman Pantheon, which is characterized by a porch of Corinthian columns and a triangular pediment attached to the ends of the eastern arm. The Pantheon's design exemplifies the Neoclassical return to a strictly logical use of classical architectural elements. Additonally, the Roman triumphal arch was one of the main sources of Neo-classical expression with its tripartite division of four equal columns unequally spaced. The Arch of Constantine, Rome (AD. 315) supplied the idea of the 'detached' column with returning entablature and the superin cumbent 'attic storey'. These important constructions during the roman period are briefly studied in the report as the inspiration for countless public buildings of the neoclassical style.

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

PAPER Introduction
Neoclassical Art and Architecture, art produced in Europe and North America from about 1750 through the early 1800s, marked by the emulation of Greco-Roman forms. More than just an antique revival, neoclassicism was linked to contemporary political events. Neoclassical artists at first sought to replace the sensuality and what they viewed as the triviality of the rococo style with a style that was logical, solemn in tone, and moralizing in character. When revolutionary movements established republics in France and America, the new governments adopted neoclassicism as the style for their official art, by virtue of its association with the democracy of ancient Greece and republican Rome. Later, as Napoleon rose to power in France, the style was modified to serve his propagandistic needs. With the rise of the romantic movement , a preference for personal expression replaced an art based upon fixed, ideal values. Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both 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 its purest form it is a style principally derived from the architecture of Classical Greece and Rome and the architecture of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Though neoclassical architecture employs the same classical vocabulary as Late Baroque architecture, it tends to emphasize its planar qualities, rather than sculptural volumes. Projections and recessions and their effects of light and shade are more flat; sculptural bas-reliefs are flatter and tend to be en framed in friezes,

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

tablets or panels. Its clearly articulated individual features are isolated rather than interpenetrating, autonomous and complete in themselves. (1)

Genesis of Neoclassical Art

The neoclassical style developed following the excavation of the ruins of the Italian cities of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii in 1748, the publication of such books as Antiquities of Athens (1762) by the English archaeologists James Stuart and Nicholas Revett .Extolling the noble simplicity and calm grandeur of Greco -Roman art, the German art historian Johann Winckelmann urged artists to study and imitate its timeless, ideal forms. His ideas found enthusiastic reception within the international circle of artists gathered about him in the 1760s in Rome.

Architecture
Before the discoveries at Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Athens, only Roman classical architecture had been generally known, largely through the architectural etchings of classical Roman. The new archaeological finds extended architecture's formal vocabulary, and architects began advocating buildings based on Greco-Roman models. In the United States, one aspect of neoclassicism, the Federal style, flourished between 1780 and 1820. Based on the work of Robert Adam, it is exemplified in the work of Charles Bulfinch (Massachusetts State House, Boston, completed

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

1798). Thomas Jefferson studied the Maison-Carre, a 1st-century Roman temple in Nimes, France, and used it as a model for the State Capitol Building in Richmond, Virginia (1785-1789).

Figure 1 Maisson Carree

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MaisonCarr%C3%A9e.jpeg

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

Figure 2 State capitol building in Richmond Ref: http://www.flickr.com/photos/concord977/7777825280/

Through his readings and travels, Jefferson developed a profound understanding of Roman architecture and applied his knowledge to the designs for his own home, Monticello; the University of Virginia campus; and preliminary contributions to the plans for the new national capital of Washington, D.C. Jefferson's work exemplifies neoclassical style in the United States.

Figure 3 Monticello; the University of Virginia Ref: (http://practicallyhistorical.net/)

Ancient Romans used a consolidated scheme for city planning for both defense and civil convenience; however, the roots of this scheme go back to even older civilizations. At its most basic, the grid system of streets, a central forum with city

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services, two main slightly wider boulevards, and the occasional diagonal street were characteristic of the very logical and orderly Roman design. Ancient facades and building layouts were oriented to these city design patterns and they tended to work in proportion with the importance of public buildings. After a lull during the period of modern architectural dominance (roughly postWorld War II until the mid-1980s), neoclassicism has seen somewhat of a resurgence. This rebirth is mainly due to postmodern architecture, whose decorative tastes includes columns, capitals and tympana. In particular, neoeclectic architecture and neo historicist architecture are Postmodernism outgrowth that deals with an increasing demand in contemporary classical architecture.

Figure 4 Syon house

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Ref: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/AdamBrothersHallatSyon1778.jpg

Charactersistics
Clean, elegant lines uncluttered appearance free standing columns Massive buildings Columns were used to carry the weight of the building's structure. But later they became used as a graphical element.

Roof is usually flat and horizontal and often is visible from the ground. Neoclassical architecture style had no domes or towers. Building's facade is flat and long. Often having a screen of free-standing columns. Exterior was built in such ways as to represent classical perfection. Doors and windows were built to represent that perfection. Decorations were reduced to a minimum on outside. There were often gardens around buildings completed in geometric patterns. Building's Facade, consisting of flat and long rows of columns. Simplicity and massive size is emphasized here. Uncluttered appearance and columns that carry the building's weight.

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

Figure 5
Ref: http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/architecture/neoclassical/neoclassical_archi tecture.php

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Jefferson modeled the Rotunda after the Pantheon in Rome, reducing the measurements so that the Rotunda would not dwarf the Pavilions. Construction began in 1822 and was completed in 1826 at a cost of almost $60,000. Jefferson did not live to see the completion of the Rotunda, the last building on the Lawn to be finished. Shortly after the Rotunda's completion, many classes were moved from the first floors of the Pavilions on the Lawn into the Rotunda's oval rooms. Some have gone so far as to describe the Pantheon's form as "perhaps the most influential ... in Western Europe", and it is held as a "symbol of the highest architectural excellence". The style of the Pantheon can be detected in many buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries; numerous government and public buildings, city halls, universities, and public libraries echo its portico-and-dome structure.

Bibliography
( "The Roman Forum". Ancient Encyclopedia) ("A New Rome: Neoclassicism in the New Nation". )

(Western Architecture". Encyclopdia Britannica)

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