Home, Sweet, Home: A Look at Houses in Neoclassical Style
Neoclassical architecture, at its core, was an attempt to revive what architects interpreted to be a glory period for their field of specialization. It was a reaction to increased disenchantment with the popular architectural movements of their era that focused on excessive design and status, far removed from the simple and more imposing structures of bygone eras. Ironically, when one reviews the classical Greek and Roman architecture, such as the Parthenon or the Colosseum, that neoclassicism built itself on to imitate, one realizes that neoclassical designs still carried an aura of elitism that it sought to reject by the baroque and rococo architectural movement.
Specifically, the neoclassical style evident in cathedrals, arenas, or museums, for example, still served a function as a centerpiece for the purpose that it served and in the area in where it was built. That is structures of lesser significance in classical Greece and Rome have long decayed, whereas Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
Timeless Forever: Ancient Greek and Roman Architecture that inspires today
As Karl Friedrich Schinkel was designing the Altes Museum in Berlin in 1825, he had an ambition to redefine the typology of museum architecture from thereafter. In doing so, he sought to construct a building that married elements of the past with components of the present and future – in essence, to build something timeless. Schinkel turned to the Greek Stoa in Athens as a model for the Altes Museum. Subscribers to neoclassicism recognized that the Greek revival movement was established to create an importance to their individual structures, just as classical Greeks did with their prized designs, and thus the function of buildings were an important qualification for whether neoclassical design was appropriate. Classical Roman architecture was similar to that of the ancient Greeks, particularly when one Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
In architecture, there is no such thing as an original design. Elements of the new are sourced to the old. Sometimes this credit to the past is given explicitly, such as was the case during the neoclassical movement which patterned itself after the past by recapturing the classic Greek and Roman architecture. However, even as the popularity of neoclassical architecture began in the mid-18th century and peaked by the late 19th century as the popular style, elements of this classical style still exists, even though categorized as a different genre. Indeed, neoclassical architecture has become so conventional that architects popularly label neoclassicism as “traditional architecture.” As a result, the influence of neoclassicism can be seen in modern architecture, and remains anything but extinct.
Though understanding the difficulties in assigning chronological orders of popular architectural movements, the first variants of the modern architecture developed in the early 20th century with the rise of profound technological and engineering developments. Modern architecture sought to reflect the engineering feats of humankind, as exemplified by Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
