The architects that helped construct neoclassicism
On the Pincio in the Villa Medici in Italy lies a building that has both suffered the effects of time and enjoyed its fruits. The French Academy of Rome, founded in 1666, has required numerous renovations in the past 343 years. However, its legacy lives on in the Pantheon in Paris, the Pavlovsk Palace in Russia, the United States Capitol Building, among many others. Though neoclassical architecture had its exponents previously in France, such as Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, it was the French Academy in Rome that was the setting for the conception of neoclassicism as a movement, and its subsequent expansion globally.
Charles-Louis ClÈrisseau, in particular, became a pioneer in directly assisting in the export of the neoclassical movement abroad. Himself a neoclassical architect and painter, he mentored students in the ways of ancient Rome architecture with focus on its ruins and designs, both real and imagined. Among his proteges was Robert Adams, a Scottish neoclassical architect and interior designer himself. Inspired by the classical antiquity espoused by neoclassicism, Robert Adams returned to the United Kingdom to become one of the most influential architects of his century. His work still remains, such as Pulteney Bridge in Bath, and Adams introduced Britain to a new genre of architectural style that eventually became influential, as reflected by the fact that its monarch resides in a neoclassical design with Buckingham Palace. Clerisseau also directly assisted in exporting neoclassical design to the new republic of the United States by working alongside an eager Thomas Jefferson who sought to build his new republic in the image of classical Greek.
France was the first and greatest beneficiary of the neoclassical movement which is altogether unsurprising considering the large presence of French Academy of Rome. Among those trained at the Academy included Jacques Germain Soufflot, who in 1755 designed the Pantheon which served originally as a church dedicated to Sainte Genevieve. Another demonstration of the ubiquity and popularity gained by neoclassicism in France in this century is the Arc de Triomphe, designed by Jean Chalgrin – neoclassicism now serving a function of glorifying and remembering wartime veterans.
In addition to Robert Adams, England, as a result, also experienced and enjoyed their own influx of architects that favored classic antiquity of classical Greek and Rome. Sir William Chambers was among the top competitors of Robert Adams concerning the top architects of Britain. In fact, he was knighted for his contributions to studying and spreading his own architecture to China, Sweden, and abroad, which served to further strengthen the neoclassical movement globally. His key work is the central block of the Somerset House that dates back to 1776 and is situated in central London overlooking the River Thames.
One does not need to walk far in numerous German cities to notice the influence neoclassical architecture has had there too. Ironically, as he was not a student of the French Academy of Rome, Karl Friedrich Schinkel was an exponent of neoclassicsm through the works of the French. However, at this period, Prussia and France were continuously at war and thus anything to remind Prussians of French settings was not easily welcomed. Therefore, whereas the French adopted more of a Roman revival, Karl Friedrich Schinkel embraced classical Greek style exclusively for purposes of differentiation. The Konzerthaus on Gendarmenmarkt and Altes Museum in Berlin both reflect such sentiment too.