Classical Architecture In Britain

Giles Worsley notes that architectural styles do not always supersede one another but can co-exist, although one style may be dominant. Focusing on the Palladian classical tradition, introduced by Inigo Jones in the 1610s, he shows that this tradition did not die out with Jones's death and revive only during the first half of the eighteenth century, as is commonly assumed, but remained viable until the end of the eighteenth century, rivalling the baroque and rococo styles. Worsley argues that neo-classicism, generally seen as a generic description of architecture in the late eighteenth century, was actually prevalent in British architecture in varying degrees of strength as early as 1615. He examines the architecture of Scotland, Ireland and North America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and shows how styles were influenced by English Palladianism. He also places Palladianism in a European context, pointing out that it was not an isolated phenomenon but was an important feature of Italian, French, Dutch and German architecture during this time. The book thus not only sheds fresh light on British architecture but also provides a new outlook on European and American architecture as a whole.

Whereas the past decades have seen a profound reconsideration of eighteenth-century visual culture, the architecture of that century has undergone little evaluation. Its study, unlike that of the early modern period or the twentieth century, has continued to use essentially the same methods and ideas over the last fifty years. Articulating British Classicism reconsiders the traditional historiography of British eighteenth-century architecture as it was shaped after World War II, and brings together for the first time a variety of new perspectives on British classicism in the period. Drawing on current thinking about the eighteenth century from a range of disciplines, the book examines such topics as social and gender identities, colonialization and commercialization, notions of the rural, urban and suburban, as well as issues of theory and historiography. Canonical constructions of Georgian architecture are explored, including current evaluations of the continental intellectual background, the relationship with mid seventeenth-century Stuart court classicism and the development of the subject in the twentieth century.

Acclaimed British architect Quinlan Terry's guide to more than 2,000 years of classicism in architecture In this beautiful illustrated survey, British architect Quinlan Terry (born 1937) presents his ultimate guide to classical architecture. With intricate and lively sketches, he explains the classical orders of architecture that were created by Vitruvius around 100 AD. The tradition of building using these orders was maintained well into the 20th century, until modernism began to dominate architecture. With this book, Terry, a strong proponent of classical architecture, aims to place focus on the kind of architecture that dominated the field for almost 2,000 years in the West--the vocabulary and heritage of which is known by few today. The book contains a large number of Terry's drawings and sketches from travels, as well as linocuts. Also included are his drawings of such quintessential examples of the use of classical orders as St. Mark's Square and San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice and Inigo Jones' St. Paul's Cathedral in London, alongside drawings of Terry's own structures, such as Brentwood Cathedral in Essex, England. In addition, Terry compares his own studies with those of Andrea Palladio and Vincenzo Scamozzi. Prince Charles, another advocate for classical architecture, who holds Quinlan Terry as his favorite among contemporary architects, provides the preface.

Detailed text and illustrations examine the buildings of the great neoclassical period, 1730–1875. The roster of masterpieces pictured and described include The Customs House, Dublin; The Bank of England, Liverpool; Newgate Prison, London; The British Museum, London; The National Gallery, Edinburgh; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; and many more. 176 black-and-white illustrations.

A political, stylistic and technical history of architecture from 450 AD to the modern day, including a discussion of the architects who created the most significant buildings during this period.

The author charts the development of architectural theory and practice from Elizabeth I to George IV. Questions of style, technology, and the social framework are resolved as separable but always essential components of the building worlds.

This title was published in 2003.Although it is often assumed that British writing on architectural theory really started in the 18th century, there is in fact a large corpus of writing on architecture pre-dating the introduction of Palladianism by Lord Burlington. Some of it, such as the English editions of Serlio and Palladio, belongs to the Vitruvian tradition. But many texts elude such easy classification, such as the prolonged (but hardly studied) discussions on church architecture, which are both in form and content very different from the way that theme was handled in Italian Renaissance treatises. This collection of English writing on architecture from 1540 to 1750 offers a large selection of fragments, some of them never published before. They discuss the nature of architecture, the practicalities of building, the sense of the past, religious architecture and classicism.