NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS AND REPRESENTATIVES - ART - 2025

The neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced during the early nineteenth century XVIII centuries. This type of architecture, in its purest form, was characterized by the revival of classical or Greco-Roman architecture.

On the other hand, neoclassical architecture is best known for marking a return to order and rationality after the new Baroque and the decorative lightness of the Rococo. The new taste for ancient simplicity represented a reaction against the excesses of the Baroque and Rococo styles.

By Benjamín Núñez González, from Wikimedia Commons

In addition, it was characterized by the greatness of scale, the simplicity of the geometric forms, the Greek orders (especially the Doric), the dramatic use of the columns, the Roman details and the preference for the walls in white.

At the beginning of the 19th century, almost all the new architecture of most countries in Europe, the United States and colonial Latin America reflected the neoclassical spirit. Today, neoclassical architecture is one of the most popular building styles in the world.

According to various references, the Industrial Revolution was one of the most influential factors for the prolongation of neoclassical architecture in the 19th century; the change in the lifestyle of the time allowed the style to spread throughout Europe and parts of America.

Origin

Reaction to Baroque and classical art

The earliest forms of neoclassical architecture (18th century) grew in parallel with the Baroque. This worked as a kind of correction to the characteristic extravagance of the latter style.

Neoclassicism was perceived as a synonym for "returning to the purity" of the arts of Rome, to the ideal perception of the ancient Greek arts and to a lesser extent to the Renaissance classicism of the 16th century.

The ancient Roman architect Vitruvius was the one who theorized the three great Greek orders (Ionic, Doric and Corinthian) and the great reference of architects to describe the renewal to ancient forms, from the second half of the 18th century, until approximately 1850.

Influence of Palladian architecture

The return to the new classical architectural style was detected in the European architectures of the 18th century, represented in Great Britain by Palladian architecture.

The baroque architectural style that occurred in Europe was never to the English taste, so from there the idea of ​​highlighting the purity and simplicity of classical architecture arose.

Palladianism originated from the Italian architect Andrea Palladio and spread across Europe in the 18th century. There he directly influenced neoclassical architecture, sharing the same taste for the classical style.

From the popular style of Palladianism, a clear reference to where the new architectural style was going was noted.

Influence of the Enlightenment

Parallel to the neoclassical movement, the century of enlightenment (better known as the enlightenment), was on the rise. For this reason, The Encyclopedia almost directly influenced the thought and customs of men. In fact, neoclassicism is the quintessential art that emerged in illustration.

In this sense, those buildings that could contribute to human improvement proliferated, such as hospitals, libraries, museums, theaters, parks, among other buildings for public use; all thought with a monumental character.

This new orientation with an enlightened mentality caused the latest baroque architecture to be rejected and to think more towards the return to the past, in the search for an architectural model of universal validity.

Then critical movements were born that defend the need for functionality, as well as the requirement to create buildings in which all its parts have an essential and practical function. That is, it was necessary that the architectural orders were constructive elements and not just decorative.

All the architects of this period started from the common assumptions of rationality in buildings and a return to the past: the buildings of Greece and Rome that became benchmarks.

Expansion of neoclassicism

In the mid-18th century a variety of works with classical influence (ancient Greek and Roman styles) were incorporated. The transition from the shift to neoclassical architecture dates back to the 1750s.

First, it gained influence in England by the popular style of Palladianism and by the excavations of the Irish physicist William Hamilton in Pompeii; and in France, by a group of Gallic students educated in Rome.

In Italy, specifically in Naples, architects like Luigi Vanvitelli and Ferdinando Fuga were trying to recover classic and Palladian forms to their Baroque architecture. Later, it spread to Venice and Verona with the construction of the first lapidaries in the Doric style.

Later, Florence became the center of the most important neoclassicism on the peninsula. Even so, the Rococo style remained popular in Italy until the arrival of the Napoleonic regime, which brought a new classicism.

The second neoclassical wave was even more severe, conscious, and studied; the arrival of the Napoleonic Empire was fundamental. The first phase of neoclassicism in France was expressed in the style of Louis XVI.

characteristics

Opposition to Baroque and Rococo

In the era of neoclassical architecture, illustrators emphasized classical ethical and moral themes. The difference between the Baroque, the Rococo (earlier styles) and the enoclassical was clearly marked in the architecture.

For example, Ottobeuren Abbey in Bavaria, Germany, is a clear incarnation of Rococo with its scrolls of plaster and gilded stones, playful colors and sculpted decoration; On the other hand, The Supreme Court of the United States, is the opposite pole to the previous style, being a characteristic work of the neoclassical.

In this sense, neoclassical architecture reacts against the decorative and extravagant effects of the Baroque and Rococo; that is to say, simplicity was a trend over the architectural predominance and prevailed over the decorative of the first two styles.

Classic elements

Neoclassical architecture is characterized by presenting basic elements of classical architecture. The columns feature the Doric and Ionic architectural orders of ancient Greece.

Like classical architecture, it features free-standing columns with clean, elegant lines. They were used to carry the weight of the building structure and later as a graphic element.

The columns with Doric appearance were characterized by being associated with the masculine divinities, unlike the Ionic ones, which were associated with the feminine. In neoclassical architecture the Doric type predominated, although some Ionic ones were also found.

The facade of the buildings is flat and long; they often present a screen of independent columns with no towers and domes; as characterized in Romanesque architecture, for example.

The exterior was built with the intention of rendering a representation of classical perfection as were the doors and windows that were built for the same purpose. As for the decorations on the outside, they were reproduced to a minimum.

The high neoclassical tended to emphasize their flat qualities, rather than volumes of sculptures, much like the low reliefs in the works. However, they tended to be framed in frieze, tablets, or panels.

Neoclassical urbanism

The neoclassical also influenced the planning of the city. The ancient Romans used a consolidated scheme for city planning, which was later imitated by the neoclassicals.

The street grid system, the central forum with city services, two main boulevards, and diagonal streets were characteristic of Roman design. Roman urbanism was characterized by being logical and orderly. In this sense, neoclassicism adopted its characteristics.

Many of these urban planning patterns made their way into the early modern planned cities of the 18th century. Exceptional examples include the German city of Karlsruhe and the American city of Washington DC.

In France

Origin of French neoclassical architecture

The neoclassical style in France was born in the early and mid-18th century in response to archaeological excavations carried out in the ancient Roman city, Herculaneum, and in Pompeii, which revealed classical styles and designs.

From there, some excavations began in the south of France with the idea of ​​finding remains from the Roman era. These discoveries aroused the interest of knowledge of antiquity. In addition, publications were made - even with illustrations - that were read by aristocrats and experienced architects.

The theory is that French neoclassical architecture arose with the creation of Place de la Concorde in Paris, characterized by its sobriety, and with the Little Trianon in Versailles (simple and free of excessive decoration) designed by the architect Ange - Jacques Gabriel.

On the other hand, it arose as an opposition to the excessive ornamentation of the Baroque and Rococo and spread approximately between the years 1760 and 1830. It was a dominant style in the reign of Louis XVI, through the French Revolution, until it was replaced by the Romanticism.

From the first moment the taste for the old and classic was infallible; the predominance of sobriety, straight lines, colonnade and Greco-Roman pediment were expressed in French religious and civil architecture.

Development of neoclassical architecture in France

Around the 1740s, French taste gradually changed and the interior decorations became less and less extravagant, typical of the Baroque and Rococo style.

The return of the trip from Italy completely changed the artistic mentality of France with the intention of creating a new style based on buildings with Roman and Greek tendencies, during the reign of Louis XV and Louis XVI.

In the last years of Louis XV and throughout the reign of Louis XVI, the neoclassical style was already present in the royal residences and in most of the halls and residences of the Parisian aristocracy.

The geometry of the plan, the simplicity in the volumes of the buildings, the limited decorations and the use of ornaments inspired by Greco-Roman, prevailed in neoclassical architecture in France. In addition, Greek friezes, garlands, palm leaves, scrolls, etc. were used.

With the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte to power in 1799, the late neoclassical style of architecture was maintained; Among the most influential architects were Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, who were its official architects.

The projects for the new emperor were marked by neoclassical characteristics: typical neoclassical façades that were uniform and modeled on the squares built by Louis XVI, as well as his own interior design.

Neoclassical architecture in Spain

Origins and history of Spanish neoclassical architecture

As in France, Spain was motivated by the beginning of neoclassical architecture after the expeditions and archaeological excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and as a form of rejection towards the Baroque.

The artistic movement of the Baroque was interrupted when replacing the Habsburg dynasty by that of the Bourbons with King Felipe V. When Felipe V settled on the Spanish throne, he brought with him artistic traditions from France also oriented towards the enlightened intellectual movement.

In the second half of the 18th century, the taste for the neoclassical was imposed, more properly. This happened thanks to the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts for the wishes of Fernando VI.

After the arrival of Carlos III to the throne in the year 1760, the new monarch made the Academy manifest itself more clearly; In this sense, he supported the excavations of the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, as the king was interested in the classical past and its architecture.

The introduction of architecture in Spain had the same point in common as the other European countries: the interest in the classical, in archaeological excavations and in the rejection of Baroque and Rococo architecture.

Development of neoclassical architecture in Spain

Although the first architectural works were carried out under the reign of Fernando VI, it flourished under the reign of Carlos III and even in the reign of Carlos IV. The illustrated project of the time included architecture not only for specific interventions, but also had to include a series of improvements for the lives of citizens.

For this reason, at this time, improvements in sewerage services, illuminated streets, hospitals, water works, gardens, cemeteries were developed; among other public works. The intention was to provide the populations with a more noble and luxurious appearance motivated by the neoclassical.

The program of Carlos III tried to turn Madrid into the capital of Arts and Sciences, for which large urban projects were developed.

The main urban project in Madrid is the Salón del Prado designed by Juan de Villanueva. In addition, the Royal Astronomical Observatory, the old San Carlos Hospital, the Botanical Garden, the current Prado Museum, the Cibeles fountain and the Neptune fountain.

Representatives and their works

Francisco Sabatini

Francisco Sabatini was born in Palermo, Italy in 1721, and studied architecture in Rome. He established his first contacts with the Spanish monarchy when he participated in the construction of the Palace of Caserta for the King of Naples and Charles VII.

When Carlos III ascended the Spanish throne, he called on Sabatini to carry out large-scale architectural works, positioning him above even prominent Spanish architects.

Sabatini's works are included within the neoclassical tradition; however, it was not inspired by such a movement, but by Italian Renaissance architecture.

The Puerta de Alcalá

The Puerta de Alcalá was a royal gate erected as a triumphal arch for the celebration of the arrival of King Carlos III to the city of Madrid, Spain.

It was designed by the Italian architect Francisco Sabatini in 1764. Currently it is one of the symbols of Madrid and is listed as a neoclassical monument located in the Plaza de la Independencia in Madrid. It is considered the first post-modern Roman triumphal arch built in Europe.

Source: pixabay.com

The door is approximately 19.5 meters high, well proportioned. In addition, it has three large arches and two smaller rectangular corridors. The façade presents a series of decorative elements with groups of sculptures, capitals and typical reliefs of neoclassical art.

Jacques Germain Soufflot

Jacques Germain Soufflot was born in 1713 in Irancy, near Auxerre, France. In the 1730s he attended the French Academy in Rome, being one of the young French students who later produced the first generation of neoclassical designers.

Later, he returned to France where he practiced in Lyon and then went to Paris to build a series of architectural works. The characteristic of Soufflot consisted of a united arcade between flat Doric pilasters, with horizontal lines, which were accepted by the Academy of Lyon.

Soufflot was one of the French architects who introduced Neoclassicism to France. His most outstanding work is the Pantheon in Paris, built from 1755.

Like all neoclassical architects, Soufflot considered the classical language as an essential element in his works. It stood out for its rigidity of lines, its firmness in shape, its simplicity of outline and its rigorously architectural design of detail.

A Paris pantheon

The Pantheon in Paris was a French architectural work built between the years 1764 and 1790. It has been recognized as the first important monument in the French capital. It is located in the Latin Quarter, near the Luxembourg Gardens.

At first, the construction was directed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot and ended with the French architect Jean Baptiste Rondelet in the year 1791.

By Moonik, from Wikimedia Commons

Originally, it was built as a church to house reliquaries, but after many changes over time, it became a secular mausoleum containing the remains of famous French citizens.

The Pantheon in Paris is a notable example of neoclassicism, with a façade similar to the Pantheon in Rome. Soufflot intended to combine the cathedral's luminosity and brilliance with classical principles, so its role as a mausoleum required that the large Gothic windows be blocked.

References

1. Neoclassical Architecture, publishers of Encyclopedia Britannica, (nd). Taken from britannica.com
2. Neoclassical Architecture, Wikipedia in English, (nd). Taken from Wikipedia.org
3. American Neoclassical Architecture: Characteristics and Examples, Christopher Muscato, (nd). Taken from study.com
4. Neoclassical Architecture, Portal Encyclopedia of Art History, (nd). Taken from visual-arts-cork.com
5. Neoclassical Architecture in Spain, Portal Art España, (nd). Taken from arteespana.com
6. Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassicism: Comparison and Contrast Essay, editors of Bartleby writing, (2012). Taken from bartleby.com
7. About Neoclassical Architecture, Portal Thoughtco., (2018). Taken from thoughtco.com
8. Architecture néo-classique, Wikipedia in French, (nd). Taken from Wikipedia.org