South Kensington Living
Neo-Classicism
From 1720 to 1750 Palladianism reigned supreme in England. But by the 1750s Baroque was again polluting the waters in the form of Rococo, imported from France. Rococo designs introduced Egyptian and even Chinese decorative elements to otherwise pure Palladian buildings.
Neo-Classicism was a reformist movement. It was a reaction against such impurities. But as with all good revolutions, the members quickly discovered that earlier revered leaders had betrayed the revolution and must also be purged - among them Palladio himself. Palladio's crime was that he had liberally interpreted ancient Roman design. As a result, what he produced was no longer ancient Roman, but an invention of his own.
The followers of the new movement did not call it Neo-Classicism - that's a modern term - they called it "true style". Their aim was to discover the true style of the ancient architects. This meant going back to the source: the buildings themselves. Books of drawings of Greek and Roman antiquities by Robert Wood, called Ruins of Palmyra (1753) and Ruins of Balbec (1757) introduced English architects to Neo-Classical ideals. The most influential English architect was Robert Adam (1728 - 1792) who produced his own study of buildings he had visited in The Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia (1764). The advocates of the true style did not advocate a slavish adherence to such model. They argued that the essence was to be kept but any features which did not have a structural or functional purpose should be eliminated. (This was a reaction against Baroque).
As a result of the first-hand study of ancient buildings, architects such as Adam came to the view that the ancient Greeks, rather than the Romans, represented the pinnacle of ancient architecture. (See below for the Greek Revival movement).
Robert Adam was the major exponent of the new style and he returned to England in 1758. Having rejected Palladianism as interpretation, the Neo-Classicists set about interpreting for themselves. Most of Adam's commissions in the 1760s and 1770s involved fanciful treatments along ancient Greek lines, particularly involving contrasting geometric shapes - a hallmark of Neo-Classicism. In contrast with earlier English architects, he designed every decorative detail right down to the keyhole guards and the carpet pattern. His design philosophy was set down in his immensely influential Works in Architecture, written with his brother James, and published between 1773 and 1822.
Neo-Classicism and the emphasis on Greek, rather than Roman, models carried on into the next generation of architects, such as Henry Holland (1745 -1806) and Sir John Soane ((1753 - 1837).
The theory of Neo-Classicism was that artists should imitate nature by imitating the simplicity of the Greeks. Restraint and harmony were the aim. The use of geometric forms was to be the means. But if Adam showed restraint in the form of his columns and mouldings, he showed anything but restraint in the profusion of decoration he incorporated.
Neo-Classicism and the Greek Revival movement had less effect on London terraces than on special architectural projects. London houses were built to be sold or let, and the public then as always, was a lot more conservative than the architectural purists. Greek-inspired interiors were rare in London till the 1820s, by which time the architectural vanguard had moved on. Builders and architects during the Regency period nodded at Neo-Classical values by simplifying the external facades of their buildings and limiting orders and columns to the surrounds of the main door.
