The Cultural Tutor Profile picture
Dec 8 22 tweets 9 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
A Brief Guide to Georgian Architecture:

(& why it might be the future of modern housing) Image
When you think of "Georgian Architecture" you probably picture something like this: Park Crescent in London, designed by John Nash in 1812.

But what is Georgian Architecture? Where did it come from? Why is it even called that? And is it still relevant? Image
Its name comes from the fact that this style was popular in Britain during the Georgian Era — the consecutive reigns of kings George I, George II, George III, and George IV, from 1714 to 1830.

But Georgian Architecture both predates and outlived that era. Image
The story begins in 15th century Italy: the Renaissance is underway.

Scholars and artists are bringing the architecture of Ancient Rome back to life. They read the treatise of Vitruvius and start designing buildings according to his rules of proportion, form, and decoration.  Ospedale degli Innocenti, Florence, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (1445)
In the 16th century a man called Andrea Palladio developed a new form of this neoclassical architecture and published a treatise about it.

His style was restrained and almost austere. Palladio focussed on basic geometric forms, perfect symmetry, simple harmony, and white walls. Villa Pisani, Bagnolo
This Palladian style was immensely popular, but it was succeeded in mainland Europe by the Baroque.

Enter Inigo Jones, an English architect who travelled to Italy in the early 17th century, learnt Italian, read Palladio's work, studied his buildings, and fell in love. Andrea Palladio's Four Books of Architecture
When Inigo Jones returned to England he was commissioned to design a new house for Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, in 1616.

The Queens House was completed in 1638; what a contrast it makes with the Late Gothic architecture of Tudor England! Image
Inigo Jones went on to design several more landmark neoclassical buildings in Britain, and all of them have that trademark Palladian simplicity.

Just compare the ornateness and complexity of the Baroque Style then popular in Europe with his church in Covent Garden: Image
There was a brief English Baroque phase in the late 17th century, led by Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor, who jointly rebuilt London in the decades after the Great Fire of 1666.

St. Paul's Cathedral was the zenith of this English Baroque style. Image
But Jones' Palladian style endured, and as the 18th century wore on — during the reign of the four consecutive Georges — his work inspired a generation of architects.

Like Colen Campbell, whose treatise "Vitruvius Britannicus" decried Baroque in favour of Palladianism. Stourhead House, designed by Colen Campbell
But this "Neo-Palladian" style soon transformed into something else — Georgian Architecture was born: simple, boxy, classical, covered in white stucco.

Over the next century the streets of Britain were filled with buildings like Carlton House Terrace, designed by John Nash. Image
Georgian Architecture was the go-to style for all buildings, whether the country manors of the aristocracy or houses in cities, along with all public and civic architecture.

And it was a flexible style that could be built cheaply; bricks would do just fine — no need for marble. Albany, London
The semi-detached house was also born in the 18th century, and though we can't quite call this public housing, Georgian Architecture lent itself to the large-scale construction of housing.

A simple design, easily replicable, and suited to high density residential areas. Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin
Perhaps the zenith of Georgian Architecture was the city of Bath.

For a time it was more fashionable than London itself, and thus its streets were graced with projects like the King's Circus and the Royal Crescent, designed by John Wood the Younger.
Image
Image
It was toward the mid-19th century that Georgian Architecture finally waned, largely thanks to the Gothic Revival.

Gone were the simple facades of Jones, Nash, and Wood; led by the likes of Pugin, Ruskin, and Scott, a new age of pinnacles, crockets, and gargoyles had arisen. Image
You can perhaps see why some were critical of Georgian Architecture.

There could be something oppressive about its simplicity, its lack of variation, its rows of box-shaped houses.

William Morris rather summed up this sentiment.
Image
Image
But Georgian Architecture did not disappear during the Gothic Revival.

That old, tested, time-honoured style endured; the Victorians themselves built a great deal of architecture which can be hard to distinguish from the terraces of the Georgian Era. Image
And Georgian Architecture outlived the Gothic Revival! It has also survived longer than Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and even Brutalism and the so-called "International Style" of the Bauhaus.

All these movements have come and gone... Chesterfield Town Hall (1938)
But Georgian Architecture endures — it is the standard choice for what has been called "new classical architecture".

Consider Poundbury, or the Maitland Robinson Library, or any number of "Mock Georgian" newbuilds.

All of these have been built in the last 30 years.

Image
Poundbury
Maitland Robinson Library, Cambridge
Or even these new houses in London.

They are perhaps better described as a loose adaptation of Georgian Architecture, but in their fundamentals they are very much aligned with the principles of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Royal Arsenal Residential, Hastings Street
The simplicity of Georgian Architecture is what has made it so enduring: it is not complicated and does not require excessive work, neither the ornamentation of Baroque or rich materials of Art Nouveau.

But what it does have is a minimum level of aesthetic consideration. Image
A great deal of modern architecture would, with the addition of a few simple pediments and white paint, along with the application of some basic rules of proportion, become Georgian.

Could Georgian Architecture be the future of modern housing design? Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with The Cultural Tutor

The Cultural Tutor Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @culturaltutor

Dec 10
You probably haven't seen the statue that inspired Ozymandias, the famous poem by Percy Shelley.

But Shelley never saw the statue either — and that's exactly why it is such a good poem.

So here's the story of Ozymandias, and why "realism" isn't always good for art... Image
When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798 he took with him scholars and archaeologists, who sent their research, drawings, and findings back to Europe.

The continent was gripped by "Egyptomania."

Books, architecture, art, furniture, interior design — it was all about Ancient Egypt.
Frontispiece of "Description de l'Égypte", an account of research and scholarship regarding Ancient Egypt, published between 1809 and 1829
The "Fontaine du Fellah" in Paris, built in 1806
Scholars continued to work in Egypt for decades, sending a steady stream of the artefacts they had taken back to Europe.

And everybody, including Napoleon, had been after one thing: a colossal, collapsed statue of Ramesses II, created in 1,200 BC and once over 60 feet tall. The Memnonium - The Fallen Colossus etc. taken by Francis Frith (1859)
Read 19 tweets
Dec 7
A Brief Introduction to Gianlorenzo Bernini: The Vision of Constantine (1670)
Gianlorenzo Bernini was born in Naples in 1598. His father Pietro was a successful sculptor and he taught his son everything he knew.

They moved to Rome in 1606 when Pietro was commissioned to decorate a church there, and Gianlorenzo's education continued...
In Rome, under the careful tutelage of his father and later working alongside him, Bernini blossomed into a prodigiously talented artist.

He made this statue when he was only 17; no wonder Pope Paul V said "this child will be the Michelangelo of his age." A Faun Teased by Children (1616)
Read 23 tweets
Dec 5
7 Ways To Improve Architecture: St Mark's Basilica, Venice
In 1849 an artist and writer called John Ruskin wrote something called "The Seven Lamps of Architecture".

It was an immediate best-seller and, in some ways, changed the course of 19th century art and design.

Ruskin became one of the leading public thinkers of the Victorian Era. John Ruskin by John Everett Millais (1853)
Why did he write about seven "lamps" instead of rules? Because lamps *guide*, whereas rules *dictate*.

Ruskin preferred principles that could be understood and lived by, rather than strict laws to be blindly followed.

And this is what they were...
Read 24 tweets
Dec 3
"Decem" means 10 in Latin, so why is December the 12th month of the year?

Well, the story begins nearly three thousand years ago with Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome... The Apotheosis of Romulus by Mariano Rossi at the Villa Borghese (1775-1779)
Romulus was the mythical founder of Rome, supposedly descended from Aeneas, who had fled from Troy centuries before.

He and his twin brother Remus were raised by a wolf and, eventually, they fought over the founding of their new city.

Romulus killed Remus; Rome was born. Romulus' Victory Over Acron by JAD Ingres (1811)
Legend says that, among other things, Romulus gave the Romans their first ever calendar. It had ten months, each of 30 or 31 days, and began in March.

These were the names of those months: Image
Read 18 tweets
Dec 2
A brief introduction to Albert Bierstadt, one of the greatest landscape painters who ever lived... Image
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) was born in Germany but moved to Massachusetts with his family before his second birthday.

As a young boy Bierstadt started to paint. He returned to Europe — Düsseldorf — to train, and there turned his hand to landscapes. Westphalian Mill (1855)
When Bierstadt returned to America, already a mature landscape artist, he joined the Hudson River School.

This was a group of American landscape painters under the tutelage of Thomas Cole, an Englishman who had moved to New York and fallen in love with its natural beauty. The Oxbox at the Connecticut River near Northampton by Thomas Cole (1836)
Read 25 tweets
Dec 1
December In Art:

1. The Magpie by Claude Monet (1869) Image
2. Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Breughel the Elder (1565)

A familiar scene from the Bible that took place in Bethlehem recast in a snowy Flemish village.

Brueghel brings the New Testament to life for the people of his homeland. Anachronistic but captivating. Image
3. Deep Snow by Hans Baluschek (1918)

Winter in the modern world. Far from the pastoral scenes of Brueghel's time, Baluschek painted in the age of factories and machines.

An ethereal industrial city, almost dreamlike, bathed in a dark and mysterious atmosphere. Image
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(