17 Facts About Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France.

The prevailing styles of architecture in most of Europe for the previous two centuries, Renaissance architecture and Baroque architecture, already represented partial revivals of the Classical architecture of ancient Rome and ancient Greek architecture, but the Neoclassical movement aimed to strip away the excesses of Late Baroque and return to a purer and more authentic classical style, adapted to modern purposes.

In many countries there was an initial wave essentially drawing on Roman Neoclassical architecture, followed, from about the start of the 19th century, by a second wave of Greek Revival Neoclassical architecture.

In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro and maintains separate identities to each of its parts.

Neoclassical architecture is a specific style and moment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that was specifically associated with the Enlightenment, empiricism, and the study of sites by early archaeologists.

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Yet still Neoclassical architecture is beginning to be practiced again in twenty-first Century more in the form of New Classical Architecture and even in Gentrification and Historicism Architecture, the Neoclassical architecture or its important elements are still being used, even when the Postmodernist architecture is dominant throughout the world.

International neoclassical architecture was exemplified in Karl Friedrich Schinkel's buildings, especially the Altes Museum in Berlin, Sir John Soane's Bank of England in London and the newly built White House and Capitol in Washington, D C of the nascent American Republic.

The antiquities of Herculaneum showed that even the most classicizing interiors of the Baroque, or the most "Roman" rooms of William Kent were based on basilica and temple exterior Neoclassical architecture turned outside in, hence their often bombastic appearance to modern eyes: pedimented window frames turned into gilded mirrors, fireplaces topped with temple fronts.

The new "classical" Neoclassical architecture emphasized planar qualities, rather than elaborate sculptural ornament in both the interior and the exterior.

Neoclassical architecture was introduced in Malta in the late 18th century, during the final years of Hospitaller rule.

However, neoclassical architecture only became popular in Malta following the establishment of British rule in the early 19th century.

Neoclassical architecture built the Museo del Prado, which combined three functions: an academy, an auditorium, and a museum in one building with three separate entrances.

Neoclassical architecture became a symbol of national pride during the 18th century in Germany, in what was then Prussia.

Neoclassical architecture made trips to observe the buildings and develop his functional style.

Neoclassical architecture built many neoclassical buildings including his personal estate Monticello, the Virginia State Capitol, and the University of Virginia.

Neoclassicism in Neoclassical architecture was directly linked to crown policies that sought to rein in the exuberance of the Baroque, considered in "bad taste" and creating public buildings of "good taste" funded by the crown, such as the Palacio de Mineria in Mexico City and the Hospicio Cabanas in Guadalajara, and the Alhondiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato, all built in the late colonial era.

Neoclassical architecture style arrived in the American empires of Spain and Portugal through projects designed in Europe or carried out locally by European or Criollo architects trained in the academies of the metropolis.