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Postmodern classical architectural movement From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Classical architecture, New Classicism or Contemporary Classical architecture[1] is a contemporary movement in architecture that continues the practice of Classical architecture. It is sometimes considered the modern continuation of Neoclassical architecture,[2][3][4] even though other styles might be cited as well, such as Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance or even non-Western styles[5] – often referenced and recreated from a postmodern perspective as opposed to being strict revival styles.[6]
The design and construction of buildings in ever-evolving classical styles continued throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, even as modernist and other non-classical theories broke with the classical language of architecture. The new classical movement is also connected to a surge in new traditional architecture, that is crafted according to local building traditions and materials.[7]
In Great Britain during the 1950s and 1960s, a handful of architects continued to design buildings in a neoclassical style, contrary to the prevailing fashion for Modern architecture. Donald McMorran (1904–1965), a partner in the firm McMorran & Whitby, who once described the Modernist movement as "a dictatorship of taste", designed several noteworthy neoclassical buildings such as Cripps Hall at the University of Nottingham (completed 1959); the extension to the Old Bailey (completed 1972); and numerous civic buildings and housing estates.[8][9] Another noteworthy British architect, Raymond Erith (1904–1973), designed classical buildings from the establishment of his practice in 1946 until his death in 1973. He is best known for his restoration work at London's Downing Street (completed 1963), and for having mentored the New Classical architect Quinlan Terry (born 1937), Erith's pupil and employee, then partner, and finally successor to his practice.
French architect François Spoerry also continued to create classical designs from the 1960s onwards, later culminating in the European Urban Renaissance. In the late 1970s several young architects in Europe began challenging modernist proposals in architecture and planning. To broadcast them, Leon Krier and Maurice Culot founded the Archives d'Architecture Moderne in Brussels and began publishing texts and counterprojects to modernist proposals in architecture and planning.[10] It received a boost from the sponsorship of King Charles III (then the Prince of Wales), especially with The Prince's Foundation for Building Community.[11]
In these years, postmodern architecture developed a critique of modernist architectural aesthetics.[12] Among them were certain influential postmodernist architects such as Charles Moore, Robert Venturi,[13] and Michael Graves, who used classical elements as ironic motifs in order to criticize modernism's sterility. A broad spectrum of more than two dozen architects, theorists, and historians presented other alternatives to modernism.[14] Among them were several serious New Classical architects who saw classicism as a legitimate mode of architectural expression, several of whom would later become Driehaus Prize Laureates, including some such as Thomas Beeby and Robert A.M. Stern, who practice both in postmodern as well as classical modes. Some postmodernist firms, such as Stern and Albert, Righter, & Tittman, fully moved from postmodern design to new interpretations of traditional architecture.[12] Thomas Gordon Smith, the 1979 Rome Prize laureate from the American Academy in Rome, was a devotee of Charles Moore. In 1988, Smith published "Classical Architecture: Rule and Invention", and, in 1989, was appointed to chair of the University of Notre Dame Department of Architecture, now the School of Architecture, that specialized in teaching classical and traditional building practices.[15] Today, other programs exist which teach in part New Classical Architecture at the University of Miami, Judson University, Andrews University and beginning in 2013,[16] the Center for Advanced Research in Traditional Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver.
Alongside these academic and scholarly developments, a populist and professional manifestation of new classicism has existed and continues to develop. The 1963 demolition of McKim, Mead & White's Pennsylvania Railroad Station in New York City provoked the formation of Classical America and its regional chapters, led by Henry Hope Reed, Jr.[17] Classical America advocated the appreciation of classically inspired buildings and for the practice of contemporary classical and traditional design by teaching architects to draw the classical orders, hosting walking tours, educational events, conferences and publishing The Classical America Series in Art and Architecture.[18]
In 2002, the then-named Institute of Classical Architecture merged with Classical America to form the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America (now the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art). The ICAA currently supports and is supported by regional chapters across the United States, almost all of which host awards programs [19] which recognize significant accomplishments in new classical and traditional design and construction. The ICAA publishes The Classicist,[20] a peer-reviewed journal exclusively dedicated to the theory and practice of contemporary classicism in architecture, urbanism, and the allied arts. The ICAA offers educational programs to architecture and design professionals, many of which follow the methodologies of the École des Beaux-Arts. The ICAA also teaches courses to educate the general public,[21] and has created programs such as the Beaux Arts Atelier, the Advanced Program in Residential Design for the American Institute of Building Designers, and many other unique programs.
The international character of the New Classical movement was propelled by the creation in 2001 of the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU),[22] an international organization dedicated on supporting traditional building and the maintenance of local character.[23] INTBAU spans more than 40 countries with its local chapters.[24] This network was created under the patronage of Charles, Prince of Wales himself an important figure in the New Classical movement.[25]
In 2003, Chicago philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus established[26] a prize in architecture to be given to an architect "whose work embodies the principles of classical and traditional architecture and urbanism in society, and creates a positive, long lasting impact." Awarded by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, the Driehaus Architecture Prize is seen as the alternative to the modernist Pritzker Prize. The Driehaus Prize is given in conjunction with the Reed Award, for an individual working outside the practice of architecture who has supported the cultivation of the traditional city, its architecture and art through writing, planning or promotion.[27] Other high-profiled classical architecture awards are the American Palladio Award,[28] the European Philippe Rotthier Prize,[29] the Iberian Rafael Manzano Prize,[30] the Edmund N. Bacon Prize,[31] and the Rieger Graham Prize[32] of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art (ICAA) for architecture graduates.
Since 2014, a movement of people in Sweden called "Arkitekturupprororet" or "Architectural Uprising" has challenged new developments in favour of traditional designs.[33] Started as a Facebook group, the movement has spread to other Nordic countries and the rest of the world.[34] It has achieved moderate success in encouraging the development of new traditional designs.[33] The main aim of the movement is "to make architecture available to everyone",[33] which it does through social media posts and annual awards to the best and worst new buildings in Sweden.
In 2021, more efforts to reintroduce new classical architecture in city planning were established in the United States of America. A founding member of the Washington Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the ICAA and director of the Anacostia River Plan, which envisioned future urban growth and Parisian-like riverfronts and quays at Washington, D.C.[35], architect Nir Buras founded the Classic Planning Institute (CPI). Based in Washington, D.C., the CPI engages in practice, research and education on how New Classical Architecture, applied in a holistic manner, can enhance contemporary urban planning. Additionally, since 2021, the CPI hosts the Traditional Architecture Gathering (TAG)[36] international conference, that attracts hundreds of architects and enthusiasts to discuss multiple subjects related to New Classical Architecture worldwide.
New Classical professionals tend to work under the assumption that there is no such thing as purely original creation, and that innovation unavoidably occurs in an environment laden with suggestions, influences, a precedent of problems solved and, perhaps more importantly, mistakes to be avoided.[37]
Many New Classical architects believe in the importance of sustainability, and aim to create long-lasting, well-crafted buildings of great quality, adapted to the context and with an efficient use of natural resources.[38]
While most universities worldwide teach modernist design principles, some institutions teach (solely, mainly, or partly) the principles of traditional and classical architecture and urban planning. Some of these are:[39]
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