Revivalism (architecture)

Architectural revivalism is the use of elements that echo the style of a previous architectural era that have or had fallen into disuse or abeyance between their heyday and period of revival. Revivalism, in a narrower sense, refers to the period of and movement within Western architectural history during which a succession of antecedent and reminiscent styles were taken to by architects, roughly from the mid-18th century, and which was itself succeeded by Modernism around the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[1] Notable revival styles include Neoclassical architecture (a revival of Classical architecture), and Gothic Revival (a revival of Gothic architecture). Revivalism is related to historicism.

Western architecture of the 19th century, including Victorian architecture, is an example of Revivalism.

History

Mid-18th–early 20th centuries

The idea that architecture might represent the glory of kingdoms can be traced to the dawn of civilisation, but the notion that architecture can bear the stamp of national character is a modern idea, that appeared in the historical and philosophical writing of the 18th century and was given political currency in the wake of the French Revolution. As the map of Europe was repeatedly changing, architecture was used to grant the aura of a glorious past to even the most recent of nations. In addition to the credo of universal Classicism, two new, and often contradictory, attitudes on historical styles existed in the early 19th century. Pluralism promoted the simultaneous use of the expanded range of style, while Revivalism held that a single historical model was appropriate for modern architecture. Associations between styles and building types appeared, for example: Egyptian for prisons, Gothic for churches, or Renaissance Revival for banks and exchanges.^{[citation needed]} These choices were the result of other associations: the pharaohs with death and eternity, the Middle Ages with Christianity, or the Medici family with the rise of banking and modern commerce.

Whether their choice was Classical, medieval, or Renaissance, all Revivalists shared the strategy of advocating a particular style based on national history, one of the great enterprises of historians from the mid-18th to early 19th centuries. Only one historic period was claimed to be the only one capable of providing models grounded in national traditions, institutions, or values. Issues of style became matters of state.^[2]

The most well-known Revivalist style is the Gothic Revival one, that appeared in the mid-18th century in the houses of a number of wealthy antiquarians in England, a notable example being the Strawberry Hill House. German Romantic writers and architects were the first to promote Gothic as a powerful expression of national character, and in turn use it as a symbol of national identity in territories still divided. Johann Gottfried Herder posed the question 'Why should we always imitate foreigners, as if we were Greeks or Romans?'.^[3]

Mid-20th century–present

Modern-day revival styles are frequently placed under the heading of New Classical architecture. Revivalism is not to be confused with complementary architecture, which looks to the previous architectural styles as means of architectural continuity.

Styles

Mixed

Eclecticism – Conscious mixing of disparate historical styles
Historicism or Historism – mixed revivals that can include several older styles, combined with new elements
Indo-Saracenic architecture (revival of Indian architecture and Islamic architecture)
Mediterranean Revival architecture (revival of Italian Renaissance architecture and Spanish Baroque architecture)
New Classical Architecture – an umbrella term for modern-day architecture following pre-modernist principles
Russian Revival architecture – generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century.
Traditionalist School – revival of different regional traditional styles
Vernacular architecture – umbrella term for regional architecture traditions continuing through the eras, also used and cited in revival architecture

References

^ "European and American Architecture (1750–1900) | Art History Teaching Resources".
^ Bergdoll, Barry (2000). European Architecture 1750–1890. Oxford University Press. p. 139, 140, 141. ISBN 978-0-19-284222-0.
^ Bergdoll, Barry (2000). European Architecture 1750–1890. Oxford University Press. p. 139, 140, 141, 142, 145. ISBN 978-0-19-284222-0.

External links

Media related to Historicist architecture at Wikimedia Commons

[1] "European and American Architecture (1750–1900) | Art History Teaching Resources".

[2] Bergdoll, Barry (2000). European Architecture 1750–1890. Oxford University Press. p. 139, 140, 141. ISBN 978-0-19-284222-0.

[3] Bergdoll, Barry (2000). European Architecture 1750–1890. Oxford University Press. p. 139, 140, 141, 142, 145. ISBN 978-0-19-284222-0.

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v t e Historicism and Revivalism in architecture and decorative arts
International	Art Deco Art Nouveau Arts and Crafts Baroque Revival Beaux-Arts Neo-Byzantine Carpenter Gothic Egyptian Revival French Provincial Gothic Revival Greek Revival / Neo-Grec Mayan Revival Moorish Revival Neoclassical New Classical Renaissance Revival Châteauesque Italianate Palazzo style Rococo Revival Romanesque Revival Second Empire French European North American Spanish Colonial Revival Swiss chalet style Vernacular
France	Henry II style Henry IV style Louis XIII style Louis XIV style Louis XV style Louis XVI style Neoclassicism Directoire style Empire style Louis Philippe style Second Empire style Belle Époque
Germany, Austria-Hungary	Biedermeier Gründerzeit Jugendstil Nazi architecture Resort style Rundbogenstil
Great Britain	Adamesque Bristol Byzantine Edwardian Baroque Egyptian Revival Georgian Revival Indo-Saracenic Revival British India Jacobethan Neo-Palladian Queen Anne Revival Regency Romanesque Revival Scottish Baronial Tudor Revival / Black-and-white Revival
Greece	Mycenaean Revival
Italy	Stile Umbertino Milan
Netherlands	Traditionalist School
Nordic countries	Dragon style National Romantic style Gustavian style Nordic Classicism
Portugal	Neo-Manueline Neo-Mudéjar Soft Portuguese style
Poland	Zakopane Style
Romania	Romanian Revival
Russian Empire and USSR	Neo-Byzantine Neoclassical Revival Russian Revival Stalinist
Serbia	Serbo-Byzantine Revival
Spain	Neo-Mudéjar
United States	American Renaissance Collegiate Gothic Colonial Revival Dutch Colonial Revival Federal style Greco Deco Jeffersonian Mediterranean Revival Mission Revival Pueblo Revival Polish cathedral style Queen Anne style Richardsonian Romanesque Territorial Revival

v t e History of architecture
Architectural timeline History of construction
BCE	Neolithic Mesopotamian Ancient Egyptian Aegean Minoan Mycenaean Etruscan Classical Ancient Greek Ancient Roman Herodian Pre-Islamic Persian Achaemenid
1st millennium	Sasanian Byzantine East Slavic Kievan Rus' Muscovite Islamic Umayyad Moorish Abbasid Fatimid Islamic Persian Medieval Scandinavian Pre-Romanesque Carolingian
1000–1500	Romanesque Galician Ottonian Norman Indian Hoysala Vijayanagara Western Chalukya Islamic Great Seljuk Anatolian Seljuk architecture Mamluk Timurid Ottoman Indo-Islamic Romano-Gothic Gothic Sondergotik Incan Aztec Renaissance Plateresque
1500–1750	Manueline Palladian Spanish Colonial Portuguese Colonial Mughal Sikh
1750–1900	Baroque Andean Czech Dutch Edwardian English French Italian Maltese Petrine Elizabethan Naryshkin Portuguese Siberian Ukrainian Industrial British Revivalism Byzantine Russo-Byzantine Serbo-Byzantine Colonial Egyptian Gothic Mayan Mediterranean Mission Monumentalism Baroque Rococo Neoclassical Moorish Neo-Manueline Pueblo Queen Anne Britain America and Australia Renaissance Romanian Russian Spanish Colonial Territorial Tudor Art Nouveau Jugendstil Liberty style Modern Style Modernisme
1900–1950	Rationalism Mycenaean Modern Prairie School Expressionism Cubism De Stijl Bauhaus Constructivism New Objectivity Streamline Moderne Totalitarianism Rationalist-Fascist Nazi Stalinist International style Functionalism Futurism Organicism Art Deco Stripped Classicism Postconstructivism PWA Moderne Googie
1950–2000	Brutalism Structuralism Postmodern Blobitecture High-tech Arcology Critical regionalism Neo-futurism
2000–present	Deconstructivism Neomodern New Classical Contemporary
Regional	Chinese Colonial Indian Dravidian Hindu Japanese Korean Mesoamerican Maya Newari Portuguese Russian Spanish Somali

History

Mid-18th–early 20th centuries

Mid-20th century–present

Styles

Mixed

Ancient Revival

Medieval Revival

Renaissance Revival

Baroque Revival

Other revival

References

Further reading

External links