Regency architecture

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Cumberland Terrace, London, John Nash
The original Piccadilly entrance to the Burlington Arcade, 1819
John Nash's All Souls Church, Langham Place, London

Regency architecture encompasses classical buildings built in the

Federal style in the United States and the French Empire style.[1] Regency style is also applied to interior design and decorative arts of the period, typified by elegant furniture and vertically striped wallpaper, and to styles of clothing; for men, as typified by the dandy Beau Brummell and for women the Empire silhouette
.

The style is strictly the late phase of Georgian architecture, and follows closely on from the neo-classical style of the preceding years, which continued to be produced throughout the period. The Georgian period takes its name from the four Kings George of the period 1714–1830, including King George IV. The British Regency strictly lasted only from 1811 to 1820, but the term is applied to architecture more widely, both before 1811 and after 1820;[2] the next reign, of William IV from 1830 to 1837, has not been given its own stylistic descriptor. Regency architecture is especially distinctive in its houses, and also marked by an increase in the use of a range of eclectic Revival styles, from Gothic through Greek to Indian, as alternatives to the main neoclassical stream.

The opening years of the style were marked by greatly reduced levels of building because of the

asset class not to lose value was houses, at least in London, mainly because the low level of recent building had created pent-up demand.[4] After the decisive victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 ended the wars for good, there was a long financial boom amid greatly increased British self-confidence. Most Regency architecture comes from this period.[5]

Houses

Many buildings of the Regency style have a white painted

Palladianism
.

For large

Brighton Pavilion (to 1822) by John Nash, the seaside home of the Prince Regent, is Indian on the exterior, but the interiors include attempts at a Chinese style by Frederick Crace.[7]

Churches

Until the

Greek Revival buildings were mixed with those continuing the modified Baroque and Roman Neoclassical traditions.[8]

Public buildings

The period saw a great increase in public buildings, at both the national and local level.[9] In London, three bridges were built over the Thames between 1813 and 1819: Vauxhall Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Southwark Bridge, all privately financed by toll charges.[10] Shops began to be included systematically into newly planned developments, and the covered arcade of shops was introduced, with the Burlington Arcade in London (1815–19) the earliest.[11]

Leading architects

John Nash's Clarence House.

Pugin rebelled against it. In London itself there are many streets in the style in the areas around Victoria, Pimlico, Mayfair and other central districts.[12] John Soane was more individualistic, one of a number of European experimenters in Neoclassicism, but details from his inventive buildings were often picked up by other architects.[13]

The public buildings of George Dance the Younger, City Architect of London from 1768, were precursors of the Regency style, though he designed little himself after 1798. Robert Smirke could produce both classical (British Museum) and Gothic designs, and also mainly worked on public buildings. With Nash and Soane he was one of the Board of Works' architects during the peak Regency period. A large commission of the period was the expansion of Windsor Castle for the king, which eventually cost over a million pounds, over three times the original budget. Smirke, Nash, Soane and Jeffry Wyatville were invited to tender, Wyatville winning the competition. He was a prolific designer, mostly for country houses, new-built or refurbished, able to work in a variety of styles. His uncle James Wyatt was a leading architect of the previous generation, and James' sons Benjamin Dean Wyatt and Philip Wyatt were also successful architects in the period.

Locations

Apart from London, a number of English towns hold especial concentrations of Regency architecture. Several of the least-spoiled of these are new resort towns, attempting to emulate the success of

Tunbridge Wells, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Cheltenham, "perhaps the most complete surviving Regency town".[14]

Excellent examples of Regency properties dominate

Brunswick (Hove) estates.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier, 1981, v. 9, p. 314
  2. ^ Summerson, 135
  3. ^ Summerson, 135
  4. ^ Summerson, 166
  5. ^ Summerson, 135, 146, 189–191, 206, 225–233
  6. ^ Norwich, 248–249
  7. ^ Norwich, 631
  8. ^ Summerson, 212–221; Strong, 503–504
  9. ^ Summerson, 189–203, 225–251; Strong, 504–505
  10. ^ Summerson, 233–236
  11. ^ Summerson, 259–260
  12. ^ Summerson, 162–180; Strong, 502
  13. ^ Summerson, 95–97
  14. ^ Stong, 503, quoted; Norwich, 222–223
  15. ^ Norwich, 630–631

References

External links
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