Neoclassical Movement in Architecture

Classical Details

• Neoclassical architects detail structures with classical elements that conform to the classical orders. Baroque architects' designs creatively explored mixing the elements and details for architectural orders, such as Michelangelo's segmental broken pediments at the Medici Chapel tombs in San Lorenzo. By contrast, neoclassical design strictly follows the Vitruvius's ancient guidelines for the Doric, ionic and Corinthian orders, using the correct proportions, as well as details, such as triglyphs and metopes, for only the Doric order and details, such as the dental or egg and dart molding for only the Ionic and Corinthian orders. Examples of strict neoclassical detailing can be found in the Robert Adam's Syon House in Middlesex, England, John Wood's Royal Crescent at Bath, England, Jacques Gondoin's Ecole de Chirurgie in Paris, France, and Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany.

Symmetry and Balance

• Neoclassical architecture is almost always bilaterally symmetrical in design. The symmetry creates aesthetic balance for the architecture, and it emphasizes the center of the structures, creating order and hierarchy in the facades and plans of the buildings. Examples of symmetry and balance in neoclassical architecture include Colen Campbell's Stourhead House in Wiltshire, England, nearly every project by Andrea Palladio, such as Villa Capra and Villa Trissino in Vicenza, Italy, and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Monumentality

• Neoclassicism's order, symmetry and imposing use of classical detailing, as well as an affectation of great age, produces a sense of monumentality for neoclassical structures. For this reason, many architects design government, educational and bank structures in the neoclassical style. Some examples of monumental neoclassical architecture include John Soane's design for the Bank of England in London, England, Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Germany, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, and Robert Smirke's British Museum in London, England.

Idealism

• The strict use of the classical orders and spare use of color simplifies neoclassical architectural design, rather than complicates the architectural form like the curvilinear, dynamic experiments of baroque architecture. The simplicity and classicism conjure idealistic images of the pure democracy of Greece, so many government buildings of the new democracy of the United States utilized neoclassicism, including Benjamn Henry Latrobe's Capitol, Cass Gilbert's Supreme Court and James Hoban's White House, all located in Washington, D.C.

Modernism

• The modern aesthetic is believed to have grown from the spare styling of neoclassicism. Many modern architects, including Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Gunnar Asplund, are known to have used classical and neoclassical proportions and ordering. Many of Le Corbusier's villas, such as the Villa Stein, have classical proportions, following ratios that approximate the golden mean, or approximately 1.618, such as 1 to the square root of 2, 2 to 3 and 3 to 5. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was influenced greatly by the neoclassical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, and that influence can be seen in his many high-modern structures, such as the National Gallery in Berlin, Germany. Finally, Gunnar Asplund's Stockholm Library in Stockholm, Sweden, is nearly a neoclassical structure dressed in modern detailing, with its proportions, balance and symmetry based on the classical canon.