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AE 675
Robert Fraga
Reaction Paper to A. E. Richardson's
Georgian Architecture
INTRODUCTION
The following critical evaluation of the book Georgian
Architecture by A. E. Richardson consists of two parts.
The first part of this essay will familiarize the reader
with the principal concepts proposed by the author in his
book.
The second part of this essay will consist of a critical
evaluation of the author's thesis, and the continuity and
clarity of the author's thoughts as they are expressed in
the book,
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BOOK'S CONTENT
In his book Georgian Architecture, author A, E, Richard-
son explores the rise of the Georgian Style of architecture,
the leading architects of this period and the various expres-
sions of Georgian Architecture that occurred as a result of
regionalism.
Mr. Richardson has divided his book into two parts. The
first part dealing with the earlier expressions of Georgian
Architecture and the reasons for this mode of expression
(1714 to 1760). The second part of this book, deals with the
continuing development of the Georgian Style in England as
well as regional expressions of the Georgian Style (1760 to
1830). In this section of the book, the author also deals
with individual architects of importance to this period.
In the first section of the book, Mr. Richardson talks
about the development of the Georgian Style as the result of
social change that occurred approximately at the time of
King George the First, Academicism lead to an architecture
based on classical concepts. Symmetry, scale and proportions
gained new importance in the design of buildings.
Mr. Richardson associates the development of the Georgian
style with the rise of a new social class composed of crafts-
men and merchants. This new social class was educated as to
the ways of the academic design by means of popular booklets
which illustrated the principal elements of the new style.
As a result of the accessibility of information, almost
everyone associated with the building trades; journeymen,
carpenters and bricklayers, became familiar with the design
elements of the new style as well as with the detailing that
became a prototype for this period. Thus, as Mr. Richardson
states in his book, "It now become usual for a man of ordinary
talents to make a name as a designer of buildings; for archi-
tecture as an art now appealed to a wider circle of patrons.
In conclusion to the first section of his book, Mr.
Richardson describes the influences of the leading architects
of the period. Lord Burlington, James Gibbs and William Kent
are among the architects mentioned as being important to the
early development of the Georgian Style.
In the second section of his book, which covers the period
from 1760 to 1830 Mr. Richardson dwells on the social and
historical aspect that influenced the architecture of the
time; the segregation of the working classes into new groups,
the secession of the American colonies from the mother country
and the long struggle with France for world power are said to
have influenced the architecture of the time and contributed
to the maturing of the Georgian Style. According to Richardson,
"further understanding of antiquity due to studies conducted
on Italy and Greece helped to refine the detailing and the over-
all design during this period. Also, craftsmanship reached
its zenith at this time and consequently the quality of the
work improved tremendously.
Mr. Richardson also speaks of a newfound sense of patriot-
ism, "... the development of a civic sense," which inspired
the British to build in a Grand Style, specially in public
and official buildings. Richardson states that during this
period, British classical architecture came into its own
by adopting many elements of the vernacular into the new
style, thus, giving a true British character to the archi-
tecture of the time.
In the second section of his book Richardson also deals
with the mode of expression of Georgian Style in certain
regions of Britain such as Dublin where the Georgian Style
was influenced by elements of the Baroque and in Edinburgh
where the Georgian Style developed with a Scottish vernacular
flavor, Also in this section, the author writes bibliographic
sketches of the main architects of the period; Sir William
Chambers, Robert Mylne, Sir John Soane, the Wyatts brothers
and John Nash.
In conclusion to his book, Mr. Richardson summarizes all
the facts previously mentioned in his text and proclaims the
Georgian style as a "...classic spirit which for more than
two centuries shone like a beacon to guide the architecture
of England." Also, the author concludes that the spirit of
the Georgian style has left its imprint in the architectural
fabric of England and he encourages present day architects
to recapture the spirit of the Georgian Style.
-4-
CRITICAL EVALUATION
I feel that the book Georgian Style has many shortcomings,
the first one being the way in which the book has been
structured. I found it difficult to understand why the
author chose to divide his book into two sections. I would
have rather had the author deal with the topic of Georgian
architecture as a whole in a continuous fashion, specially
since it appears that there is no real apparent historical
reason to have such a division, but rather such a division
resulted from an arbitrary decision of the author.
I agree with the author's theory that sociological and
political events contributed to shape the architecture of
the time; this seems to have been the case for much of the
architecture of the world, however, I regret that the
author did not pursue this trend of thought further and ex-
plained exactly how the social and political influences were
expressed in terms of an architectural vocabulary, that is to
say, what were the physical expressions that resulted from
the socio-economic influences. Instead, the author makes
statements such as, "the use of England to Imperial dignity;
the growth of the democratic spirit under aristocratic influ-
ences...the incipient Industrial Revolution. Such are the
factors which really determined the main aspects of the
style familiarly known as Georgian" and without further quali-
fications the author moves on to other topics. This lack of
depth in the criticism of the author really hinders the total
understanding of the text since it is impossible to associate
historical events with specific architectural development.
A similar problem arises when the author makes reference
to the leading architects of the period and their influences
upon other architects of the age, for example, "The peculiar
distinction of Chambers was his scholarship which outclassed
that of Tailor and Paine, and was isolated from the focile
accomplishments of Robert Adams," A statement such as this
is only understandable if the reader is familiar with the
work of the architects in question. Again, the author fails
to make further qualifications to his statements,
From a historical point of view, I feel that the author
has not given enough recognition to the influences that the
architecture of the Italian Renaissance had upon the Georgian
Style of architecture. The author in describing the qualities
of the Georgian Style refers to symmetry, proportions and
scale as though these concepts were native to the style.
Rather than recognize the foreign influences to the Georgian
Style, the author states, "By 1750, the classic tradition had
developed a character which was unmistakably English...,"
and, "the almost Athenian grace of the new style appealed,
both by its novelty and its charm, to a wide circle. In due
course it became fashionable; finally it was standardized and
formed the vernacular for all kinds of buildings." The fact
is that if the Georgian Style developed an "unmistakably
English" quality it was due to the many adaptations that made
this style unique to England, however, Renaissance, Gothic and
Baroque influences are also unmistakably part of this style
of architecture.
The author's inability to convey his criticism using a
conventional architectural vocabulary, presented some problem
to the reader. Instead of dealing with an architectural termin-
ology that makes reference to space, scale and structure, the
author has dealt with terms such as; "fashionable" and "taste-
ful" when referring to architectural elements. Such terms,
convey a limited amount of information and they enable the
reader to make any interpretation of his own.
In conclusion, I would like to state that the book
Georgian Style by A. E. Richardson, is a one man interpretation
of the Georgian Style. I feel that this is not a good reference
book since it lacks the kind of information that every reference
book needs to be a valuable tool. However, this is a compli-
mentary book to be read along with other books dealing with the
same topic so as to obtain a variety of opinions and thus a
broader view on the architecture of the Georgian Style.
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