Prominent English Architects of the Eighteenth Century - Case Study Example

PROMINENT ENGLISH ARCHITECTS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ROBERT ADAM WILLIAM CHAMBERS 2 Two of the most illustrious English architects during the late Georgian era in 18th century were Robert Adam and William Chambers. Robert Adam was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. He completed his school education at the Royal High School, Edinburgh and his college education at the University of Edinburgh.3 William Chambers, also of Scottish descent, was born in Stockholm. His family re-settled in England, and Chambers completed his education in Ripon, Yorkshire.4 Although Chambers was the foremost British official architect of their era, it was Adam who is widely looked upon as the greatest architect of the 18th century. Both architects did a large part of their studies abroad – in France and Italy. Adam travelled 1: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 2: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. 3: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 4: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. there in 1754, getting valuable knowledge of classical literature and draughtsmanship. He was tutored by two prominent personalities in the field of architecture – Giovanni Battista Piranese of Italy and Charles-Louis Clerisseau of France.5 Chambers too (like Adam) studied architecture and draughtsmanship under French architect Charles-Louis Clerisseau. While in Italy, Chambers did an extensive tour and examination of the Roman ruins and the works of noted Italian architects, especially Palladio.6 A major difference between the two great architects was their style. Both are looked upon as experts in neoclassical style of architecture, or ‘new’ classical style, so called because it represented a revival of classic forms of architecture that both men studied at length in France and Italy.7 While Chambers embodied the essential characteristics of high fashion tastes of his time,8 Adam created his own unique style, which was built on the style of those times.9 As a result of several trips to China, Chambers was deeply captivated by Chinese designs, returning to England with a large number of drawings of Chinese buildings and gardens. While his architectural works did reflect his knowledge and learning of neoclassical architecture (as a result of his visits to France and Italy), his fascination for Chinese designs was distinctly apparent in his later architectural works. Chambers favoured bold exteriors that reflected a blend of Roman, Florentine, Genoese and Venetian styles. He did not favour any startling mannerisms, preferring to place his style somewhere between the laborious, impressive style of Vanbrugh and the lighter, more 5: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 6: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. 7: Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International) 8: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. 9: Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International) pure style of Adam. Experts are of the opinion that the outlook of Chambers was more continental and international as compared to Adam.10 One of the only two (the other being Somerset House) famous architectural works of Chambers contains a distinct Chinese design flavour – Kew Gardens (1757 to 1762), made at the palace of Princess Dowager Augusta of Wales. KEW GARDENS11 Although the Kew Gardens provoked a lot of criticism due to its heavy Chinese influence, an unflustered Chambers despatched a batch of Kew designs to the King of Sweden. The King was so enamoured with the designs that he granted Chambers the title ‘Knight of the Pole Star,’ a position endorsed by King George III who permitted Chambers to take on the title of a knight in England, after which he officially became Sir William Chambers.12 Adam worked on the style of the times. He is widely credited with having totally revolutionised British architecture with his unique ‘Adam style,’ that basically substituted the Palladian style with a lighter, more varied and chaste form of classical design. He radically changed the existing style by allowing his designs for rooms to create an Illusion of space and movement that ideally suited his low relief decoration.13 The 10: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. 11: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. 12: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. 13: Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International) ‘Adam style’ retained important elements of classical Roman design side by side with elements of Greek, Bytzantine and Baroque styles. The ‘Adam style,’ fast becoming increasing popular all over Britain, first appeared in what is generally considered Robert Adam’s greatest work: Osterley Park.14 Osterley Park 15 Osterley Park is widely considered as the single most magnificent showcase of the ‘Adam style’ as it contains examples of all the portions in the development of his unique style.16 Chambers concentrated mostly on fashionable architecture for the wealthy sections of society, and was responsible for works such as the villa of the Earl of Bessborough at Roehampton, the Earl of Pembroke’s seat at Wilton, the Earl Gower’s villa at Whitehall, the Duke of Bedford’s mansion at Bloomsbury, the house of Lord Milbourne at 14: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 15: Ibid. 16: Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International) Piccadilly, Duddingston House near Edinburgh and Lord Charlemont’s casino situated in Ireland.17 CASINO 18 Unlike Chambers who only concentrated on trendy architecture, Adam’s great contributions to English architecture lay in the form of various Town Houses, Public Buildings and Country Houses.19 Prime examples of the Town Houses designed by Robert Adam are Bowood House (near Cline, Wiltshire), Dumfries House (Ayrshire: 1759), Gosford House (near Longniddry, East Lothian: 1790), Harewood House (West Lothian), Marlborough House (Brighton: 1786), Mellerstain House (Kelso, Scottish Borders: 1768), Saltram House 17: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. 18: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. 19: Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International) (Plymouth, Devon), Apsley House (Park Corner, London: 1778) and Paxton House (near Berwick-upon-Tweed: 1758).20 APSLEY HOUSE 21 PAXTON HOUSE 22 Among the many Public buildings that bear Adam’s unique style of architecture are Register House (Edinburgh: 1789), Mistley Towers (1776) and Pulteney Bridge (Bath: 1770).23 PULTENEY BRIDGE 24 20: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 21: Ibid. 22: Ibid. 23: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 24: Ibid. Among the famous Country Houses designed by Adam are Portland Place (1773), Syon House (near Brentford: 1769) and Kedleston Hall (near Derby: 1765).25 KEDLESTON HALL 26 Unlike the many famous Public Houses and Country Houses of Adam, the only notable Public House designed by Chambers is Somerset House.27 SOMERSET HOUSE 28 25: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 26: Ibid. 27: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. 28: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. Two other less famous designed works of Williams, both of which bear clear impressions of his favourite Chinese design motifs are Gilded State Coach and the Dunmore Pineapple.29 THE DUNMORE PINEAPPLE 30 Both Williams and Adam were noted authors of architectural books. Adams wrote ‘Works in Architecture of Robert & James Adam’ (1773).31Among the more famous books of Williams are ‘Treatise on the Decorative Part of Civil Architecture’ (1759), ‘Plans, Elevations, Sections and Perspective Views of the Gardens and Buildings at Kew in Surry – London’ (1763) and ‘A Dissertation on Oriental Gardening’ (1772).32 Criticism was levelled at both architects, with Adam receiving less of it than Chambers. Adam drew criticism from architects like James Wyatt who complained that his ‘Adam style’ had contaminated British public taste. Adams replied to this by pointing 29: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. 30: Ibid. 31: Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International) 32: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. to the resounding success of his new style, one that revolutionised British architecture.33 Chambers came in for severe criticism for his extravagances – some critics saying he crossed all boundaries of contemporary taste – and his whimsical perseverance with Chinese designs, particularly the sketches in his books. The structure that drew the most criticism in this connection is the Pagoda that still stands to this day.34 PAGODA 35 Both Adam and Chambers received honours for their contribution to British architecture. Adams was appointed member of the Royal Society of Arts in 1758 and member of the Society of Antiquaries in 1761.36 Chambers was assigned the job of architectural tutor to the Prince of Wales (later King George III), was appointed member of the Society of Artists in 1761 and treasurer of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768.37 Robert Adam and William Chambers were given the highest honour when they were 33: Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International) 34: Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. 35: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. 36: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 37: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. jointly appointed as Architect of the King’s Works in 1761. It is only fitting that both architects received the ultimate honour of being buried in Westminster Abbey, Adam in 1792,38 and Chambers in 1796.39 38: Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. 39: William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. References used: ANON. 1996. Adam: The World Book Encyclopedia (International), 1: 28-29 ANON. 2007. Biography of Sir William Chambers, Architect: Furniture Styles. [Online]. Available: http://www.furniturestyles.net/european/english/william-chambers.html [9 August 2007] ANON. 2007. Robert Adam: Wikipedia.org. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Adam [9 August 2007] ANON. 2007. William Chambers (Architect): Wikipedia.org. [Online]. Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chambers_(architect) [9 August 2007] Read More