Georgian architecture

I believe that Georgian is pleasing because it is elegant; (mostly) symmetrical; and, in comparison with what preceded and what came after, fairly restrained. There are also more examples that seem "human-sized" in comparison to the Baroque.

I prefer the American variants, myself.

I love Georgian architecture! Elegant, sturdy, powerful.

However, to be fair, it encompasses a long span of time and is the foundation of the first 'modern' era of building, which is why we see so much of it.

Victorian is, for the most part, just too excessive. Georgian had it right.

Yale

They may be comfortable buildings, but few would call them "pleasing to the eye."

Buckingham Palace is Georgian.

I'd hate to have to clean all the windows in r3 and r5. SHEESH.

Greek Revival! Yah!

Tryon Palace, the Royal governor’s mansion in New Bern, NC is a nice example. I love the colonnades going to the wings. They used it in the Outlander series.

Hello Gergshia!

It can't hold a candle to Alabaman architecture.

[quote] ..... but few would call them "pleasing to the eye."

Seriously? What style of architecture is the most pleasing to your eye?

National Opera Theatre, Tbilisi

I'm not R4 but I'm sure the Georgian style could be applied to a variety of buildings from small cottages to hulking, 20th century, Neo-Georgian city apartment blocks.

I like Georgian because it's restful and the construction makes sense with just a small amount of ornamentation (such as in circular windows or oval-shaped rooms).

Neo-Georgian: Lowell House, Harvard

Georgian interiors are awesome, especially late Georgian as they got more ornate

Isn't Georgian architecture in America referred to as Federal?

It’s sometimes called Greek style too.

R16, no it’s not. Federal and Georgian are similar but distinct styles. The federal style is more slender and finely-drawn. It often encompasses fan and side lights around the front door, and the interior plan is nearly always based on a central hall. Georgian is heavier, more symmetrical, nearly always featuring a tripartite front facade.

No one ever calls either “Greek style” which I assume refers to Greek Revival.

Federal is a subset. It was called Federal because US was independent, but it was based on the style of Robert and James Adams and called Adamesque in UK.

Gore Place in Waltham MA is a particularly striking example.

R11, I don't know a lot about architecture, but Italian Renaissance, Victorian, Bauhaus, Islamic, and lots of others.

I cannot imagine making a detour on a trip to see a Georgian building. It seems to be the dullest style of architecture.

I adore Georgian houses. The only thing I dislike is most all Georgian houses have tiny little front porches - just enough coverage for one person to step out of the rain. Other than that, it's my favorite residential architectural style.

Silliman College master's house at Yale.

Timothy Dwight College at Yale.

Trump administration ban on contemporary architecture. The link preview image is from a Tuscaloosa federal building & courthouse built in 2011. Crazy,

R25 Was there really a ban on contemporary architecture?

I tried to read 3 paragraphs of that link but it sounds so rabid and untrustworthy that I had to give up.

R26, the article calls it an "effective ban", meaning that it would be difficult to build anything but Federal buildings, but not really a full ban.

Thank you R27.

I'm not American but I've found American journalism over the last decade to be long-winded and hyperbolic. And, as I say, it has become rabid in the last few years.

I know British architects were incensed about Charles' comments on their 'monstrous carbuncles' but I know modern architects are utterly full of their own vanity.

I assume all the examples show so far in this thread are Georgian Revival.

I'm guessing Jefferson's Monticello is original Georgian.

My alma mater, Miami University, is Georgian Revival (vast majority of buildings) and I always liked it.

I like the old London Council building (though Wiki describes it as Edwardian Baroque)

All American Georgian Revival is based on me

You must be a young man, R4, R21, in the early bloom of your manhood.

Monticello is none of the things mentioned above. It is Palladian. The Tyron Palace I posted isn’t neo-anything, it was built in the era and is pure Georgian.

Wiki says Monticello is 1772. Wiki says Tyron Palace is 1770-1775.

it's simplistic and symmetrical

Jefferson hated Georgian architecture. He based his composition on Roman models.

R35, he was notorious for constantly remodeling Monticello, and it was one of the many reasons he died deeply in debt. It was still being altered when he eventually died.

[quote]Federal is a subset. It was called Federal because US was independent, but it was based on the style of Robert and James Adams and called Adamesque in UK.

It's Adam, not Adams, r19

R34 Most architectural historians would contend that a central building (such as Tyron Palace) with two pavilions at the sides joined with arcades is Palladian.

I’m not sure how to add a photo to a thread here, but Pollok House in Glasgow is my favourite Georgian building, I think. Large enough to be “grand”, but small enough to live in comfortably.

R40, that’s not true.

[quote] The basic Georgian proportion was typically geometrical, with the main block of the building frequently augmented by hyphens and wings. The axial symmetry of the Georgian style will always be a safe design approach

R41 It's hard to find a flattering picture of Pollok House. They mostly show grey stone against a grey sky.

Most of the American Palladian houses have the lovely warm brick colour from Monticello.

Thanks for posting the picture r43.

I like the silvery grey colour of the house. I think it suits the austere nature of Georgian architecture somehow, and it really does stand out against the green parkland surrounding it.

For another interesting example of Georgian architecture, have a look at Culzean Castle, largely the work of Robert Adam. It is more ornate than most Georgian buildings on the outside, a vaguely ridiculous cliff-top sandcastle of a building but has the typical symmetry, and the interiors are typical Georgian grandeur. It’s a wonderful place to visit.

Lucky President Eisenhower was given an apartment in it as a thanks for his leadership in WWII.

Wow, R44, Culzean looks too dramatic. Everyone here says Georgian is restful.

R43, American red brick is one of the architectural glories of the nation. I was surprised to see the dark red color most Americans associate with brick seemed uncommon in Europe overall.

Bostonian brick is an extraordinarily beautiful shade, particularly in Beacon Hill.

Actually Chicago's brown brick is hideous. The city would be so much nicer with a coating of the local bright yellow limestone. But then New York is covered with ugly purple sandstone from Duluth, so there you go.

Monticello? Puh-leeze

Massachusetts Hall, Harvard (1718)

So is Massachusetts Hall the first American Georgian building?

It would be synonymous with the first George —

I don’t know whether it was the first, but it was clearly not inspired by Monticello.

Bacon's castle is the oldest brick building left. Had some elements of Georgian.

Can someone explain why the White House is considered neoclassical? Remember, the columns were a late addition after the British burnt it down.

The oldest complete Georgian was the Palace of Governors of Wburg, although its georgianness has probably been enhanced by reconstruction, as were the Capitol and Wren Hall, which was NOT originally Georgian and which has burned so many times nobody really knows if there is anything original in it (yes, I'm a Mass Hall partisan!)

[quote] the austere nature of Georgian architecture

I never thought of Georgian as austere, but I can see how it could be interpreted that way in most cases. I always found it very human-scaled and friendly-looking.

I have always found Monticello to be overrated, and actually pretty awful. It looks like a ranch home with a relatively oversized dome and portico stuck on to it.

R52

Federal style example, but I always liked homes with this kind of front door, with the semi-circular entablature over the door, but no fan window.

Growing up outside DC, I always wanted a tract home like this. Stanley Martin was a builder in the area that did a lot of these.

What's that three-part window over the tiny portico called? On the second floor.

We had a contemporary house, very unpopular at the time in that area.

Jackie O.'s (and Gore Vidal's?) home in Virginia, Merrywood. Now the centerpiece of a very expensive subdivison overlooking the Potomac.

Lots of stuff about the period.

R54, you are right, of course. It can be very friendly looking (Iwould love to live in a Georgian property), but the symmetry always makes it seem very precise and clinical to me. Maybe that’s what I meant of as austere.

On a larger scale, the Georgian hearts of towns like Edinburgh or Bath which I am most familiar with lack intimacy. They are all for show, almost monumental in scale.

That was what I thought all Georgian architecture was like, until I visited Philadelphia a few years ago. The old part of town has many beautiful Georgian buildings on much more human scale, such as Carpenter’s Hall. It’s a thrilling place to visit, although whoever granted planning consent for the two hideous skyscrapers which loom over Independence Hall should be shot!

Palladian window.

Wren Hall has also moved around on the site.