Northington Grange in the context of Greek Revival


The Greek Revival architectural style, flourishing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was seen as a rejection of the architectural trends in France and Italy, which were perceived as overly ornate and lacking in civic virtue. This allowed the style to be embraced as an expression of national identity and classical liberal ideals in countries like Great Britain, Germany, and the United States.

⭐ In the context of Greek Revival architecture, the style gained popularity in nations like Great Britain and the United States partly because it was viewed as a departure from what perceived characteristics of contemporary French and Italian architecture?


⭐ Core Definition: Northington Grange

The Grange is a 19th-century country house-mansion and English landscape park near Northington in Hampshire, England. It is currently owned by the Baring family, Barons Ashburton.

English Heritage have a guardianship deed on the scheduled monument and Grade I listed building, with the Grade II* listed gardens and monument's exterior open to the public.

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In the context of Greek Revival architecture, the style gained popularity in nations like Great Britain and the United States partly because it was viewed as a departure from what perceived characteristics of contemporary French and Italian architecture?
HINT: Greek Revival architecture was favored in countries like Great Britain and the United States as a reaction against the perceived 'lax detail and frivolity' of the architectural styles prevalent in France and Italy at the time.

👉 Northington Grange in the context of Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture is a style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, and Greece following that nation's independence in 1821. It revived many aspects of the forms and styles of ancient Greek architecture, including the Greek temple. A product of Hellenism, Greek Revival architecture is looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture, which was drawn from Roman architecture. The term was first used by Charles Robert Cockerell in a lecture he gave as an architecture professor at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1842.

With newfound access to Greece and Turkey, or initially to the books produced by the few who had visited the sites, archaeologist–architects of the period studied the Doric and Ionic orders. Despite its universality rooted in ancient Greece, the Greek Revival idiom was considered an expression of local nationalism and civic virtue in each country that adopted it, and freedom from the lax detail and frivolity that then characterized the architecture of France and Italy, two countries where the style never really took architecturally. Greek Revival architecture was embraced in Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, where the idiom was regarded as being free from ecclesiastical and aristocratic associations and was appealed to each country's emerging embrace of classical liberalism.

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Northington Grange in the context of Fluting (architecture)

Fluting in architecture and the decorative arts consists of shallow grooves running along a surface. The term typically refers to the curved grooves (flutes) running vertically on a column shaft or a pilaster, but is not restricted to those two applications. If the scoops taken out of the material meet in a sharp ridge, the ridge is called an arris. If the raised ridge between two flutes appears flat, the ridge is a fillet. Fluted columns are common in the tradition of classical architecture but were not invented by the ancient Greeks, but rather passed down or learned from the Mycenaeans or the Egyptians.

Especially in stone architecture, fluting distinguishes the column shafts and pilasters visually from plain masonry walls behind. Fluting promotes a play of light on a column which helps the column appear more perfectly round than a smooth column. As a strong vertical element it also has the visual effect of minimizing any horizontal joints. Greek architects viewed rhythm as an important design element. As such, fluting was often used on buildings and temples to increase the sense of rhythm. It may also be incorporated in columns to make them look thinner, lighter, and more elegant.

View the full Wikipedia page for Fluting (architecture)
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