For Centuries antiquity had influenced Arts and Architecture again and again (for instance during the Romanesque and Rensaissance periods). In the early 18th Century excavations started in Herculaneum and later in Pompeii, which sparked a great interest in antiquity. The German Johann Joachim Winckelmann - father of modern, science based archeology - called for a return to the Greek style which he saw as matchless in its 'noble simplicity and calm grandeur' ¹ in his influential writings. There was a call to return to the elegant and noble shapes of this era as opposed to the excessive ornamentation of Baroque and Rococo.

Antique buildings were generally idealized as beautifully white structures. As new archeological discoveries were made, these inspired the imitation of ancient Roman and Greek buildings. At first new buildings copied the old styles in an archeologically correct way, while in the late 18th Century architects started to use the antique archetypes more freely and tried to create useful new
buildings by combining various parts of antique archetypes. The appearence of antique ruins was distributed through various prints from drawings - which were not always completely accurate.

During the era of the French Revolution (1789) 18th Century, antiquity came to symbolize the middle classes as opposed to monarchy symbolized by the Baroque and Rococo styles. Egyptian, Roman and Etruscan buildings were copied, too, but the ancient style of the Greek Classical era was seen as the greatest ideal. Therefore in France the new Neoclassical style was dictated to be used for new buildings after the Revolution.

There was a wish for architecture being based on science and rationalism. In his influential text 'Essai sur l'architecture' (1753), Marc-Antoine Laugier stated that the classical Greek temple has its roots in the core naturalistic principles of architecture. According to him the shapes of pillars, beams and gables originate in the primitive hut and the Greek temple is this principle rebuilt in stone. It was therefore believed that Greek architecture and therefore also Neoclassicism was the purest and most natural form of architecture.

The main motifs of Neoclassicism was the ancient Greek temple facade with columns, cornices and triangular gable. As opposed to the formerly predominant Baroque, there were relatively few decorations like vases or garlands (painted or as relief). The shapes which were used were simple and geometric like cubes, cylinders, pyramids and spheres. These were for instance translated in cuboid buildings with domes. Straight lines replaced the overboarding Baroque and Rococo shapes.

With the decline of the Baroque style the idea of a Gesamtkunstwerk also came to an end, because churches and palaces were not the main assignments of architects anymore. Therefore a total design idea for the whole building including exterior, interior, furniture and decoration was hard to realize.

Unfortunately the ideal of the imitation of the classical antique styles did not always work well with the functions of the new buildings which had to be designed. Therefore very often architects had to find new ways to interpret the Neoclassical ideals and 'hide' modern functions and facilities behind antique facades. Often they also combined different styles to an eclectic mix as architects had to be creative to make Antique looks and modern life work together. This was especially true for residential projects. Larger buildings for government and administration could follow the strict styles best and therefore usually depict it most accurately.

City planning focussed on wide, straight streets connecting important buildings or places.

Due to industrialisation many people worked in manufacturing plants in a single location. These people of course needed a place to live, which was often not available. The living conditions were usually rather terrible. This led to factory owners starting to build adequate living spaces for their workers close to the factories or even in one compound with them.

In Great Britain Neoclassicism started in the late Georgian era. In parallel to this the mid 18th Century already saw the dawn of the pre-Romantic era and the first Gothic Revival buildings. The first English landscape gardens were created and Neoclassical villas were built in these gardens, creating a fleeting border between interior an garden with the help of loggias, pergolas and similar elements. Neoclassicism further encompassed the Regency and Greek Revival styles.

In the newly independent USA the Federal Style was the local variant of Neoclassicism. The US Capitol and the White House for instance were designed in this style.

In 1794 the École Polytechnique was founded in Paris. Here Architecture was tought as a technological subject for the first time (and not as a kind of art or even handcraft). The education of architects at the academy of arts also still existed at the same time. Since the Baroque age they were institutions where artists were tought and artists organized themselves in a guild-like manner. They were heavily influenced by the governments. The establishment of the polytechnical university led to a division of arcitecture and engineering - of appearance and construction.

Jean-Nicholas Durand was the first teacher for architecture at the Ecole Polytechnique in 1795. He wrote the most important book on architecture of the early 19th Century about his lectures ². Durand's focus was not on the impression of a room but the right organisation of floor plans and sections. By rationally organizing different parts of a building on a grid he layed the foundation of standardising architecture. This became very important later, when buildings were made of pre-fabricated parts. It also foreshadows functionalism in modern architecture. Buildings should be structured systematically and not imitate historic archetypes. Shapes and proportions are dictated by the use of the building. Decoration is unnecessary. His approach to design was purely rational.

Museums

The modern museum origniates in the collections of rich individuals. These collections were private and seeing them was a privilege to those who were personally invited. They were a way to show of wealth and good taste. After the French Revolution it was decided to make the French king's collection accessible to the public by displaying it at the Louvre palace in Paris. Since 1793 it could here be viewed for free by anyone. This was done in order to educate the middle-class and was regarded as a good idea by many in Europe and found many imitators. The National Gallery in London for instance was established in 1823.

Not everywhere the perfect location for such a place of public interest was already available. Therefore a new building type came into existance around the year 1800: the museum. As museums were a completely new type of buildings there were no traditional expectations as to what such a building should look like. Therefore architects were free to realize their own ideas and get creative. Usually the different halls of the museum were richly decorated according to the objects on display.

Durand invented the motiv of the rotunda - a circular building part with columns under a dome - as central element of a museum, which was then first used in Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Altes Museum in Berlin (1830). The rotunda became often used in museums from this time on and is usually a round, domed hall with two storeys. A large circular hole in the upper storey allows light from the dome to reach the ground floor.

Utopias of the radical Classicism

One special movement taking place at this time was the Revolutionary Classicism. Its idea was that architecture should be based on pure geometry like circles, squares and triangles in monumental size, which was seen as the foundation of nature. Ornamentation was rejected - which already foreshadowed the ideas of modernism.

Most of the ideas were only realized on paper, they are utopias which express enlightenment, freedom of the individual and the end of traditional politics and society. There were concepts of huge barrel vaults, spheres, pyramids and long colonnades of columns of gigantic proportions with tiny people standing between them. The shapes often look very modern to today's viewer.

On the other hand there were also curious concepts for buildings for people of different professions which hinted to their use with their shape. For instance a cow-shed would have the shape of a cow, whereas a brothel would have the shape of a penis.

One of the most famous ideas of this movement was the Newton Cenotaph (a memorial tomb) by Etienne Boullée (teacher of Durand). This structure designed in 1784 was supposed to consist of a 150m tall ball set on a base of stepped circles. The hollow interior should be either illumnated by a huge light like a sun during the night or simulate the night sky through holes through which sunlight should enter during the day.

One structure which was in fact realized was Claude-Nicolas Ledoux' royal saltworks in Arc-et-Senans, France (1775). On the layout of a half-circle Ledoux arranged saltworks complete with administrative buildings, workshops and workers' quarters in a way that was at the same time efficient and aestetic, which was a great distinction to other manufacturing plants of the time. Ledoux' dream of expanding the saltworks to a whole city was however never realized.

Empire Style

In the first years of the 19th Century Napoleon Bonaparte made himself Emperor of France. What followed was a long time of war in Europe, of which he conquered large parts. This led to the establishing of the Neoclassical Emire Style, which had the goal of glorifying Napoleon.

In Architecture the Empire style was mostly influenced by Roman and Greek antiquity as well as Egyptian arts. Copies of antique decorations were 'stuck' on interior walls and furniture. Delicate ornaments were often gold on white backgrounds and could also take the shape of animals or mythical creatures and figures. The exterior of buildings was often inspired by Imperial Rome. Neoclassicism does not symbolize democracy anymore but Napoleon, who sees himself as a successor of Julius Caesar. He declared Classicism the 'national style' of France. From this time on Classicism was often favoured by megalomanic leaders throughout history.

Back to the Future

With the Battle of Waterloo the time of Napoleon ended in 1815. A new order was created in Europe which tried to go back to how things were before the French Revolution. It was a time of restauration.

The emerging European Nation States looked back at their own history for defining factors. At the same time arts historians developed an interest in researching various historic styles, not just Antiquity. This way, young architects learned about them during their studies. This led to the eclectic styles of Historicism. Styles based on Antiquity however continued to be used alongside a wide variety of others.