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Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. However, it's roots date back to the 17th century when Claude Perrault decided to revive Ancient Greek architecture. In its purest form, it is a style principally derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles, and the work of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio.

The development of Archaeology was crucial in the emergence of Neoclassical architecture. Excavation sites like those in Pompeii and Herculaneum allowed architects to make in depth interpretations of Classical architecture and synthesize their own unique style.

In form, neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro and maintains separate identities to each of its parts. The style is manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulae as an outgrowth of some classicising features of the Late Baroque architectural tradition. Therefore, the style defined by symmetry, simple geometry, and social demands instead of ornament. Neoclassical architecture is still designed today, but may be labelled New Classical Architecture for contemporary buildings.

In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is usually referred to as Classicism (Klassizismus, Классицизм), while the newer revival styles of the 19th century until today are called neoclassical.

In the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century, neoclassical architecture was equal to Saint Petersburg architecture because this style was specific for a huge number of buildings in the city. Catherine the Great adopted the style during her reign by allowing architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe to build the Old Hermitage and the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg.

In the Soviet Union (1917–1991), neoclassical architecture was very popular among the political elite, as it effectively expressed state power and a vast array of neoclassical building was erected all over the country.

Soviet neoclassical architecture was exported to other socialist countries of the Eastern Bloc, as a gift from the Soviet Union. Examples of this include the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, Poland and the Shanghai International Convention Center in Shanghai, China.

Germany
Neoclassical architecture became a symbol of national pride during the 18th century in Germany, in what was then Prussia. Architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel built many notable buildings in this style including the Altes Museum in Berlin. While the city remained dominated by Baroque city planning, his architecture and functional style provided the city with a distinctly neoclassical center.

Schinkel's work is very comparable to Neoclassical architecture in Britain since it is where he drew much of his inspiration from. He made trips to observe the buildings and develop his functional style.

The Third Reich
Neoclassical architecture was the preferred style by the leaders of the National Socialist movement in the Third Reich, especially admired by Adolf Hitler himself. Hitler commissioned his favourite architect, Albert Speer, to plan a re-design of Berlin as a city comprising imposing neoclassical structures, which would be renamed as Welthauptstadt Germania, the centrepiece of Hitler's Thousand Year Reich.

These plans never came to fruition due to the eventual downfall of Nazi Germany and the suicide of its leader.

United States

In the new republic, Robert Adam's neoclassical manner was adapted for the local late 18th and early 19th-century style, called "Federal architecture". One of the pioneers of this style was English-born Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who is often noted as one of America's first formally trained professional architects and the father of American architecture. The Baltimore Basilica, the first Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States, is considered by many experts to be Latrobe's masterpiece.

Another notable American architect that identified with Federal architecture was Thomas Jefferson. He built many neoclassical buildings including his personal estate Monticello, the Virginia State Capitol, and the University of Virginia.

A second neoclassical manner found in the United States during the 19th century was called "Greek Revival architecture." It differs from Federal architecture as it strictly follows the Greek Idiom, however it was used to describe all buildings of the Neoclassicism period that display classical orders.

The widespread use of neoclassicism in American architecture, as well as by French revolutionary regimes, and the general tenor of rationalism associated with the movement, all created a link between neoclassicism and republicanism and radicalism in much of Europe. The Gothic Revival can be seen as an attempt to present a conservative alternative to neoclassicism.

In later 19th-century American architecture, neoclassicism was one expression of the American Renaissance movement, ca 1880–1917. Its later manifestation was in Beaux-Arts architecture (1885–1920), and its very last, large public projects in the United States include the Lincoln Memorial (1922), the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. (1937), and the American Museum of Natural History's Roosevelt Memorial (1936).

Today, there is a small revival of Classical Architecture as evidenced by the groups such as The Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America. The School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame, currently teaches a fully Classical curriculum.