New Classicism: The Rebirth of Traditional Architecture [Hardcover]

Elizabeth M. Dowling (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0847826600 | ISBN-13: 978-0847826605 | Publication Date: October 29, 2004

New Classicism provides an in-depth look at a form of design that appeared lost forever with the rise of modernism in architecture. But now, with an intense revival of interest in classical design, and with the demise in popularity of the subsequent postmodernism, new vigor has infused traditional forms and motifs. Focusing on approximately thirty projects by the best classically oriented firms in the United States and Britain, New Classicism examines this burgeoning new vogue for the many varieties of traditional classical design.
The result is a dazzling array of highly disciplined and high-profile classical designs, ranging from the exquisite work of John Blateau and Alan Greenberg's eighteenth-century-inspired reconfiguration of the interiors of the U.S. State Department to the Nashville public library designed by Robert A. M. Stern and projects from the classical-design program at the University of Notre Dame.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Regardless of whether they favor New Classicist architecture themselves, architecture buffs interested in contemporary design will find the trends laid out in this volume quite thought provoking. Dowling presents a wide variety of examples of the style in the book's many oversized photographs, from palatial homes and university buildings to a financial center in Washington, D.C., and a "Georgian Club" in Tokyo. In her introduction, the author celebrates the recent rebirth of Classicism in both the United States and Britain, while unabashedly expressing her distaste for modern design. She sets up a dichotomy between the two styles, tracing the rise of modern architecture in the past century in opposition to the classical tradition, which Dowling feels has suffered from a decline in popularity since the 1930s, "when many professors from the Bauhaus ... immigrated to America to escape persecution in Nazi Germany." Dowling then quickly moves on to mention those designers featured in the book who resisted the dominant modern aesthetic in the past half century, such as Allan Greenberg and John Blatteau. A professor of architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology and author of American Classicist: The Architecture of Phillip Trammell Schutze, Dowling also discusses the recent revival of classicism in the training of design. The bulk of the book is dedicated to profiles of 13 architects who have produced work in the New Classicist style since the late '80s, featuring rich photographs of their extravagant projects. This is a worthwhile read for those who pay attention to contemporary architecture.
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About the Author

Elizabeth Meredith Dowling is a registered architect and associate professor of architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology, and author of American Classicist: The Architecture of Philip Trammell Shutze, published by Rizzoli.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (October 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847826600
• ISBN-13: 978-0847826605
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1 x 12.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #799,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Long on classical elements, lousy on classical proportion, December 12, 2005

By 

Hugh M. Anderson "hugeanderson" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Classicism: The Rebirth of Traditional Architecture (Hardcover)

My issue isn't so much with this physical book itself - the pictures are big and colorful, although often blurry for some reason - as much as it is with the architecture. Palladian windows and columns are classical elements, and building with brick and stone are classical materials, but architecture is all proportion. With the exception of the Julian Bicknell work, this book is largely haphazard attempts at making new buildings look old by throwing a lot of money at them. What is missing is the understanding of proportion - not just in the Palladian sense - but in the sense of the early 20th century American architects - Lindeberg, Delano & Aldrich, Trumbauer, Mellor, Meigs & Howe, Pope, Platt, and later Adler, etc. And you can throw Lutyens in the U.K. in there as well. Anyway, I guess I would say - you're not likely to learn much from this book, and that if you are interested in the houses that inspired this "new" Classicism, just stick with the aforementioned work.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REBIRTH OF CLASSICISM, October 26, 2006

By 

Shannon Deason (Houston) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Classicism: The Rebirth of Traditional Architecture (Hardcover)

This is a really good book, with vivid, crisp images and interesting and informative text, the other review on this page really has little to do with this book and more to do with the subject, of which they have a very strong opinion..fine..but to give this book two stars is just plain obtuse, i mean granted these present day architects may not be mckim, mead, and white, or carrere and hastings, or Trumbaur..but christ, does that mean their work should not be given a fair assessment, I really think that review is very infair to this book, take on present day high end residential architects fine, but this is suppose to be a review of this book book, not a diatribe on the state of high end residential architects..good grief, we all can agree, that Quinlin Terry, nomatter how good he is, is no Horace Trumbaur or Stanford White, anyway back to the book, lord, i gave it five stars, just to bring it up a notch to four..i think it's really a strong four star. I especially appreciated the images of that massive mansion built by harrison designs out of atlanta, that house looks like something out of the guilding age it is simply spectacular in everyway, the images of it alone are worth the price of this book. All the big names in grand residential architecture are present, i especially appreciated the section on Quinlin Terry, I love his work. Overall, i highly recommend this book to anyone with a love for grand residential architecture, you won't be disappointed, just don't expect to ever see work like that of Traumbaur or Delano and Aldrich, all the great masons are long gone, and nobody is going to spend the kind of time and money it would take to build another Whitmarsh or Biltmore, those days are washed up on the shores of history.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational!, November 29, 2006

By 

Mr. G. Botoulas "memorial hill" (Kimberley, South Africa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Classicism: The Rebirth of Traditional Architecture (Hardcover)

That somebody be the author of this architectural publication is inspirational! I bought a copy through [...] and am very pleased that I did.Besides the interesting photographs, there is also very interesting reading about the subject.It's a pity that here in South Africa we don't get to see much of this type of work as it is very appropriate for Democratic Societies, even today!