TheAmerican Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917,[1] characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir toGreek democracy,Roman law, andRenaissance humanism. Local conditions and requirements of America, including the aforementioned nationalism, spurred this change of style, allowing it to slowly develop over time in various places around the United States.[2] The era spans the period between theCentennial Exposition (celebrating the 100th anniversary of the signing of theDeclaration of Independence) and the United States' entry intoWorld War I.
The early building material for the structures of the American Renaissance waswood, the United States' great national building commodity of the time given its plentiful availability. Due to a lack of money for the fairly new country, stone, the material used by the Greeks and Romans, was out of reach.Columns were initially carved of wood for the earliest structures of this period. With an increase of national wealth, architects and builders were able to begin usingwhite marble, a more durable material, for intricate carvings and details.[3]
Both materials had their benefits. Wood is more easily repaired and replaced given its lack of lengthydurability in addition to its charm, warmth, and personality, which is characteristic of the American style.Stone, especially white marble, has a shine and glow to it. It is also more durable and able to withstand harsh weather conditions.
Decorative elements, such asarches,domes,vaulted ceilings, and columns were commonplace during the American Renaissance. There was a strong desire for the revival of Classical forms,symmetrical designs, and elaborate decorative elements. A sense ofnational identity was created and explored through the use of local materials and motifs.
Structures of the American Renaissance were made using both building materials, with early ones more commonly being entirely done in wood and painted.[4] A great variety of buildings were made using this style, such as townhouses,cottages, state houses, libraries, capitol buildings, museums, banks, railway terminals, and more.[5]
During the period of the American Renaissance, the United States' preoccupation with national identity (orNew Nationalism) was expressed bymodernism andtechnology, as well as academicclassicism. This classicism made way for a new form of creative and artistic rhetoric, which in turn helped establish the new aesthetic of the time.[6] It expressed its self-confidence in new technologies, such as the wire cables of theBrooklyn Bridge inNew York City. It found its cultural outlets inPrairie School houses and inBeaux-Arts architecture and sculpture, in the "City Beautiful" movement, and in the creation of the American empire.[7] A goal of the "City Beautiful" movement, which coincides with the American Renaissance, was, "to shape American culture and society aesthetically, morally, and professionally". Through this goal, order, acculturation, and assimilation were meant to be brought to the American city, easing the transition for immigrants while also establishing a professional authority through architecture.[8] Americans felt that their civilization was uniquely the modern heir, and that it had come of age. Politically and economically, this era coincides with theGilded Age and theNew Imperialism.
The classical architecture of theWorld's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893 was a demonstration that impressedHenry Adams, who wrote that people "would some day talk aboutHunt andRichardson,La Farge andSaint-Gaudens,Burnham andMcKim andStanford White, when their politicians and millionaires were quite forgotten."[9] Praise for this exhibition included the unity and consistency of the symmetrical structures, which inspired many ofCharles McKim's campus projects, a mall, and other buildings in the city center of Washington D.C. In 1909, the year of McKim's death, his architectural firm was the largest in the world, having produced nearly 900 buildings of Classical orders and finely proportioned masonry.[10]
In the dome of the reading room at the newLibrary of Congress,Edwin Blashfield's muralThe Evolution of Civilization followed the theme.
The exhibitionAmerican Renaissance: 1876–1917 at theBrooklyn Museum, 1979, encouraged the revival of interest in this movement.
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The above images, displaying the notable example buildings, all contain architectural elements of the American Renaissance.
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