RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN GREAT BRITAIN

Renaissance Architecture in Great Britain

  1. Elizabethan Architecture

  2. Jacobean Architecture

  3. Stuart Architecture

  4. Georgian Architecture

Elizabethan Characteristics

  • refers to buildings of a certain style constructed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland from 1558-1603

  • open to the influence of early printed architectural texts

  • fueled by the archaeology of classical Rome which inspired myriad printed designs of increasing elaboration and abstraction

  • Elizabeth commissioned no new royal palaces, and very few new churches were built, but there was a great boom in building domestic houses for the well-off, largely due to the redistribution of ecclesiastical lands after the Dissolution.

Prodigy Houses

  • using styles and decoration derived from Northern Mannerism

  • with elements of medieval castles, such as the normally busy roof-line

  • were built with a view to housing Elizabeth I and her large retinue as they made their annual royal progress around her realm

  • close to major roads, often in the English Midlands

Elizabethan and Jacobean Features

  • Symmetrical plan

  • strapworks

  • oriel windows

  • bay windows

  • turrets and towers

  • chimney stacks

PARTS OF ELIZABETHAN MANSION

  1. Great Hall- is the impressive entrance connecting the various parts of the mansion.

  2. Grand staircase

  3. Long Gallery- is a connecting corridor, a covered promenade or a picture gallery.

  4. Withdrawing Room- was used by the owners or guests where they could "withdraw" for more privacy.

Jacobean Characteristics

  • second phase of Renaissance architecture in England. It is named after James I of England (James VI of Scotland) inherited many Elizabethan traditions

  • own identity in plan and elevation

  • Although the general lines of Elizabethan design remained, the general character of the Jacobean house owed much to detailed ornamentation (Flemish craftsmen)

EXAMPLES:

HATFIELD HOUSE, Hertfordshire

  • by Robert Lyminge

  • by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I

  • is a leading example of a Jacobean prodigy house

LATE RENAISSANCE:

a. Stuart

  1. Inigo Jones- first prominent English architect
    first to introduce Italianate Renaissance to England

  2. Sir Christopher Wren- English scientist,

    mathematician and architect and known for designing 52 London churches

Stuart and Georgian Features:

  • Square or round-headed windows

  • Colonnades

  • Pilasters

  • Pediments

  • Domes

  • Brickwork

  • Sash windows (panes divided by thin
    bars)

  • Symmetrical plans

  • Chimneys on both sides of the house

  • Banqueting Hall

Example:

S. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

  • Christopher Wren

  • Late Baroque
    Renaissance style

  • BEST SHAPE DOME IN RENAISSANCE PERIOD

Georgian Characteristics

  • named for the reigns of the first four King Georges of England

  • understated elegance and symmetry

  • stately English country mansions, London and Dublin terraced townhouse blocks, southern US plantation houses, and New England homes and college campuses

Example:

CASTLE HOWARD

  • Located in Yorkshire

  • By John Vanbrugh and
    Nicholas Hawksmoor.