Federal architecture

Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of Andrea Palladio with several innovations on Palladian architecture by Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries. Jefferson's Monticello estate and several federal government buildings, including the White House, are among the two most prominent examples of buildings constructed in Federal style.
Federal style is also used in association with furniture design in the United States of the same time period. The style broadly corresponds to the classicism of Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Regency architecture in Britain, and the French Empire style. It may also be termed Adamesque architecture. The White House and Monticello were setting stones for what Federal architecture has become.
In the early United States, the founding generation consciously chose to associate the nation with the ancient democracies of Greece and the republican values of Rome. Grecian aspirations informed the Greek Revival, lasting into the 1850s. Using Roman architectural vocabulary, the Federal style applied to the balanced and symmetrical version of Georgian architecture that had been practiced in the American colonies' new motifs of neoclassical architecture as it was epitomized in Britain by Robert Adam, who published his designs in 1792.
Characteristics
American Federal architecture typically uses plain surfaces with attenuated detail, usually isolated in panels, tablets, and friezes. It also had a flatter, smoother façade and rarely used pilasters. It was most influenced by the interpretation of ancient Roman architecture, fashionable after the unearthing of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The bald eagle was a common symbol used in this style, with the ellipse a frequent architectural motif.
The classicizing manner of constructions and town planning undertaken by the federal government was expressed in early federal projects of lighthouses, harbor buildings, universities, and hospitals. It can be seen in the rationalizing, urbanistic layout of L'Enfant Plan of Washington and in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 in New York. The historic eastern part of Bleecker Street in New York, between Broadway and the Bowery, is home to Federal-style row houses at 7 to 13 and 21 to 25 Bleecker Street. The classicizing style of Federal architecture can especially be seen in the quintessential New England meeting house, with their lofty and complex towers by architects such as Lavius Fillmore and Asher Benjamin.
This American neoclassical high style was the idiom of America's first professional architects, such as Charles Bulfinch and Minard Lafever. Robert Adam and James Adam were leading influences through their books.
Legacy of Federal architecture in Salem, Massachusetts
In Salem, Massachusetts, there are numerous examples of American colonial architecture and Federal architecture in two historic districts: Chestnut Street District, which is part of the Samuel McIntire Historic District containing 407 buildings, and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, consisting of 12 historic structures and about of land along the waterfront.
Architects of the Federal period
Asher Benjamin
Charles Bulfinch
John Holden Greene
James Hoban
Thomas Jefferson
Minard Lafever
Benjamin Latrobe
Pierre L'Enfant
John McComb Jr.
Samuel McIntire
Robert Mills
Alexander Parris
William Strickland
Martin E. Thompson
William Thornton
Ithiel Town
Ammi B. Young
Modern reassessment of the American architecture of the Federal period began with Fiske Kimball.
See also
Adam style
Boscobel (Garrison, New York)
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
List of houses in Fairmount Park
Lyre arm
Manasseh Cutler Hall
Morris–Jumel Mansion
References
Further reading
Craig, Lois A., The Federal Presence: Architecture, Politics and National Design. The MIT Press: 1984. .
External links
"Federal style" at Encyclopædia Britannica
"Federal Architecture" at General Services Administration
18th-century architecture in the United States
19th-century architecture in the United States
American architectural styles
House styles
Federal
Neoclassical architecture in the United States