Egyptian Revival architecture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Egyptian Quay in Saint Petersburg, with 3000-year old sphynxes brought from Egypt.
Egyptian Quay in Saint Petersburg, with 3000-year old sphynxes brought from Egypt.

Egyptian Revival is (primarily) an architectural style that references the visual motifs and imagery of Ancient Egypt. It has never been enormously popular, unlike Greek Revival or Victorian was, but it has left its mark. There were several waves.

The first wave of Egyptomania was inspired by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, and was mainly limited to furniture and associated decorative objects, but also for buildings such as the Egyptian Hall in London, completed in 1812. It developed a special popularity later in the century as being particularly appropriate in mortuary contexts, as with cemetery gates.

In Russia, this wave — associated primarily with the discoveries of Champollion — produced such monuments:

A second wave of popularity developed in the 1840s and 1850s. From this period, only a few buildings are known to survive in the United States:

The discovery of the treasure of King Tut's tomb by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 led to a third revival. Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, USA, now home to the American Cinematheque, is an Egyptian Revival theatre from the era. Simultaneously, Aleksey Shchusev designed Lenin's Mausoleum with many elements borrowed from the Pyramid of Djoser. The Egyptian revival of the 1920s is sometimes considered to be part of the Art Deco decorative arts movement. It was present in furniture and other household objects, as well as in architecture.

The Louvre Pyramid in Paris and Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California are modern-day examples of Egyptian Revival structures. Additionally, Rosicrucian Park contains many examples of Egyptian Revival architecture.

Contents

[edit] Images

[edit] Late 20th Century

[edit] Egyptian influenced funerary architecture

[edit] See also

Revival styles in 19th-century architecture
Neo-Classicism: Directoire and EmpireRegencyEgyptian RevivalGreek Revival and Neo-Grec
Neo-Romanesque and Byzantine Revival: Richardsonian RomanesqueRusso-ByzantineMuscovite Revival
Gothic Revival: Scottish BaronialTudorbethanMoorish RevivalIndo-Saracenic
Neo-Renaissance: ItalianateSecond EmpireChâteauesqueJacobethan
Neo-Baroque and 18th century: Beaux-ArtsWrenaissanceQueen Anne • Georgian Revival • Colonial Revival