Romanesque Revival architecture

The Smithsonian Institution Building, an early example of American Romanesque Revival designed by James Renwick, Jr. in 1855.

Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century^[1] inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, however, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to feature more simplified arches and windows than their historic counterparts.

An early variety of Romanesque revival style known as Rundbogenstil ("Round-arched style") was popular in German lands^[2] and in the German diaspora beginning in the 1830s. By far the most prominent and influential American architect working in a free "Romanesque" manner was Henry Hobson Richardson. In the United States, the style derived from examples set by him are termed Richardsonian Romanesque, of which not all are Romanesque revival.^[3]

Romanesque Revival is also sometimes referred to as the "Norman style" or "Lombard style," particularly in works published during the nineteenth century after variations of historic Romanesque that were developed by the Normans and Lombards, respectively.

Characteristics

St Mary and St Nicholas parish church, Wilton, Wiltshire, England

Popular features of these revival buildings are round arches, semi-circular arches on windows, and belt courses.

Like its influencing Romanesque style, the Romanesque Revival Style was widely used for churches, and occasionally for synagogues such as the Congregation Emanu-El of New York on Fifth Avenue built in 1929.^[4] During the 19th century the architecture selected for Anglican churches depended on the churchmanship of particular congregations. Whereas high churches and Anglo-Catholic, which were influenced by the Oxford Movement, were built in Gothic Revival architecture, low churches and broad churches of the period were often built in the Romanesque Revival style.

The style was quite popular for university campuses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, especially in the United States and Canada; well known examples can be found at the University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Tulane University, University of Denver, and the University of Toronto.

Examples in the United States

The Church of the Pilgrims—now the Maronite Cathedral of Our Lady of Lebanon—in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York designed by Richard Upjohn and built 1844–46 is generally considered the first work of Romanesque Revival architecture in the United States.^[5] It was soon followed by a more prominent design for the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C. designed by James Renwick, Jr. and built 1847–51. Renwick allegedly submitted two proposals to the design competition, one Gothic and the other Romanesque in the style. The Smithsonian chose the latter, which was based on designs from German architecture books.^[6] Several concurrent forces contributed to the popularizing of the Romanesque Revival in the United States. The first was an influx of German Immigrants in the 1840s, who brought the style of the Rundbogenstil with them.^[6] Second, a series of works on the style were published concurrently with the earliest built examples. The first of these, Hints on Public Architecture, written by social reformer Robert Dale Owen in 1847–48, was prepared for the Building Committee of the Smithsonian Institution and prominently featured illustrations of Renwick's Smithsonian Institution Building. Owen argued that Greek Revival architecture—then the prevailing style in the United States for everything from churches to banks to private residences—was unsuitable as a national American style. He maintained that the Greek temples upon which the style was based had neither the windows, chimneys, nor stairs required by modern buildings, and that the low pitched temple roofs and tall colonnades were ill-adapted to cold northern climates. To Owen, most Greek Revival buildings thus lacked architectural truth, because they attempted to hide nineteenth century necessities behind classical temple facades.^[7] In its place, he offered that the Romanesque style was ideal for a more flexible and economic American architecture.^[8]

Soon after, the Congregational church published A Book of Plans for Churches and Parsonages in 1853, containing eighteen designs by ten architects, including Upjohn, Renwick, Henry Austin, and Gervase Wheeler, most in the Romanesque Revival style. Richard Salter Storrs, and other clergy on the book's committee were members or frequent preachers of Upjohn's Church of the Pilgrims.^[9]

The exterior of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on New York City's Upper East Side, completed in 1932, is Romanesque Revival.^[10]

Gallery

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  Main building, Illinois Institute of Technology

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  Puck Building, NYC

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  Bomberger Hall, Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Built in 1891

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  Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Shreveport, Louisiana

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  Bexar County Courthouse, San Antonio

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  Royce Hall, University of California, Los Angeles

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  Milwaukee City Hall

Examples in Canada

University College, one of seven colleges at the University of Toronto, is a chief example of the Romanesque Revival Style. The building, designed by Frederic Cumberland and William G. Storm, was initially intended to be Gothic in style but was rejected by the governor general.^[11] Construction of the final design began on 4 October 1856.^[12] The facade of University College has thick masonry walls, incorporating layers of both stone and brick. The building possesses a number of round arches characteristic of the Roman Revival Style. The arches are configured in arcades, most notably on the south side of the building. There is a great deal of ornamentation on both the interior and exterior of University College. The main doors of the building are prominent examples of the heavy ornamentation used by Cumberland and Storm. The entrance is elaborate in its decoration with columns on either side of the doors and intricate patterns carved into stone. The rugged Romanesque Revival building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1968.^[13]

The Ottawa Lemieux Island Water Treatment Plant, completed in 1932, is another example of Romanesque Revival architecture, with a prominent main corridor featuring rows of arches spaced along the length of the building, providing a sense of grandeur.

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  University College

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  Main entrance to University College

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Romanesque revival architecture.

• Richardsonian Romanesque
• Rundbogenstil
• Gothic Revival architecture
• Museum of Early Trades and Crafts

References