Editing Classical architecture (section)

==History==
===Origins===
Classical architecture is derived from the architecture of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. With the [[Deposition of Romulus Augustulus|collapse of the western part of the Roman empire]], the architectural traditions of the Roman empire ceased to be practised in large parts of western Europe. In the [[Byzantine Empire]], the ancient ways of building lived on but relatively soon developed into a distinct [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine style]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adam|first1=Robert| title=Classical Architecture | publisher=Viking| year=1992| pages=16}}</ref> The first conscious efforts to bring back the disused language of form of classical antiquity into Western architecture can be traced to the [[Carolingian architecture|Carolingian Renaissance]] of the late 8th and 9th centuries. The gatehouse of [[Lorsch Abbey]] ({{circa|800}}), in present-day [[Germany]] thus displays a system of alternating attached columns and arches which could be an almost direct paraphrase of e.g., that of the [[Colosseum]] in Rome.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Pevsner| first1=Nikolaus| title=An Outline of European Architecture | publisher=Penguin Books | edition=7| year=1964| pages=45–47}}</ref> [[Byzantine architecture]], just as [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] and even to some extent [[Gothic architecture]] (with which classical architecture is often posed), can also incorporate classical elements and details but do not to the same degree reflect a conscious effort to draw upon the architectural traditions of antiquity; for example, they do not observe the idea of [[Classical order|a systematic order of proportions for columns]]. In general, therefore, they are not considered classical architectural styles in a strict sense.<ref name="Summerson7-8"/>

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 | caption1  =[[Caryatid]]s on the [[Erechtheion]] ([[Athens]]), an example of a [[Ancient Greek architecture|Greek]] architectural element taken up by later classical architecture.
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 | caption2 =The fronts of ancient [[Roman temple]]s like the [[Maison Carrée]] in [[Nîmes]] have inspired much later classical architecture, e.g. [[Virginia State Capitol]].
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 | caption3 =[[Lorsch Abbey]] gatehouse (Germany), {{circa|800}}, an example of the architectural style of the short-lived [[Carolingian Renaissance]], a first classical movement in architecture.
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===Development===
[[File:S Maria Nuova (Vicenza) 20081204-1 retouched.jpg|thumb|right|alt=The emphatically classical church façade of Santa Maria Nova, Vicenza (1578&ndash;90) was designed by the influential Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio.|The emphatically classical church façade of [[Santa Maria Nova (Vicenza)|Santa Maria Nova]], [[Vicenza]] (1578&ndash;90) was designed by the influential Renaissance architect [[Andrea Palladio]].]]
During the [[Italian Renaissance]] and with the demise of Gothic style, major efforts were made by architects such as [[Leon Battista Alberti]], [[Sebastiano Serlio]] and [[Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola]] to revive the language of architecture of first and foremost ancient Rome. This was done in part through the study of the ancient Roman architectural treatise {{lang|la|[[De architectura]]}} by [[Vitruvius]], and to some extent by studying the actual remains of ancient Roman buildings in Italy.<ref name="Summerson7-8"/> Nonetheless, the classical architecture of the Renaissance from the outset represents a highly specific interpretation of the classical ideas. In a building like the [[Ospedale degli Innocenti]] in [[Florence]] by [[Filippo Brunelleschi]], one of the earliest Renaissance buildings (built 1419&ndash;1445), the treatment of the columns for example has no direct antecedent in [[ancient Roman architecture]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |title=An Outline of European Architecture |publisher=Penguin Books  |year=1964 |edition=7th |pages=177–178}}</ref> During this time period, the study of ancient architecture developed into the architectural theory of classical architecture; somewhat over-simplified, that classical architecture in its variety of forms ever since have been interpretations and elaborations of the architectural rules set down during antiquity.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Evers| first1=Bernd| last2=Thoenes| first2=Christof| title=Architectural Theory from the Renaissance to the Present | publisher=[[Taschen]]| volume=1| year=2011| pages=6–19| isbn=978-3-8365-3198-6 }}</ref>

Most of the styles originating in post-[[Renaissance]] Europe can be described as classical architecture. This broad use of the term is employed by Sir [[John Summerson]] in ''[[The Classical Language of Architecture]]''. The elements of classical architecture have been applied in radically different architectural contexts than those for which they were developed, however. For example, [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] or [[Rococo architecture#Rococo Palace Architecture|Rococo architecture]] are styles which, although classical at root, display an architectural language much in their own right. During these periods, [[architectural theory]] still referred to classical ideas but rather less sincerely than during the Renaissance.<ref name="FHPDoA86"/>

The [[Palladian architecture]] developed from the style of the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] architect [[Andrea Palladio]] (1508–1580) had a great influence long after his death, above all in Britain, where it was adopted for many of the grander buildings of the [[Georgian architecture]] of the 18th and early 19th century.

As a reaction to late Baroque and Rococo forms, architectural theorists from {{circa|1750}} through what became known as [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassicism]] again consciously and earnestly attempted to emulate antiquity, supported by recent developments in [[Classical archaeology]] and a desire for an architecture based on clear rules and rationality. [[Claude Perrault]], [[Marc-Antoine Laugier]] and [[Carlo Lodoli]] were among the first theorists of Neoclassicism, while [[Étienne-Louis Boullée]], [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux]], [[Friedrich Gilly]] and [[John Soane]] were among the more radical and influential.<ref name="FHPDoA86"/> Neoclassical architecture held a particularly strong position on the architectural scene {{circa|1750}}&ndash;1850. The competing [[Gothic Revival architecture|neo-Gothic style]] however rose to popularity during the early 1800s, and the later part the 19th century was characterised by a variety of styles, some of them only slightly or not at all related to classicism (such as [[Art Nouveau]]), and [[Eclecticism in architecture|Eclecticism]]. Although classical architecture continued to play an important role and for periods of time at least locally dominated the architectural scene, as exemplified by the [[Nordic Classicism]] during the 1920s, classical architecture in its stricter form never regained its former dominance. With the advent of [[Modern architecture|Modernism]] during the early 20th century, classical architecture arguably almost ceased to be practised.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Summerson |first1=John |title=The Classical Language of Architecture |publisher=Thames and Hudson |year=1980 |page=114 |isbn=0-500-20177-3}}</ref>