Georgian Style (UK)
Introduction
Georgian architecture is the name given in English-speaking countries to the architectural style carried out between 1720 and 1840, named after the four British kings named George (George) who reigned in the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1830.
History
The baroque style of England, represented among others by Christopher Wren, John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor, did not fully catch on with British taste and in the first years of the century it began to be replaced by the new Georgian style, which represented the return of classical forms, according to the Palladian interpretation.[1].
Among the first architects who promoted this stylistic change are Colen Campbell, with his book of engravings Vitruvius Britannicus or the British Architect, Richard Boyle, who although he was not one of the pioneers, had the social and economic height, and also the intellectual fiber necessary to expand and consolidate the new style.
Also notable is Burlington's protégé, William Kent, whose most outstanding work is Holkham Hall, an immense country house located in the city of Norfolk; Finally, it is also worth mentioning Thomas Archer and the Venetian Giacomo Leoni, who spent his entire career in England.
Characteristics
The Georgian style initially meant neoclassical architecture, through the interpretation of the Italian Renaissance Andrea Palladio, of which the architect Iñigo Jones (1573-1652) had been the greatest exponent, who had great diffusion in interior decoration. Representatives of this neoclassical architecture were Robert Adam (1728-1792), James Gibbs (1682-1754), William Chambers "William Chambers (architect)") (1723-1796) to whom we owe Somerset House in London, built in the second half of the century, which constitutes one of the most beautiful examples of the application of this style to public architecture.[3].
Since 1760, other types of Georgian architecture were shown, different from Palladianism, with the English variants of the Rococo style: the birth of the Neo-Gothic, which would culminate in the 19th century, with its transformation into the Victorian Gothic, the Chinoiserie, associated with the British architects James Wyatt, Henry Holland and John Soane. Georgian architecture was succeeded, in the 19th century, by the Victorian style.