Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Eclecticism: the Influence of the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts.

Eclecticism: the Influence of the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts.

“The Paris Ecole, really the first truly professional school of architecture” (Pile, 301). In Paris, the Ecole school developed a new style of teaching that focused on the history of Architecture, especially focusing on the architecture of classical antiquity. “Fashions drew from (historicism) and travel,..” (Raizman, 31); historical backgrounds were the concept of the School, as seen in the Paris Opera HouseThe Influence from all ways of the past, from Classic Greece to the palace’s of France. The school took ideas from the past and melded them together into a new style; Eclecticism.

Jean-Louis Charles Garnier designed the Paris Opera House, making a major statement of the influence of the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in Paris espically.

The influence of the Paris Ecole spread to the United States; “Richard Morris Hunt was at the vanguard of the Beaux Arts of America” (Pile, 303). Hunt’s influence was greatly shown in buildings commissioned by William K. Vanderbilt who commissioned Hunt to do several works, including the Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island.

The Corinthian columns show a clear reference to the classical architecture style, keeping in the style of Beaux Arts from the Paris Ecole.

Eventually, the failure of the application of historic elements to the high rise buildings lead to the downfall of the Eclecticism movement. But what did the Paris Ecole school do for the world of design? Can we argue that the grandiose buildings were a symbol of the accomplishments of the predecessors of architecture up to this point? Or should we say that at this point in time the Architects ran out of original ideas?

This blog is intended for the interior design students in the college of design at the University of Kentucky. It was created with the intent to present students with information, providing them with a channel for contemplation and discussion.