Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Beaux-Arts: One main axis, stairs and halls rising in formality along the route
- Type
- Set in Beaux-Arts's manner (Roman capitals carved deep into the band of the entablature), and let Palladianism's lettering (Roman capitals cut into the frieze and sized to the depth of its band) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Beaux-Arts's material (An iron frame inside a stone skin, interiors of marble and sculpture); bring in exactly one thing from Palladianism (White stone or render, columns and wall one color, form read from shadow).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Historical Styles, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
- Roughly 280 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle.
Caution
- Beaux-Arts Spreading classical parts evenly over every surface with no axis and no hierarchy, so nobody can tell which room is the important one.
- Palladianism Sticking columns and a pediment onto the front while the plan behind stays asymmetrical, which reduces the whole style to a facing board.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Beaux-Arts (Style, 1830s–1920s) and its accent from Palladianism (Style, 1550s– / 17th–18th century revival). Structural cues: Grand axes and staircases; Synthesized classical orders; Sculptural ornament; Stone over iron structure. Accent cues, used sparingly: Temple-front portico; Strict symmetry; Plans from proportion; Central dome. Composition: One main axis, stairs and halls rising in formality along the route. Type and lettering: Roman capitals carved deep into the band of the entablature. Let one material quality come from the second style: White stone or render, columns and wall one color, form read from shadow. Mood: Trust, Luxury, Exhilaration, Calm. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Beaux-Arts 1830s–1920s / Style / Historical Styles
The academic synthesis of the classical taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Grand axes, sculptural ornament and a hierarchy of formality were laid over the new technologies of iron and glass, giving the modern city its public face in stations, museums and banks.
- Palladianism 1550s– / 17th–18th century revival / Style / Historical Styles
Palladio distilled proportion, the temple front and strict symmetry from Roman antiquity into a formula for the villa. His Four Books carried it to Britain and America, where it became the archetypal correct face of public architecture.
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