Stripped Classicism
ストリップト・クラシシズム / 1920s–1950s / Style / Modern Architecture
The manner of government and memorial building in which classical architecture is shorn of ornament, leaving only proportion, axis and the rhythm of the columns. That it still reads as classical without ornament made it a cheap means of speaking authority. Important as a case in which the minimal and the intimidating live together.
At a glance
Visual cues
- The rhythm of columns stripped of ornament
- A strong axis and symmetry
- Smooth planes of stone
- Walls without large openings
Best used for
- Institutional identity for courts, banks and archives, where permanence has to be signalled with almost no elements
- A cautionary reference in brand work: the devices that read as timeless minimalism are the same ones that read as state power
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- Incised roman capitals, widely spaced, centred on the axis and stated once only.
- Composition
- Bilateral symmetry with the entrance on the axis, a tall base, an unbroken wall and a heavy uninterrupted cornice line.
- Material
- Large ashlar limestone or granite, honed flat, with joints fine enough that the wall reads as one continuous surface.
- Caution
- Reaching for it because it looks austere and expensive: the symmetry and the blank wall make a claim of authority whether or not you intended one.
- Further study
- Interwar government architecture / Proportion as an expression of authority / The turns in its reputation after the war
Related entries
- Italian Rationalism (イタリア合理主義)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare Stripped Classicism and Italian Rationalism
- Art Deco (アール・デコ)Shared effects: Luxury.Compare Stripped Classicism and Art Deco
Often confused with
More from Modern Architecture
Continue through styles in the same Modern Architecture family, prioritised by shared effects.
- International Style (インターナショナル・スタイル)Shared effects: Trust / Calm.
- Tropical Modernism (トロピカル・モダニズム)Shared effects: Trust / Calm.
- Organic Architecture (有機的建築)Shared effects: Calm / Luxury.
Browse all Modern Architecture entries
Cite this entry
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- https://indexstyle.org/styles/stripped-classicism
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