Victorian Architecture Essay

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Victorian Architecture and the Literature Connect The term ‘Victorian Architecture’ encompasses the different architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th Century (1837-1901), i.e. during Queen Victoria’s reign. The name represents the British and French custom of naming the architectural style for their reigning monarch. In this case, the Victorian style followed the Regency, and was succeeded by the Edwardian style. Queen Victoria’s era saw many architectural forms but most of them were revival styles and borrowed heavily from olden styles of building houses or halls. The most famous architectural style employed was the Gothic Revival. It began in the early 1800s as a reaction to Palladianism. With time and the onset of new technology, the construction of buildings in this style began incorporating steel as one of its components. Due to its pointed arched windows, it became popular as the “Pointed Style”. Though Gothic Revival borrowed its decorative elements from churches and town halls, it was one of the Victorian era’s first residential styles. Another famous style was the Italianate. These houses were inspired by the country villas of northern Italy and were built from 1860 to 1880. Their basic design consisted of two or three stories, tall narrow windows and sliding doors that opened into verandas. Another architectural style, known for its heavily decorated dormer windows and ‘Mansard roof’ was the French-inspired Second Empire. This style was prevalent roughly around the same time as the Italianate. The most decoratively rich style however was the Queen Anne Revival style which was built between 1880 and 1910. This was a fairly original style when compared to the others since it did not incorporate much of historical architecture in its design. Stick Style architecture was considered to be the transitional style between
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