BEAUX ARTS BLAME GAME 1

The Ecole des Beaux-Arts has been and continues to be a huge influence on our profession.  It was a very prestigious arts and architecture school in Paris.  It traced it’s roots back to 1648 during the reign of Louis XIV.  It was a combined architecture and fine arts school and the focus was on Greek and Roman classical architecture and arts.

Americans at the beginning of our country looked to the Europeans for many early influences and models.  Architecture was no different.  It’s influence in America was very strong at the end of the 19th century given the general drive for the establishment of higher standards.  Even in the 19th century, architects were decrying the low and base work that was being churned out by their piers.  (Sound familiar?)   The general thought was that if there could be greater regulation, licensing and education, society as well as architects would benefit.  As the Ecole was the best working model, it was only natural that the Americans would look towards Paris for guidance.

Beaux-Arts is French for fine arts.  And a well trained Beaux-Arts architect believed, first and foremost, that architecture was an art.  Americans were looking for a design formula, and the Ecole provided a method based on tradition.  If you had any visions of shaking up the design world, the Ecole was not the place for you.  Yet Ecole trained architects were eclectic.  You did not copy so much as make fine interpretations of the classical style as you adapted it to your specific building program and design.  This eclecticism then encouraged the recombination of various architectural elements and styles, yet all governed by the basic rules of Classicism.

A key component to an aspiring architect’s education was competitions.  You essentially advanced by winning these.  The more you won, the more points you accumulated, and the faster you made it thru the program.

Look for the continuation of this Beaux-Arts theme in a post to follow soon after this.