Neo-eclectic architecture
Encyclopedia
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
that has dominated residential building construction in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in the later part of the 20th century and early part of the 21st. It is the current version of Architectural Revivalism
Revivalism (architecture)
Revivalism in architecture is the use of visual styles that consciously echo the style of a previous architectural era.There were a number of architectural revivalist movements in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
that has perennially occurred since Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
developed in the mid 18th century.
Characteristics
Neo-eclectic architecture combines a wide array of decorative techniques taken from an assortment of different periods of historical house styles. It is a response to the clean unadorned modernist styles, such as the Mid-Century modernMid-century modern
Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965...
and Ranch-style house
Ranch-style house
Ranch-style houses is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular amongst the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s...
that dominated North American residential design and construction in the first decades after the Second World War. It can be considered an outgrowth of postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
. It differs from postmodernism in that it is not creatively experimental.
Applications
Some neo-eclectic buildings will combine an array of different historical styles in a single building. Thus a house so designed may have Cape CodCape Cod (house)
A Cape Cod cottage is a style of house originating in New England in the 17th century. It is traditionally characterized by a low, broad frame building, generally a story and a half high, with a steep, pitched roof with end gables, a large central chimney and very little ornamentation...
, Mission Revival
Mission Revival Style architecture
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....
, Tudor Revival, or Châteauesque
Châteauesque
Châteauesque is one of several terms, including Francis I style, and, in Canada, the Château Style, that refer to a revival architectural style based on the French Renaissance architecture of the monumental French country homes built in the Loire Valley from the late fifteenth century to the...
and French Provincial elements all at the same time. Often houses, or whole subdivisions, will focus on one revival style. Different historical styles predominated in different regions. In California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
elements from the Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival Style
Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style was a United States architectural stylistic movement that came about in the early 20th century, starting in California and Florida as a regional expression related to history, environment, and nostalgia...
continue to be a regional vernacular and popular. In New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and the Mid-Atlantic the Colonial Revival Style
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
and Georgian Revival architecture combinations are common.
In neo-eclectic architecture the revival elements are almost always decorative consisting of surface elements such as claddings and windows. The basic construction of neo-eclectic houses is unchanged from previous house styles such as the ranch-style house. An important development leading to the modern neo-eclectic style is the popularity of EIFS
Exterior Insulation Finishing System
Exterior insulation and finishing system is a type of building exterior wall cladding system that provides exterior walls with an insulated finished surface and waterproofing in an integrated composite material system.-Terminology:...
, a form of external insulation that is easy to apply and can be coloured and shaped to appear like an array of different materials such as stucco and stone.
Critiques
Neo-eclectic architecture is most prominent in what are pejoratively known as McMansions, but it has been embraced by almost all residential builders. Across North America most suburbs built in the last three decades can largely be described as neo-eclectic .Neo-eclectic architecture, while ubiquitous in contemporary American home building, does have its critics who see the style as pretentious, wasteful and/or garish.
See also
- Neomodern architectureNeomodernNeomodern is a term used to describe a "new simplicity" in art and in reaction to the complexity of postmodern architecture and eclecticism. Neomodern is used on occasion to denote the contemporary period.-Neomodern architecture:...
, a current modernist response. - Sustainable architectureSustainable architectureSustainable architecture is a general term that describes environmentally conscious design techniques in the field of architecture. Sustainable architecture is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability and the pressing economic and political issues of our world...
- Sustainable developmentSustainable developmentSustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
- Sustainable designSustainable designSustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.-Intentions:The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental...