Pombaline style - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Pombaline style was a Portuguese architectural style of the 18th century, named after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the first Marquês de Pombal who was instrumental in reconstructing Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755

1755 Lisbon earthquake

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...

. Pombal supervised the plans drawn up by the military engineers Manuel da Maia, Eugénio dos Santos and Elias Sebastian Pope (later succeeded by Carlos Mardel). The new city (mostly the Baixa area now called Baixa Pombalina

Pombaline Downtown

The Pombaline Lower Town area covers about 235,620 square metres of central Lisbon, Portugal. It comprises the grid of streets north of the Praça do Comércio, roughly between the Cais do Sodré and the Alfama district beneath the Lisbon Castle, and extends northwards towards the Rossio and...

) was laid out on a grid plan with roads and pavements fixed at 40 ft (12.2 m). The previously standing royal palace was replaced with the Praça do Comércio which along with square Rossio

Rossio

The Rossio is the popular name of the Pedro IV Square in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. It is located in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon and has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages...

defines the limits of the new city. Maia and Santos also outlined the form of the facades that were to line the streets, conceived on a hierarchical scheme whereby detail and size were delineated by the importance of the street. These were in a notably restrained neoclassical

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...

style partly the result of limited funds and the urgency of building but also thanks to the enlightenment concept of architectural rationality adhered to by Pombal. A standardized system of decoration was applied both inside and out with a distinctively reduced application of azulejo

Azulejo

Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...

tiling.

The Pombaline

The Pombaline style introduced early anti-seismic

Earthquake engineering

Earthquake engineering is the scientific field concerned with protecting society, the natural and the man-made environment from earthquakes by limiting the seismic risk to socio-economically acceptable levels...

design features and early prefabricated building methods. A flexible wooden structure implanted on the walls, floors and roofs and later covered by pre-manufactured building materials "shakes but doesn’t fall." Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

’s downtown, called Baixa, the area most affected by the earthquake, is built over unstable ground, and it is thus necessary to reinforce the whole area. Another anti-seismic

Earthquake engineering

system was needed in this area, consisting of a forest of buried poles. Because these poles are exposed to salty water they maintain their elasticity and resist rot.

The prefabrication

Prefabrication

Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located...

system was completely new. The building was entirely manufactured outside the city, transported in pieces and then assembled on site. The construction, which lasted into the nineteenth century, lodged the city's residents in safe new structures unheard-of before the quake. Lisbon

Lisbon

was completely changed: the medieval streets gave place to an orthogonal city, organizing the area between the city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

old squares, Rossio and Terreiro do Paço, with a modern design. Large spaces, gorgeous light and good ventilation, missing in the medieval city, became features of the new Lisbon.

The Terreiro do Paço, with a new name – Praça do Comércio

Praça do Comércio

The Praça do Comércio is located in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Situated near the Tagus river, the square is still commonly known as Terreiro do Paço , because it was the location of the Paços da Ribeira until it was destroyed by the great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake...

, without the Royal Palace - was moved west and opened to the Tagus River. New royal buildings were constructed, including twin towers inspired by the former Royal Palace tower; a statue of King Joseph I by Machado de Castro; and a triumph arc built in the nineteenth century, a symbol of triumph over the earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

. The Rossio Square lost the old and destroyed Hospital de Todos os Santos

Hospital Real de Todos os Santos

The Hospital Real de Todos os Santos was a major hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. The hospital was built between 1492 and 1504 and was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, along with most of the city.-Foundation:...

, and remained the city "Forum", retaining its popular character despite the elegant new buildings.

The Pombaline building is a structure of up to four floors, with arcades on the ground floor to allow for shops and balconies on the first floor and attic. All buildings follow this general typology, but the small decorative details in the façade depend on the building's significance and use. Each building is isolated by walls to stop the spread of fires.

The construction of new palaces is regulated and unostentatious designs rejected (a very unpopular situation among the aristocracy), allowing for decoration only in the portal. Windows too may be slightly more elegant than those of other buildings.
The churches follow the spirit of the time, with minimal architectural decoration outside. Single-room buildings with side altars, internal decoration following Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

taste, simulated materials in wood and plaster, several paintings (Pedro Alexandrino de Carvalho made the best works) and a small number of sculptures was the norm. The spaces are pleasant and light. The most important churches are Santo António da Sé (where St. Anthony

Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, O.F.M., was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. Though he died in Padua, Italy, he was born to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, which is where he was raised...

was born), Incarnação, São Domingos, Madalena, Mártires.

Vila Real de Santo António on the Algarve is an example of a village built after the Pombaline way.

The functional spirit of the Pombaline style, eliminating all extraneous decoration and imposing a rational soberness throughout, is not completely Rococo. It reflects an illuminist spirit and strong neoclassical character, even without classical architectural shapes. The importance of reason for Pombaline architecture has been systematically ignored by the European art history, wishing to see French Rococo or neoclassicism in all countries.

The Pombaline

See also