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Federal-style architecture occurred in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 between 1780 and 1830, particularly from 1785 to 1815. The period is associated with the early Republic, and the establishment of the national institutions of the United States.






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Charles Bulfinch, Tontine Crescent
Federal-style architecture occurred in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 between 1780 and 1830, particularly from 1785 to 1815. The period is associated with the early Republic, and the establishment of the national institutions of the United States. This same period is associated with the motifs of furniture
Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects which may support the human body , provide storage, or hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground....
 design, emulating similar design principles of the architectural period. The founders of the United States consciously chose to associate the nation with the ancient democracies of Greece
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
 and the republican values of Rome
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
. This was a deliberate and marked contrast with the Gothic style, which was used for many English public buildings and associated with feudalism
Feudalism

Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period , in its most classic sense refers to a Middle Ages European political system composed of a set of reciprocal law and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs....
. Federal style takes influence from the Georgian
Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking world to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United Kingdom, and George IV of the...
 Neoclassical
Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct Cultural movement in the Decorative art and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture ....
 style, but differs in its use of plainer surfaces with attenuated detail; it was most influenced by the Adam style
Adam style

The Adam style is a style of neoclassicism architecture and design as practised by Scotland architect Robert Adam and his brothers. A book of engraved designs made the "Adam" repertory available throughout Europe....
, an interpretation of Ancient Roman architecture fashionable after the unearthing of Pompeii
Pompeii

Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Ancient Rome town-city near modern Naples in the Italy region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei....
 and Herculaneum
Herculaneum

Herculaneum is an ancient Roman Empire town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. Its ruins can be found at the co-ordinates , in the Italy region of Campania....
. The Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America that is most recognizable as the List of national birds and national symbol of the United States....
 was a common symbol used in this style, with the ellipse
Ellipse

In mathematics, an ellipse is the apparent shape of a circle viewed obliquely from outside it, as distinct from a hyperbola which is the shape seen from inside....
 a frequent architectural motif
Motif (art)

File:Ajanta Entrance cave 17.jpgFile:TajFlowerCloseUp.jpgIn art, a motif is a repeated idea, pattern, image, or theme. Paisley are referred to as motifs....
. This style is also referred to by its era: Federal Period.

The style reflected the nationalist aspirations of the time. Its successor was the Greek Revival style.

Homes

Homes had balanced proportions and light-filled rooms.

Architects of the Federal period

  • Asher Benjamin
    Asher Benjamin

    Asher Benjamin was an United States architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal style architecture and the later Greek Revival....
  • Charles Bulfinch
    Charles Bulfinch

    Charles Bulfinch was an early United States architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a architect....
  • James Hoban
    James Hoban

    James Hoban was an Irish people architect, best known for designing the White House in Washington, D.C.....
  • Thomas Jefferson
    Thomas Jefferson

    Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
  • Pierre L'Enfant
  • Benjamin Latrobe
    Benjamin Latrobe

    Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe was a British-born American architect best known for his design of the United States Capitol, as well as his design of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first Catholic Cathedral built in the United States....
  • John McComb, Jr.
  • Samuel McIntire
    Samuel McIntire

    Samuel McIntire was an United States architect and artisan. He was one of the earliest architects in the United States, and was one of the primary examples of Federal style architecture....
  • Robert Mills
    Robert Mills (architect)

    Robert Mills is sometimes called the first native born United States to become a professional architect, though Charles Bulfinch perhaps has a clearer claim to this honor....
  • Alexander Parris
    Alexander Parris

    Alexander Parris was a prominent United States architect-engineer. Beginning as a housewright, he evolved into an architect whose work transitioned from Federal style architecture to the later Greek Revival....
  • William Strickland
    William Strickland (architect)

    William Strickland , was a noted architecture in nineteenth-century Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Nashville. He is noted as one of the founders of the Gothic revival movement when in 1823 he built St....
  • William Thornton
    William Thornton

    Dr. William Thornton was an American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the United States Patent Office....
  • Ammi B. Young
    Ammi B. Young

    Ammi Burnham Young was an important 19th century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles....


See also

  • Lyre arm
    Lyre arm

    A lyre arm is an element of design in furniture, architecture or the decorative arts, wherein a shape is employed to emulate the geometry of a lyre; the original design of this element is from the Classical Greek period, simply reflecting the stylistic design of the musical instrument....
  • Federal furniture
    Federal furniture

    File:Federal Table.jpgFederal furniture refers to United States furniture produced in the federal style, which lasted from approximately 1789 to 1823....


Footnotes


External references

  • Craig, Lois A., The Federal Presence: Architecture, Politics and National Design. The MIT Press: 1984. ISBN 0-262-53059-7.


External links


  • Bibliography for federal style research, photographs of federal houses, federal style pattern book.