Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York

Between 1890 and 1920 architecture in New York City was characterised by a monumental classicism known as the Beaux-Arts. Named for the famous Parisian academy, the École des Beaux-Arts, this was an eclectic design tradition. Architects including McKim, Mead & White, Carrère & Hastings, and Cass Gilbert took inspiration from precedents in Ancient Rome, the Italian Renaissance, eighteenth-century France, and elsewhere. The talk will answer three basic questions: Where did the Beaux-Arts style come from? Why was New York City the American centre of this tradition? What were the reasons for its demise after the 1920s? We will look in detail at several key examples across building types, including the Central Building of the New York Public Library, Grand Central Terminal, the Hall of Records, the New York Yacht Club, and the Municipal Building. We’ll see how Beaux-Arts classicism became the basis of a lingua franca of American urban architecture…