Here are some photographs of buildings and streets in Annapolis, Maryland. I am re-posting this. Due due to technical hitch the photos didn’t appear the first time I posted it, in January. We have now worked out what the problem was and so you can see Annapolis.
Annapolis is the state capitol and one of the oldest cities in the US. In common with all state capitals it has at its centre a domed capitol building which is the home of the state government. It has a large number of houses in the colonial style. I visited over the Christmas break. What interests me is that many of the buildings still display the classic threefold proportion. Have a look at the window sizes particularly and you see that rhythmical progression of gradually decreasing size as you go up for three layers (or more), with the first relating the second and the second relating to the third. Many houses from this period have had the windows replaced in standard sizes as the wooden frames rot. Double glazing usually comes in standard sizes and these do not correspond to the traditional range of proportions. When this is done it destroys so much of the beauty of the old houses.
Annapolis is the home of the US naval officers college and and old port.
I have written articles about traditional harmony and proportion (see the articles page on this blog). The proportions of these buildings are derived from those used by the ancient Greeks which were subsequently used by the Romans and then Christian culture up to about 1900.American colonial architecture is similar to the British Georgian style, which is based upon Italian Palladian architecture of the High Renaissance. The proportions for this came from the rediscovery of a text book on architecture written by a Roman architect called Vitruvius. The Roman text book was published in England in the 17th century, in translation (although given a Latin title) under the name ‘Vitruvius Brittanicus’. As a British colony, this style was used in America (with the addition of French style window shutters!) and then retained after independence.
If there are any architects reading this who are looking to make a name for themselves, then take note. A modern building could as easily be built using these proportions as any other, and the beauty of the buildings that use them always attracts attention. Here is a way of raising your reputation as an architect, and adding value to buildings at very little extra cost.
It’s not always possible to have three storeys in a house – but even if you have two, the basement window is made (through the size of the glass panels within it) to look as though we are seeing the top section of a much larger window that projects below ground, so mainting this sense of threefold rhythm.
You can see the state government house in the distance with the dome.
Actually (just in case any were going to comment on the fact) this isn’t in Annapolis, but in Frederick, Maryland, which is smaller town of similar age inland. This is the town that I was actually staying in, and I like going there so much I thought I would include this too.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thankfully, I was able to look at the images!
I had never given a lot of conscious thought to proportion until Joshua was home for the Christmas holidays and took his younger sister on a walking “art-find” tour of Salem. Although not as old as Annapolis, he was able to show her many examples of good art as well as the bad we have in Oregon’s capital~ which I am sure is partly due to his class with you at TMC. The “sense of rhythm” you spoke of has been made much more obvious to me now as whenever we drive around town she will tell me about line and proportion in the various buildings.
I think the whole idea of proportion has always appealed to me simply because it tends to draw my eyes heavenward, whether that’s the intention or not.
Thank you for posting these photos. I am looking forward to having Mary look at them, so she can continue to work on her discernment of beauty.
Mr. Clayton,
These are good examples of what could or should be an everyday experience. The mentioning of the change in windows is especially important. Unfortunately, architects and builders today are using a kit of parts. Most manufacturers have lost any sense of proportion or classic detailing. Just looking at the buildings they use to advertise their products is enough to show the loss of any connection to what would have been expected only fifty years ago. There is Brockway-Smith in Andover, Mass. that still makes traditionally proportioned windows. They have single-glazed double-hung windows and sash that come in sizes that have been in use for three hundred plus years. There is growing awareness that a single glazed window with a wood storm window is superior to double-glazing and has a payback of four years as opposed to two hundred. I find the same size windows over on this side of the pond as well in the older homes that I work on. I have only read that Ann Fairfax of Fairfax & Sammons in New York that has used Brockway-Smith in her work in traditional architecture. I grew up in New England using their windows on many projects with my father. Their catalog is still a reference for manufacturing windows in my own workshop. Another point your photos illustrated was the use of regulating lines, particularly the heights of chimneys on the gable ends. The line of the roof verge carried across to the other side of the chimney gives the height. This simple rule is broken constantly and breaks the chimney mass out of the composition and leaves it as an awkward protrusion.
This town is a treasure not only because of its architecture but because it has also kept its human scale. Almost all our post-war urban planning has been designed at a scale to accommodate our machines. Thanks for posting these pictures.