Beaux-Arts
Parisian academic classicism
Beaux-Arts designates an ornate architectural style that flourished from the 1880s through the 1920s, characterized by symmetry, classical columns, grand staircases, and elaborate ornamentation.
Named for the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, whose graduates spread the style internationally: The library is a stunning example of Beaux-Arts architecture.
Grand Central Terminal and the New York Public Library are iconic Beaux-Arts buildings. (Lowercase beaux-arts refers to fine arts generally.)
Of ancient Greece/Rome
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- columnsUpright structural shafts
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- grandeurImpressive splendor and scale
pediment · portico · proportion · balustrade · entablature · pilaster · cornice · frieze
Elaborately decorated
- gildedOverlaid with gold leaf
- embellishedDecorated or exaggerated
- floridExcessively ornate or ruddy
- intricateElaborately detailed, many parts
filigree · frescoes · adorned · festooned · sculptural · moldings · garlands · scrollwork
Purified or cultured
- sophisticatedWorldly and cultured
- gracefulElegant in movement
- elegantGracefully refined, tasteful
- culturedEducated in arts, manners
dignified · sumptuous · luxurious · opulent · grandiose · resplendent · majestic · palatial
classical
Of ancient Greece/Rome
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- columnsUpright structural shafts
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
grandeur · pediment · portico · proportion · balustrade · entablature · pilaster · cornice · frieze · capital
ornate
Elaborately decorated
- gildedOverlaid with gold leaf
- embellishedDecorated or exaggerated
- floridExcessively ornate or ruddy
intricate · filigree · frescoes · adorned · festooned · sculptural · moldings · garlands · scrollwork · medallions
refined
Purified or cultured
- sophisticatedWorldly and cultured
- gracefulElegant in movement
- elegantGracefully refined, tasteful
cultured · dignified · sumptuous · luxurious · opulent · grandiose · resplendent · majestic · palatial · stately
Paris
France's chief city
Burnham · academies · ateliers · neoclassicism · nineteenth-century
- American Architecturecolonial, Craftsman, bungalow, ranch house, Cape Cod
- architectureEiffel Tower, buildings, architects, design, thatching
- architecture stylesminimalism, modernism, Modernism, Bauhaus, brutalism
- NYC landmarksEmpire State Building, Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central, One World Trade Center
- ParisEiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre-Dame, Seine, Montmartre
- architectural stylesBaroque, Bauhaus, brutalist, Byzantine, classical
Beaux-Artsmodernism
Favoring contemporary approaches
International Style · Bauhaus · brutalism · functionalism · Brutalism
Beaux-Artsminimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
austerity · form follows function · less is more · unornamented · raw concrete
Beaux-Artsfuturism
Study of tomorrow's possibilities
avant-garde · tabula rasa · Constructivism · Futurism · iconoclasm
beau, beaux, art, arts, arty, artsy, artful, artfully, artless