Wednesday 30 July 2008

Palladianism and Global Warming

Here's a thought (admittedly not an original one). Do we in chilly Britain owe the Palladian buildings of the Georgian era to a spot of 18th-century 'global warming'? The early years of that century saw a remarkable run of hot, d ry and sunny summers, leading to bumper crops, which in turn led to overflowing coffers for the landed gentry, enabling them to rebuild their houses. But would they have been so attracted to fashionable Palladianism - a sunny weather style if ever there was one, with its airy colonnades, shady porticoes, small windows and light-and-shade effects - if the English summers at the time had been more like the gloomy norm?

6 comments:

  1. Could well be but that century did see the rise of things like mining, brewing and the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution and Empire which lined the pockets of t' gentry even more handsomely than a spell of good weather.

    Could also be the start of the conceit that anything hailing from the warm South is ipso facto superior to the efforts of the barbarous North. Benidorm? I blame Alexander Pope.

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  2. Thank you, Nige. Your words really help.

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  3. Palladian I cannot take very seriously, always reminds me of the set of Ben Hur, less Victor Mature and in stone instead of wood. At least the Pallipiles up here do, perhaps they could do the tree ring thing, saw a bit of the stone column and check the rings.

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  4. Hey, my Victorian house has a big Palladian window out front -- I LOVE it! One of the reasons we bought the place.

    Don't dish the style, boys, especially when there are so many other, far worse ones (1950s split levels and ranchers in this country. Can you spell "butt ugly"?).

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  5. Yes susan, 1970's Labour council estate.

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  6. I believe, Susan, that by the time next century rolls around, the surviving 1950s split level homes will be reverenced as though were thatch-roofed cottages.

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