Architect Drawings : A Selection of Sketches by World Famous Architects Through History
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Adam, Robert (1728–1792)<br />
House plan and elevation, 1755–1756, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Adam Vol. 9/33 verso,<br />
31.1 40.5cm, Pencil and brown ink<br />
Robert Adam was born in Scotland in 1728. His father was an architect, merchant, and primary<br />
builder in Edinburgh. Young Adam attended the University <strong>of</strong> Edinburgh, receiving a classical education,<br />
and in 1754 he embarked on the Grand Tour to Italy. There he explored antiquity, studying<br />
with and befriending the French architect Jacques Louis Clerisseau and the architect and archaeologist<br />
Giovanni Battista Piranesi. This education greatly influenced his approach to architecture and in 1758<br />
he returned to London to practice, with his brother James, until his death in 1792. During their years<br />
<strong>of</strong> practice they completed many domestic projects, a few <strong>of</strong> the most well known being Luton Hoo in<br />
Bedfordshire (1766) and interiors for the houses Syon (1762) and Osterly (1763) (Rykwert, 1985).<br />
The neoclassicism <strong>of</strong> Robert Adam was founded in archaeology, a method <strong>of</strong> looking at antiquity<br />
from discoveries in Italy. Roman antiquity as the creative impetus was an alternative to the Palladian<br />
style practiced in England. Traveling to Rome meant for Adam, and the other architects which<br />
embarked on the Grand Tour, that he knew his models well and could reuse the language in his inventive<br />
architecture (Kost<strong>of</strong>, 1985). Particularly known for his interior architecture, Adam made use <strong>of</strong><br />
neoclassical antiquity in the way he clustered rooms <strong>of</strong> various geometric shapes, utilized ‘interior<br />
columnar screens,’ integrated Etruscan motifs, and employed aspects <strong>of</strong> sixteenth century Italian<br />
Renaissance design, especially in the ‘movement’ or visual rhythm, <strong>of</strong> classical façades (Trachtenberg<br />
and Hyman, 1986; King, 1991).<br />
In this sketch (Figure 3.2) one can view a plan and an elevation <strong>of</strong> a country house. The sketch<br />
does not appear to be preparation for a specific building. It is particularly revealing, however, because<br />
it shows the intense way that Adam used his sketches as a method <strong>of</strong> design evaluation. The organization<br />
<strong>of</strong> the plan shows curved arms protruding from a central dome and an entrance screen (reminiscent<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Osterly House) with four rows <strong>of</strong> paired columns. Each pavilion at the end <strong>of</strong> the<br />
symmetrical arms reveals a different solution, possibly an indication that Adam was trying different<br />
forms to see which best fitted his overall concept.<br />
Adam does not erase or cross out rejected forms, but draws over the previous thought; such constant<br />
reworking is displayed in the new niches <strong>by</strong> the dome, the changes in the shape <strong>of</strong> the porch, the<br />
alternatives for the ends <strong>of</strong> the arms, and the variations <strong>of</strong> the entrance screen. He was checking and<br />
reworking, watching for proportional and spatial qualities as he tried possible solutions. He needed to<br />
reinforce the new lines and drew them darker, even using poché on a new wall for emphasis. His<br />
interest in neoclassicism shows in his concern for symmetry, yet Adam seems comfortable working<br />
each side differently to experiment with variations. For example, he may have extended the arms on<br />
the left side <strong>of</strong> the sketch simply because the paper provided more room to draw. The elevation does<br />
not correspond to any version <strong>of</strong> the plan exactly, which may suggest that it was an aspect <strong>of</strong> the design<br />
process and not a conclusion. It may have acted as a ‘test,’ providing Adam a chance to pause and study<br />
the design.<br />
This sketch may have been meant for discovery, as it was not tied to any <strong>of</strong> Adam’s completed<br />
work. As many <strong>of</strong> his later houses were organized with some version <strong>of</strong> ‘wings,’ notably the<br />
Langside House <strong>of</strong> 1777 and the Jerviston House <strong>of</strong> 1782. His design for the Gosford House <strong>of</strong> 1791<br />
also featured a large central dome similar to the one displayed in this sketch, along with paired<br />
columns and a dominant pediment over the center space.<br />
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