702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

SOANE AND SCHINKEL: THE REPRESENTITIVES

OF TWO NATIONS
by Paul Gao

Even though Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a generation younger than English architect
Sir John Soane, both nations, were facing a period in which the accepted knowledge
were questioned and new architectural challenges in terms of their function and
symbolism were placed upon these architects. Two were the greatest architects at their
time without doubt, and in this essay I am not going to find out who is better than the
other. I am going to look into details of their design. I am going to compare the ways
they transform and upgrade the classical knowledge. At the same time, I believe that
those different approaches could demonstrate and represent the cultural and social
context of the kings and of the nations. I will demonstrate 2 sets of examples. Firstly
Dulwich Picture Gallery and Altes Museum. Secondly two country residential which
are Pitzhanger Manor and Charlottenhof Palace. I suggest that John Soane tends to
reduce the classical elements in his design and focused on the structural elements
rather than complex ornamentations. Soane put his understanding of classical
knowledge into interior design and eventually became a master in using light effect in
the house. Meanwhile, Schinkel tends to draw inspirations from his mentor Friedrich
Gilly and stay with the authentic Greek elements in a period of transition in
arhictecture witch new institutions and new political circumstances are produced. If I
could use a word to describe each of them, I would say Soane’s works are ingenious,
and Schinkel’s works are romantic.

Dulwich Picture Gallery (1817) was the first purpose-built public art gallery in

1
London. Someone said it was the harsh financial constraint which caused the overall
simplicity of the design, but as Soane himself explained that recorded in Gillian’s
book: ‘every attention in my power shall be paid economise the expenditure as far as

1
GILLIAN DARLEY, “John Soane: An Accidental Romantic” New Haven, Yale
University Press. 1999 page 205
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2
is consistent with solidity and durability of construction.’ It is clear evident that
Soane was creating this sense of simplicity in a purpose but not because of the low

3
budget. His gallery was “criticised at the time but admired ever since” what I agreed
with was the ingenious abstract presentation of the classical elements (Fig 1): The
many arches like the ancient Roman facilities; the rectangular “pediment” of
mausoleum are the modern expression of beauty and dignity, an pure innovation; The
symmetrical layout (Fig 2) of the site which looked like most of the neoclassical
buildings; The semi circular arch rooftop was another classical element of the
Mausoleum; the used of the classical orders, rather than using the authentic columns,
he modified them. The columns that support the entrance were cubic and the
reduction of the classical capitals led to a remarkable clarity which I consider as the
best part of this design. When I first look at the picture of the building, I found there is
nothing significant. The cubic columns don’t even looked like columns, but when I
look at them carefully, the cubic columns are the simpler alteration of the round,
fluting carved stone with Ionic or Corinthian capitals on top. I eventually find out all
those modified classical tastes that Soane created with his innovative skill. Those
specific details as I mentioned together created an abstraction of classicism. This is
what I think about his Dulwich picture gallery and I think it is a good representation
of Soane’s idea and personal understand of the classical knowledge. The Altes

4
Museum (1823-1830) in Berlin was a romantic and divine temple of art.
Unfortunately Soane hasn’t designed any mesuem in his life, otherwise we can have a
more interesting discussion today, however by looking at Soane’s gallery and
Schinel’s museum, I realised that the differnce was that rather than simply creating a
functional gallery like Soane did, Schinkel’s was facing a much more complex
challenge. Soane’s design was more relaxing and experimental, as if Soane was
playing with his idea and theories with the context of a leisurely british civil life at the
time. While Schinkel’s design conducted a lot of meaning. The museum was to please
the “romantic king” Frederick William III of Prussia whom desperately willing to
bring together the scattered Prussian collection of art after France has returned those
2
GILLIAN DARLEY, “John Soane: An Accidental Romantic” New Haven, Yale
University Press. 1999 page 222
3
GILLIAN DARLEY, “John Soane: An Accidental Romantic” New Haven, Yale
University Press. 1999 page 222
4
THEODORE ZIOLKOWSKI, “Schinkel's Museum: The Romantic Temple of
Art”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 131, No. 4 (Dec.,
1987), American Philosophical Society
702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

collections which they looted away from Prussia during Napoleonic War. Scinekel
also wanted his design to educate the vast general public of Prussia. And most
importantly as Theodore Ziolkowski stated in his article that “the notion of the temple
of art to designate a display of painting had, by 1823, become a commonplace in

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German cultural thought.” As you can see in the picture that the majestic architecture
consists of 18 Ionic columns sitting at the front (Fig 3), creating a sense of symmetry,
and a sense of superiority. The long magnificent colonnade together with the great
stairway created a sense of mysterious (Fig 4). The setting of rectagular attic that
coverd the rotunda again makes it even more mysterious. As well as the double
winged staircase which leading into the open entrance hall. Schinkel has made a
genius move as visitors walk in, they don’t feel like inside until they get up to the
entrance hall. This special treatment which is the blurred or indistinct between interior
and exterior has given the building a sense of romance (Fig 5) and more specifically
as Ziolkowski’s article indicates “that the visitors are encourage to leave from the

6
everyday world for the encounter with the majesty of art.” Schinkel design the
rotunda as a Pantheon to make the visitor “feel receptive” and gives them a sense of

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“beautiful and sublime” and a “sense of sacred”. all such moves made by Schinkel
suggests that his understanding of classicism consists of a sense of symbolism which
he refers to as the feelings of sublime, beautiful, divine, dignity, sacred. In his
Rotunda design which derived form the Pantheon, gives the sculptures a religious
respect in order to show the idea of romantic spirit in which classical elements could
represent (Fig 6). Schinkeel’s adoptaion of Greek tradition has helped him to expresss
the common cultural taste of his time during early 19 centuray in Prussia. We can find
the similarities in the works of musician such as Beethoven and writer such as Goethe
which all desperately trying to expresse a sense of romance and sublime in their
works which formed a cultural trend that flew within the 19th century Prussian society.
In comparision to Soane, as I mentioned the leisurely civil life of English people and
the natural protection of English channel has made Britain a place of relatively

5
THEODORE ZIOLKOWSKI, “Schinkel's Museum: The Romantic Temple of
Art”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 131, No. 4 (Dec.,
1987), American Philosophical Society
6
THEODORE ZIOLKOWSKI, “Schinkel's Museum: The Romantic Temple of
Art”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
7
THEODORE ZIOLKOWSKI, “Schinkel's Museum: The Romantic Temple of
Art”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

comformity. The desperate desire of Soane and most of the British people to walk into
a modern world was thus evident in the way they experiment new architectural
institutions and in contrast to Prussia which was a a nation just walked out of the
trauma of Napoleon era, urgently looking for a new social and cultural identity and
dignity, no wonder Schinkel and most of the Prussian public will choose the authentic
Greek majesty to represent themselves.

Pitzhanger Manor House (1804) in Middlesex was another piece of work that Soane
built to develop and experiemnt his idea of Greek classicism. Differed from Dulwich
Picture Gallery, Soane has returned to the traditional Classic element in designing his
own house. In this design we can see Soane tends to combine the classical elements
with the landscape itself to creat a picturesque efffect. The four Ionic columns were
images of the Arch of Constantine in Rome (Fig 7), as Dean explained in the book
that such treatment was to “convey a tremendous sense of scale in a relatively modest-

8
sized building.” In order to creat a landscpae feeling Soane has used the columns as
scale rulers to maximise the potential effect of the yellow stock brick structure. The
façade was very classically decorated: apart from the columns, there are statues of
terracotta similar to a Greek temple in Athens; penals containing eagles which copied
from a basillica in Rome; sculptures above the columns copied from a Roman

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temple. The breakfast room in the interior was ingenious in the way Soane adopt
classical elements into the modern design. Soane has choosen the dark rim which is
similar to the one in Pantheon in Rome to frame the domed ceiling of the breakfast
room, together with the repeating Greek key patterns (Fig 8) such as bronzed

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caryatids, marbled panels, winged victorite on the canopy and rich Roman room
decoration, in contrast with Soane’s innnovative skylight effect, creating a illusion of

11
a ancient classical form and even “grander” as Soane himself indicate. Again in the
library, Soane has used a vault form ceiling which was derived from Roman vaulting,

8
PTOLEMY DEAN, “Sir John soane and his country estate” Aldershot,
ASHGATE. 1999 page 93
9
PTOLEMY DEAN, “Sir John soane and his country estate” Aldershot,
ASHGATE. 1999 page 93-94
1010
GILLIAN DARLEY, “John Soane: An Accidental Romantic” New Haven, Yale
University Press. 1999 page 158
1111
PTOLEMY DEAN, “Sir John soane and his country estate” Aldershot,
ASHGATE. 1999 page 94
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creating a “starfish” vault. This to me was a ingenious treatment by Soane to give
the library a rich and interesting modern taste while at the same time keeping the
classic and sublime effect from the classical world. Other examples such as the
staircase which was rendered with dark marbling in order to make it looks like the
walls of Roman tombs. The element of antiquity was rapidly used in Pitzhanger
Manor. In comparison to Schinkel’s Charlottenhof Palace at potsdam (1826-1829), a
villa that serves as a retreat for the crown prince which was Frederick William IV
who also admired the classical style. The villa was a redevelopment over a farm
house. After the reconstruction, the step roof was transformed into the raised temple

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roof. The simple treatment of the exterior gave the villa an elegant feel. The
interesting thing about Charlottenhof was apart from the mystery of Schinkel’s idea.
The young Prince was actually doing the design as well. The Doric portico was a
direct attempt towards the antiquity (Fig 9). In the planning of the original site,
Schinkel has drawn a main axis across the Charlottenhof Villa which contains a
symbolic meaning. The axis started from pre-history which was the primitive tent of
the terrace and then moved to the Classical elements of the Villa with those Pompeian
frescoes and then it came to the Roman hippodrome behind the villa, all these indicate
Schinkel’s idea of ancient history. The rose garden at front of the terrace indicates the
modern period (Fig 10). in his late career Schinkel tend to do this kind of arrangement
which shows the different time period within a architecture in order to discover the
idea of how independent architecture would conduct the symbolic meaning of
classical message in a modern era. And by creating this main axis Schinkel has also
formed a romantic manner that Charlottenhof Villa was a dreamed paradise which
consists of pre-history, ancient history and modern even a pump house which

14
indicates the future. It tells me that throughout Schinkel’s career, by adopting the
classical knowledge, he was trying to look for the balance between classic and
modern, between spirit and material, between art and function, as himself explained

PTOLEMY DEAN, “Sir John soane and his country estate” Aldershot,
1212

ASHGATE. 1999 page 94

13 13
MARTIN STEFFENS “Karl Friedrich Schinkel: 1781-1841 an Architect in the
Service of Beaut”, Taschen America Llc, 2003 page 62
1414
LAIN BOYD WHYTE “Charlottenhof: The Prince, the Gardener, the Architect
and the Writer”, Architectural History, Vol. 43 (2000), pp. 1-23. SAHGB Publications
Limited page 20
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as a “'vigorous mediation”. And that was why I suggest his works always conduct a
symbolic meaning, a romantic spirit, sometimes divine, sometime dignified, and
sometimes elegant. Because I believe Schinkel was always trying to give the antiquity
a contemporary content. By doing so, like Charlottenhof, the axial layout and the time
relationship between the classical temple like villa, the Roman hippodrome, the
pumphouse later have upgraded the structural significance of the Greek and Roman
element into a metaphorical and spiritual level. While Sir John Soane’s design
showed us when 19th century Britain going through the period of a modernizing and
innovating, how he borrowed from he antiquity and upgraded the details into a new
abstract mode that has gone beyond his time. And Schinkel has shown us a 19th
century Prussia picture of romantic king and his prince, and the way he use the
classical spirit to interpret and balance the future architectural movement. Another
differnce I found out was the way of using antiquity in interior design. For example
the classical columns were modified by Soane and used in the Pitzhanger manor
beside the windows inside. Orders were also used in the corridor of the house in order
to create this sense of classicism similar to the Roman interior setting. The library
room (Fig 11) which consists of vaulting and arched false doors and Greek
Decorartions as mentions were a very significant feature of Soane’s interior design in
his house, and these features are quiet different from Schinkel’s Chrlottenhof interior.
As you can see rather than Soane’s ingenius and small scale layout of Greek and
Roman decoration which create a modern and enclosure feeling, Schinkel has again
tried to express a sense of raomancce by using authentic elements. The sculpture
sitting on the pedestal at the corner with the arch behind was my favourite part of this
room (Fig 12). Suggesting that Schinkel tend to use less Classical element inside the
house than Soane but by balancing the modern interior layout with the classical
sculpture, together create aromantic feeling in the room was a significant contrast to
Soane’s adstract and innovative classical picture that he created in his library room
such as the false doors and vaulting I mentioned.

Schinkel described Soane’s Lincoln’s Inn Fields as “ingenious” and “full of little

LAIN BOYD WHYTE “Charlottenhof: The Prince, the Gardener, the Architect
1515

and the Writer”, Architectural History, Vol. 43 (2000), pp. 1-23. SAHGB Publications
Limited page 20
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deceptions” . And when he visited Soane’s Bank of England he claimed that “ he

17
could see the logic of it, and the impression was confusing”. Even though Schinkel
hasn’t designed a Bank or a house like lincoln’s Inn fields, we can see the difference
in approaching modern institutions with classical knowledge. The abstract and
innovative experiment and enclosing interior by Soane was confusing and with
deception to Schinkel, but he realised such were ingenious. Unfortunately we don’t
have any direct thoughts recorded from Soane about his view of Schinkel. In
concusion, I believe that Soane’s background was a urgently modernising society. It
was a society where the freedom of thoughts was blooming. Interesting ideas were
experimented in all kinds of field like literature, theatre, painting, music and
architecture. Soane was a pioneer of such an era in Britain like Prof. Rand Carter
added in his article that “if Italy provided a view of the past, England offered a view

18
of the present and a glance into the future” . In contrast to Prussia, an era of
restoration. The popular romanticism was flowing within the states of Germanic
people, with a background of nationalist consciousness. Schinkel’s design thus seems
less innovative than Soane’s. Schinkel’s design was more symbolising. In his works
we see his desperate patriotism towards his fatherland Prussia. He wished he could
express this sense of romance in establishing a whole new Prussian identity. And
Soane at his time was more into his academic career rather than national hero because
Britain’s identity was already established through the economy and its military force.

1616
N. E. BRIDGES “Perspectives from Sir John's podium”,
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?
storyCode=160485&sectioncode=20, 10 January 1997
1717
GILLIAN DARLEY, “John Soane: An Accidental Romantic” New Haven, Yale
University Press. 1999 page 136
1818
RAND CARTER (NY) “Karl Friedrich Schinkel: The Last Great Architect",
Collection of Architectural Designs, Chicago: Exedra Books Incorporated, 1981
702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

1. The mausoleum in Dulwich Picture Gallery

702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

2. Dulwich Picture Gallery

The symmetric layout of the site

3. Altes Museum
The symmetry and the superiority
702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

4. Altes Museum Colonnade

Cearting mysterious and divine feeling

5. Schinkel’s own sketch of Entrance hall

The romance of getting away from the world and into the majesty of art
702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

6. Rotunda
The sublime and romantic feeling of classical elements give to the art works

7. Pitzhanger Manor House

The Ionic orders worked as scale rulers to get the façade well proportioned
The ornaments are Classical
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8. Domed ceiling of breakfast room

The Roma Dome and the Greek ornaments

9. Doric portico
Schinkel’s and the Crown Prince’s dreamed style

10. Plan of 'Charlottenhof” drawn by Gerhard Koeber, 1839

The axis meant by Schinkel, an symbolic setting which consists of contemporary
content of modern knowledge in a classical temple
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11. The library room of Pitzhanger Manor

The “starfish”
Enclosure feeling
The arched false doors
702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

12. Interior of Charlottenhof Palace

The contemporary content with the authentic Classical art work
REFERENCE

BARRY BERGDOLL “European Architecture 1750 -1890”, Oxford University

Press, 2000

GILLIAN DARLEY, “John Soane: An Accidental Romantic” New Haven, Yale

University Press. 1999

KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL, “The English Journey: Journal of a Visit to

France and Britain in 1826” New Haven and London, Published for The Paul Mellon
Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press. 1993

LAIN BOYD WHYTE “Charlottenhof: The Prince, the Gardener, the Architect and
the Writer”, Architectural History, Vol. 43 (2000), pp. 1-23. SAHGB Publications
Limited

MARTIN STEFFENS “Karl Friedrich Schinkel: 1781-1841 an Architect in the

Service of Beaut”, Taschen America Llc, 2003

N. E. BRIDGES “Perspectives from Sir John's podium”, 10 January 1997

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?
storyCode=160485&sectioncode=20

PTOLEMY DEAN, “Sir John soane and his country estate” Aldershot, ASHGATE.
1999

RAND CARTER (NY) “Karl Friedrich Schinkel: The Last Great Architect",
Collection of Architectural Designs, Chicago: Exedra Books Incorporated, 1981

THEODORE ZIOLKOWSKI, “Schinkel's Museum: The Romantic Temple of Art”,

Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 131, No. 4 (Dec., 1987),
American Philosophical Society

IMAGE REFERENCE

Fig 1 Dulwich Picture Gallery

http://www.urban75.org/london/east-dulwich-london.html

Fig 2 Dulwich Picture Gallery

https://museuminsider.co.uk/2009/02/16/project-tracker/plans-afoot-at-dulwich-
picture-gallery/

Fig 3 Altes Museum

http://www.valcasey.com/thesis/thesis_staging.html
702-386 Formative Histories of Architecture Junpu Gao 355161 Tutor: Francis Thursday 9am

Fig 4 Altes Museum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-
P014752,_Berlin,_Altes_Museum_am_Lustgarten.jpg

Fig 5 Altes Museum

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Altes_Museum_Treppe_Schinkel.jpg

Fig 6 Altes Museum

http://lifeloom.com/263HistArch1.htm#ClassicalAnti

Fig 7 Pitzhanger Manor House

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pitzhanger_Manor.jpg

Fig 8 Pitzhanger Manor House

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/2662617534/

Fig 9 Charlottenhof
Cut from LAIN BOYD WHYTE’s article “Charlottenhof: The Prince, the Gardener,
the Architect and the Writer” page 19

Fig 10 Charlottenhof
Cut from LAIN BOYD WHYTE’s article “Charlottenhof: The Prince, the Gardener,
the Architect and the Writer” page 10

Fig 11 Pitzhanger Manor House

http://www.fauxology.com/page/5/

Fig 12 Charlottenhof
http://www.historicgermany.com/3342.html