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' was an
' was an architectural style
An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...
advocated by French architect Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel (8 January 1705 – 9 January 1774) was an 18th-century French architect and teacher. After running his own highly successful school of architecture for many years, he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Acad ...
in his nine-volume treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...
' (1771–77). Blondel promoted the style for the exterior design of prisons: the form of the building itself would proclaim its function and serve as a deterrent, and so achieve a "repulsive style" of heaviness that would "declare to the spectators outside the confused lives of those detained inside, along with the force required for those in charge to hold them confined". Blondel further described it as "...a style where the principles of art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of what ...
seem to be crushed under the weight of the Artist's ignorance".
London's second Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...
, built between 1768 and 1775, is an example of this style of architecture: reinforced walls almost without windows, a deliberate inelegance, and overt symbolism such as carved chains over entrances were all designed to instill terror in those who saw it.
See also
* Brutalism * Defensible space theory * Panopticon *Hostile architecture
Hostile architecture is an urban-design strategy that uses elements of the built environment to purposefully guide or restrict behaviour. It often targets people who use or rely on public space more than others, such as youth, poor people, and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Architecture Terrible Architectural styles Prisons