Greek Revival Architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement inspired by the architecture of Classical Greece of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States. In each country it touched, the style was looked on as the expression of local nationalism and civic virtue, especially in Germany and the United States where the idiom was regarded as being free from ecclesiastical and aristocratic associations. Its gradual spread coincided with and was dependent on the growth of archaeology in Greece in the 18th and 19th centuries. It came to be seen as the most appropriate architectural style for the expression of civic virtues, and it was widely adopted for new urban-planning schemes and important public buildings during the first half of the 19th century.
Colors and Windows of Charleston
I was especially amazed by the liveliness of the buildings and colors that make up this fabulous urban environment. Tropical and pastel colors cover many of the stucco buildings in the urban core of Charleston — from pink to blue these building colors serve as identifable elements of the city. Along East Bay Street, appropriately named Rainbow Row is an excellent example of the importance of colors to this city — featuring a variety of brick and stucco exteriors painted in a spectrum of pastels. Arched doorways, gambrel roofs and quoins on some Rainbow Row exteriors are matched in beauty by paneled wainscoting and architrave moldings inside.
