Pombaline style
May 29, 2009 by blogtopia
Filed under Architectural style
The Pombaline style was a Portuguese architectural style of the 18th century, named after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquês de Pombal who was instrumental in reconstructing Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755. Pombal supervised the plans drawn up by the military engineers Manuel da Maia, Eugénio dos Santos and Elias Sebastian Pope (later succeeded by Carlos Mardel).
The new city (mostly the Baixa area now called Baixa Pombalina) was laid out on a grid plan with roads and pavements fixed at 40ft wide. The previously standing royal palace was replaced with the Praça do Comércio which along with square Rossio defines the limits of the new city. Maia and Santos also outlined the form of the facades that were to line the streets, conceived on a hierarchical scheme whereby detail and size were delineated by the importance of the street.
These were in a notably restrained neoclassical style partly the result of limited funds and the urgency of building but also thanks to the enlightenment concept of architectural rationality adhered to by Pombal. A standardized system of decoration was applied both inside and out with a distinctively reduced application of azulejo tiling.
The Pombaline is again, like the plain style, the result of a necessity and made by Portugal’s spirit of initiative. It’s named Pombaline in memory of Marquis of Pombal, King Joseph I’s powerful minister and the kingdom’s true ruler. His willpower made such work possible. It’s important to make a reference to architects Manuel da Maia and Carlos Mardel, authors de facto of the main ideas and projects.
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