Adelaide Town Hall: Neoclassical Architecture and the Doric Order

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Adelaide Town Hall
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Adelaide Town Hall
Neoclassical architecture encompassed the revitalization of Classical architecture all through the
18th and early 19th centuries. This movement undertook the concerns of the logic of all-
inclusive Classical volumes, as opposed to Classical revivalism which had a tendency to recycle
Classical parts. Neoclassical architecture is featured by simplicity of geometric forms, dramatic
use of columns, preference for blank walls and a magnificence of scale1. The novel taste for
vintage simplicity characterized an overall reaction to the extremes of the Rococo style.
Neoclassicism flourished in the United States, Australia, and Europe, with instances taking place
in almost every big city2. By 1800 approximately all Australian architecture replicated the
neoclassical spirit and continued to flourish all through the 19th century. It is during this era
when Adelaide Town Hall was designed. It was designed by Edward Woods and Edmund
Wright and its construction commenced in the year 1863 and ended in 18663. This hall is
prominent for its general appearance and actually it is listed on the Register of the National
Estate. Adelaide Town Hall serves as the nerve center of entertainment events such as
concerts(especially Adelaide Symphony Orchestra), as the seat of the Adelaide City Council, and
1 Allen, Stan. Practice: architecture, technique and representation. Routledge, 2012.
2 McTavish, Lianne. Defining the modern museum: a case study of the challenges of exchange.
University of Toronto Press, 2013.
3 Jones, David. "The Origin and Evolution of Woods Bagot Architects 1900-1940: Finding
Cultural Relevance in Design Through Walter Hervey Bagot." IUP Journal of Architecture
(2011).

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also it contains facilities for hire4. As a place for work of art concerts, its auditory range and
sense of history have frequently been commended.
Figure 1: external appearance of Adelaide Town Hall
Orders also referred to as order of architecture, refer to any of the numerous styles of
neoclassical or classical architecture that were demarcated by the specific type of entablature and
column they used as a basic unit5. In these buildings a column consisted of a chute alongside its
base and its capital. This column supported a segment of an entablature that constituted the upper
4 Collins, Julie. "Climate discourse and the architectural style debates on Adelaide’s nineteenth-
century public buildings." History Australia 12, no. 2 (2015): 188-208.
5 Barletta, Barbara A. The origins of the Greek architectural orders. Cambridge, New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2001.

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flat section of a typical building and is itself consisted of (from top to bottom) a cornice, a frieze,
and an architrave. The form of the capital was the most differentiating feature of a specific order.
There were five major orders namely Composite, Corinthian, Ionic, Tuscan, and Doric. Classical
Architectures decided to revive the satisfactory and exceedingly skilled method of building and
the harmonious proportions of the antiques6. In the interior of the buildings they made rough
drawings on the walls and in other places they made excavations in order to see the junctures of
the membrane of the constructions, and their type. Adelaide Town Hall, for instance, comprises
of elegant interiors well-designed for exclusive events held here. The internal venue displays
baroque Victorian decoration such as solid bronze chandeliers and a high ceiling. The contiguous
Southern Gallery, which is home to a remarkable stone once-exterior wall, is a harmonious space
for independent conferences or private meetings.
Figure 2: interior of Adelaide Town Hall
6 Thoenes, Christof, and Lucinda Byatt. "Architectural Orders: Rebirth or Invention?." Art in
Translation 9, no. 3 (2017): 296-311.