杰斐逊对建筑的影响

参见:杰弗逊，教育和特许经营权大多数人都知道托马斯·杰斐逊是《独立宣言》的起草人，美国第三任总统，路易斯安那州领土的购买者。但是，很少有人知道他对美国建筑的影响。你有没有想过为什么华盛顿特区的原始建筑看起来像有柱子和圆顶的古代寺庙?它们的建立是因为杰斐逊对美国和新的美国文化的愿景。杰斐逊希望美国的建国能够完全摆脱过去和英国的影响。如果这个新国家想要成功，它必须发展出一种完全属于美国的文化。人们必须把自己看作美国人，而不是殖民地的英国人。这就是为什么杰斐逊提倡一种新的政府形式，一种不同于英国的货币和新的计量体系。(他并不孤单。诺亚·韦伯斯特试图在他的字典中编纂“美式”英语。) He saw architecture as an artistic declaration that the United States was unique and not European. The inspirations for Jefferson's political and architectural beliefs were the classic civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. This is not surprising, since he was raised in The "Age of Reason". The "Age of Reason" idealized those eras and saw them as an alternative to the monarchical societies of Europe. As a child of the "Age of Reason" Jefferson was drawn to the symmetry, clean lines and mathematical preciseness of Greek and Roman buildings. This was in direct opposition to the ornate, Rococo buildings being constructed in Europe at the time. Jefferson was enraptured by the classical world. He could read ancientGreek and Latin. He was an expert in their histories, political systems, literature and architecture. And, he considered them as the basis for establishing a new American culture. He desired to utilize his knowledge of the ancient world to establish an architectural declaration of independence. Jefferson was well prepared for the task. He was more than just a dilettante. He studied architecture for more than forty years and made himself a master of architectural drawing far superior than anyone else in America at the time. Jefferson probably had the largest architectural library in the United States. Some of the works that he possessed, and that directed him, were written by Palladio, Le Roy, Freart and Desgodet. Andrea Palladio had a great influence on Jefferson. The formality, restraint and mathematical proportions of Palladio designs, which were inspired by ancient classical structures, appealed to Jefferson. Jefferson, while Minister to France, was able to visit and study many of these ancient structures in France, England, Germany, the Low Countries and Italy. His descriptions of these monuments, in his daily account books, are the most passionate statements the staid Jefferson every wrote, even to women. At Nimes, viewing the Maison Quarree, he stated, "I gaze whole hours at the Maison Quarree, like a lover at his mistress". And, in Paris, "I was violently smitten with the Hotel de Salm". He would utilize these visits as inspirations for future structures he would design in the United States. Jefferson had a laboratory to experiment with his ideas in developing a unique form of American architecture; his own home, Monticello. In 1767 he purchased a small mountain (Monticello means ëlittle mountain' in Italian) rising above his birthplace, Shadwell. He began construction that year, a process that would continue throughout most of his life. He rebuild Monticello several times. Fiske Kimball in "Thomas Jefferson and the Arts" writes of his first efforts:

他对建筑方面的书籍深有深有，而且已经有了不少，他从一开始就偏爱帕拉第奥的作品，因为帕拉第奥的作品崇尚自然的规律，崇尚数学比例的和谐。他使自己成为一名建筑绘画大师，在一定程度上远远超过了任何殖民地建筑商或业余爱好者的技能，他设计了一座带有帕拉第奥式门廊的房子，具有学术正确性，这在南部殖民地是新的。他把帕拉第奥设计的柱廊式服务翼盖在梯田下面，使他的住宅能不间断地看到平原、山谷和山脉的壮丽全景。

通过它的改变，蒙蒂塞洛从古希腊，帕拉第奥风格演变成一个更罗马的结构。1793年，当他从国务卿的职位上退休时，他对蒙蒂塞洛进行了另一次改造。阁楼被拆除了，像罗马房屋一样，给人一种单层的感觉，在沙龙上又加了一个罗马圆顶，就像萨尔姆旅馆一样。卡尔·莱曼在《托马斯·杰斐逊:美国人文主义者》一书中解释了从希腊到罗马影响的变化:

因此，这只是一个表面上的悖论，杰斐逊非常喜欢希腊语而不是拉丁语和诗歌，而在建筑方面，他却把掌给了罗马人。同样对想象力丰富和延展性的渴望指引着作为读者的希腊派杰斐逊和作为建筑师的罗马派杰斐逊。

杰斐逊的建筑技巧得到了其他人的认可。他的朋友乔治·威斯请他设计自己的新居。1771年，殖民地总督邓斯莫尔要求杰斐逊重新设计威廉玛丽学院。由于革命的原因，改建没有进行，但计划要求建造一个让人想起古罗马宫殿的大拱廊庭院。正是在里士满建造的弗吉尼亚国会大厦给了杰斐逊发展美国建筑风格的机会。他认为这是“向国家介绍古代古典风格建筑的一个有利机会”。他提出了一个真正的复制他心爱的Maison Quarree的设计。作为第一任国务卿，杰斐逊有更多的机会将他的建筑理念植入美国。他协助法国工程师朗方(L'Enfant)规划新的联邦城市。他给法国人写信说:

“我宁愿采用一种古老的模式，这种模式已经被认可了几千年;至于总统的房子，我更喜欢那些现代建筑的著名正面，它们已经得到了所有优秀评委的认可。这就是卢浮宫画廊、莫布勒花园和萨尔姆旅馆的两个正面。”

当兰芳特因不服从命令而被解雇时，杰斐逊提议举行一场国会大厦和“总统”大厦的设计比赛。他匿名提交了总统根据帕拉迪奥圆形别墅设计的住宅方案。当杰斐逊成为总统后，他建议对官邸进行进一步的改造，建议在前面的圆形门廊和两侧办公室的长柱廊。弗吉尼亚大学的设计和建造，在他退休后，将是杰斐逊最大的建筑胜利。有了它，他不仅确立了新古典主义作为一种美国建筑形式，而且他还创建了第一个真正的美国高等教育机构。他这样描述他对哈佛大学的愿景:

我认为这个国家普遍遵循的计划——建造一座又大又宽敞的建筑，是不幸的错误。最好是为每个不同的教授建立一个小而独立的小屋，下面只有一个大厅供他的班级使用，上面只有两个房间供他自己使用，这些小屋由供部分学生使用的营房连接起来，并打开一条有盖的路，以便在所有学院之间进行干式交流。所有这些都围绕着一个草地和树木的开放广场，实际上，它应该是一个学术村。

“学术村”是在他去世前建成的，现在仍然是美国最美丽的校园之一，有寺庙般的亭台楼阁，罗马圆形大厅和成排的柱廊。建筑被称为“其他视觉艺术之母”，杰斐逊认为发展一种美国式的建筑风格将有助于建立一个新的国家和文化。Fiske Kimball也许写得最好的是杰斐逊在我们国家创建中的重要性，以及他对美国建筑的愿景:

幸运的是，作为一个国家，我们最伟大的开国元勋中有一位具有如此艺术文化和创造力的人，他可以以他的榜样和他的作品赋予我们。