Beaux-Arts architects and capitol interiors: Transmuting an aristocratic French academic architectural tradition for an egalitarian American democracy

摘要

This dissertation identifies and interprets the American Beaux-Arts interior design system in late Gilded Age state capitols, and presents new meanings of American Beaux-Arts architecture from an interiors' perspective. It adds to American Beaux-Arts architectural theory by identifying the organizational and planning constructs guiding the interior design plan of a holistically conceived structure, designed to unify architecture and fine art. Supported by evidence from interiors of elite mansions and monumental capitols, it attests to the presence of an underlying French academic hierarchy of architecture and artistic programs, derived from Neoplatonic philosophy, yet amalgamating American democratic functions. Evidence also attests to the presence of French academic expressions of architectural character, derived from Aristotelian philosophy, dictating the systematic application of styles, materials, and forms to interior finishes of capitols.;Findings show that American Beaux-Arts architects entwined American iconography, American materials, and American technology within the French design system to effectively create an American art form and American meaning, while at the same time maintaining the framework of a historic artistic code of the French Academie. Thus, manifested designs within interiors of American Beaux-Arts capitols not only reflect ideologies underlying French academic architectural theory, but also ideologies of equity among branches of American government, clarity of government function, the voice of the people, and egalitarianism of state citizens - collectively, principles intrinsic to democracy.;The analysis shows that the French academic architectural framework was necessary for the broader goals of American Beaux-Arts architects, who sought to place American civilization and its art among the meritorious civilizations of the world, by improving and reforming American government architecture.;The research method was conceptualized and organized through the structural analytic framework of Crystallization, and integrated material culture analysis of extant objects, iconographical analysis of symbolism, and content analysis of documents.;The information generated from this study is particularly timely since Beaux-Arts buildings are currently undergoing massive restorations, and the field of design is in the midst of a global Neo Beaux-Arts Classicism Movement. The findings advance scholarship of American Beaux-Arts architecture, interiors, and decorative arts, and facilitate the cultural sustainability of the American Beaux-Arts aesthetic.