RSA Scottish Art
Design for the Royal High School, Edinburgh
 | Artist: Thomas Hamilton |
| Title: Design for the Royal High School, Edinburgh | |
| Year: 1831 | |
| Medium: pencil & watercolour on paper | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
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| Description: Thomas Hamilton was an architect whose projects included major public buildings in Edinburgh and Ayr, including the Municipal Buildings and Steeple in Ayr (1820-3) and the nearby Burns Monument in Alloway (1827-32). In 1825 Hamilton was commissioned to design the new High School in Regent Road, Edinburgh. He used Greek elements, such as a temple theme with Doric columns, to create a dramatic façade against the slope of Calton Hill. This building contributed to the christening of Edinburgh as the “Athens of the North”. This was clearly a very important building project. Larger-than-life-sized Classical statues grace the entrance to the building, and elaborate light-stands and railings underline the authority of the building. However the columned mass of the building's façade is what really impresses the viewer. The scale of this very ornate building is dazzling. Symmetry was seen in the Neo-Classical period as a rational and aesthetically pleasing way to express human ideals. This accounts for the rigidly even design of the building, and also for the central viewpoint chosen as the location from which to view the façade. Deep shadows are shown on the façade which further define the columned galleries. The carved friezes are also shown heavily shadowed, suggesting that they were deeply carved and therefore of value and importance. Although the Royal High School was clearly a very important building, it is still a very elaborate design for a school compared to the school buildings we are used to today. Would it be worthwhile building a school in this style today? Would such a building add to the authority of a school, or would it seem like an indulgence to take so much trouble over a school building? | |
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