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Robert AdamRobert Adam was born in Kirkaldy, Fife, Scotland in 1728. His father, William Adam was a well known Scottish architect and stone mason. Robert attended Edinburgh University but illness and the 1745 Jacobite rebellion prevented his graduation. At the age of twenty, Adams’ father died and he joined the family firm of architects, The Adam Brothers. Adams took the opportunity of a “Grand Tour” of France and Italy to study classical forms of architecture and hone his drawing and drafting skills. On returning to Britain, he settled in London and quickly became an eminent architect within high society. English architecture of the mid Eighteenth century was undergoing a return to classical styles. This was typified by the Palladian movement, named after the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, who recreated the styles and proportions of buildings in Ancient Rome. Adam joined this movement, but gradually evolved a style of his own. Adams style was typified by light, elegant lines and refused to be bound the the rules of classical proportions. Adam build Admiralty Arch at Whitehall and the interior apartments at Hatchlands. He was asked to remodel existing houses and this led to much of his work being seen in house interiors rather than exteriors. He insisted on designing everything himself and this resulted in his work having a very distinct visual appearance, consistency and flow. Adam was limited by the parameters of Roman architecture alone but borrowed from Greek, Byzantine and Italian Baroque influences also. His decorations were typified by elegant floral motifs, ram and ox heads and other Roman designs found on their buildings and tombs. He was responsible for introducing the sideboard or credenza into English furniture collections. In 1792, at the age of sixty four, Adam died. Over the next centuries much of his work was remodelled or replaced as fashions changed but there are still plenty of excellent examples of his work:
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