What Is Neotraditional Architecture

Neotraditional (or Neo-traditional) means New Traditional. Neotraditional architecture is contemporary architecture that borrows from the past. Neotraditional buildings are constructed using modern materials like vinyl and mock-brick, but the building design is inspired by historic styles. Neotraditional architecture does not copy historic architecture. Instead, Neotraditional buildings merely suggest the past, using decorative details to add a nostalgic aura to an otherwise modern-day structure. Historic features like shutters, weather vanes, and even dormers are ornamental and serve no practical function. Details on the homes in Celebration, Florida provide many good examples. Neotraditional Architecture and New Urbanism The term Neotraditional is often associated with the New Urbanist movement. Neighborhoods designed with New Urbanist principles often resemble historic villages with homes and shops clustered together along quaint, tree-lined streets. Traditional Neighborhood Development or TND is often called neo-traditional or village style development because the design of the neighborhood is inspired by neighborhoods of the past—similar to neotraditional homes being inspired by traditional designs. But what is the past? For both architecture and TND, the past is usually considered before the mid-20th century when the sprawl of suburban areas became what many would call out of control.  Neighborhoods of the past were not automobile-centric, so neotraditional houses are designed with garages in the rear and neighborhoods have access alleys. This was the design choice for the 1994 town of Celebration, Florida, where time stopped in the 1930s. For other communities, TND may include all house styles. Neotraditional neighborhoods do not always have only neotraditional houses. Its the neighborhood plan that is traditional (or neotraditional) in a TND. Characteristics of Neotraditional Architecture Since the 1960s, most new homes constructed in the United States have been Neotraditional in their design. Its a very general term that encompasses many styles. Builders incorporate details from a variety of historic traditions, creating houses that might be called Neocolonial, Neo-Victorian, Neo-Mediterranean, or, simply, Neoeclectic. Here are just a few details you might find on a Neotraditional building: Complicated roof with several gables or parapetsTowers, cupolas, and weather vanesAwningsMock shuttersOrnamental bracketsHalf-timberingStained glass windowsPalladian windows, arched windows, and round windowsEmbossed tin ceilingsVictorian lampposts Neotraditional Is Everywhere Have you seen the New England chain supermarkets that look like inviting country stores? Or the drug store chain whose new building is designed to create that small town apothecary feeling?  Neotraditional design is often used for modern-day commercial architecture to create a feeling of tradition and comfort. Look for the pseudo-historic details in these chain stores and restaurants: Applebees RestaurantCracker Barrel Old Country StoreT.G.I. FridaysUno Chicago GrillRite Aid Pharmacy Neotraditional architecture is fanciful. It strives to evoke warm memories of a fairy tale past. Its no wonder, then, that theme parks such as Main Street in Disney World are lined with Neotraditional buildings. Walt Disney, in fact, sought out architects with specialties Disney wished to create. For example, Colorado architect  Peter Dominick specialized in rustic, western building design. Who best to design Wilderness Lodge at Disney World in Orlando, Florida? The team of architects chosen to design for these high-profile theme parks has been called Disney Architects. A return to traditional methods is not only an architectural phenomenon. Neotraditional Country Music rose to prominence in the 1980s in reaction to a popularization of the country music genre. As in the architectural world, traditional became something marketable, which immediately lost any notion of a traditional past because it was new. Can you be new and old at the same time? The Importance of Nostalgia When architect Bill Hirsch is working with a client, he appreciates the power of the past. It may be the design of an object in the house, he writes, such as the glass doorknobs in your grandmothers apartment or the pushbutton light switches in your great-grandfathers house. These important details are available to a modern audience—not salvaged pushbutton light switches, but new hardware that meets todays electrical codes. If the item is functional, is it neotraditional? Hirsch appreciates the humanizing qualities of traditional design, and finds it difficult to put a style label on his own house designs.  Most of my houses tend to grow out of many influences, he writes. Hirsch thinks its unfortunate when some architects criticize the new old house trend of neotraditionalism. Style comes and goes with the times and is subject to our individual whims and tastes, he writes. Principles of good design endure. Good architectural design has a place in any style. Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect by William J. Hirsch Jr., AIA, 2008, pp. 78, 147-148Celebration - The Story of a Town by Michael Lassell, 2004