Robert Adam

Robert Adam , 1728-92, and James Adam, 1730-94, Scottish architects, brothers. They designed important public and private buildings in England and Scotland and numerous interiors, pieces of furniture, and decorative objects. Robert possessed the great creative talents, with his brother James serving chiefly as his assistant. Robert Adam designed his buildings to achieve the most harmonious relation between the exterior, the interior, and the furniture. His light, elegant, and essentially decorative style was a free, personal reconstitution of antique motifs. He drew upon numerous sources including earlier English Palladian architecture, French and Italian Renaissance architecture, and the antique monuments themselves as he knew them through publications and personal investigation. Adam himself contributed an important study, Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia (1764). For decorative painting, Adam employed such artists as Angelica Kauffmann and Antonio Zucchi. The Adam manner gained great favor in his day, and designs in the Adam style have never ceased to appear. Especially interesting examples of Adam planning and decoration are Osterly Park, Middlesex (1761-80); Syon House, Middlesex (1762-69); and Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire (1768-75). The brothers wrote Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam (3 vol., 1778-1822). Robert was architect to the king from 1762 until 1768, when he was succeeded by James. Robert Adam was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Bibliography: See J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle (1962) and D. Stillman, The Decorative Work of Robert Adam (1966); D. Yarwood, Robert Adam (1970).

Adam, Robert (1728–92). Scottish architect who, with his brothers John (1721–92) and James (1730–94), trained in the office of their father William Adam (1689–1748). After a spell at Edinburgh University, and a grand tour, Robert Adam started his architectural practice in London in 1758 and soon developed a light and decorative style inspired by his travels in Greece and Italy. His interiors combine domes, columned screens, and apses with classically derived surface patterns in delicate colours. The ‘Adam style’ can be seen in Kedleston (1760–1), Syon (1760–9), Osterley (1761–80), or Kenwood (1767–9), with elegant plasterwork, furnishings, and fabrics. Robert Adam's finest civic work was in Edinburgh, notably Charlotte Square (1791–1807), the Register House (1774–92), and the first stage of the university (1789–93).