▁the ▁work ▁of ▁William ▁Adam . ▁As ▁a ▁practical ▁man ▁rather ▁than ▁a ▁the or ist , ▁Adam ▁never ▁developed ▁a ▁strong ▁enough ▁style ▁to ▁ex ert ▁a ▁direct ▁influence ▁on ▁the ▁course ▁of ▁building ▁design . ▁ ▁His ▁main ▁be quest ▁to ▁architect ural ▁history ▁were ▁his ▁three ▁architect ▁sons , ▁and ▁in ▁particular ▁Robert ▁Adam , ▁whose ▁success ▁as ▁developer ▁of ▁the ▁" Ad am ▁Style " ▁far ▁out ran ▁that ▁of ▁his ▁father . ▁Although ▁Robert ▁formed ▁his ▁own ▁style ▁through ▁length y ▁study ▁in ▁Rome , ▁John ▁F lem ing ▁detect s ▁traces ▁of ▁his ▁father ' s ▁influence ▁on ▁all ▁three ▁of ▁the ▁brothers ' ▁work , ▁and ▁suggests ▁that ▁the ▁Adam ▁principle ▁of ▁" mov ement " ▁in ▁architecture ▁was ▁partly ▁inspired ▁by ▁William ' s ▁adm iration ▁for ▁Van b rug h . ▁More ▁con cret ely , ▁F lem ing ▁notes ▁that ▁working ▁with ▁their ▁father ▁gave ▁the ▁brothers ▁a ▁solid ▁ground ing ▁in ▁the ▁technical ▁aspects ▁of ▁architecture , ▁and ▁introduced ▁them ▁to ▁a ▁set ▁of ▁clients ▁which ▁they ▁might ▁never ▁otherwise ▁have ▁had ▁access ▁to . ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁appreci ation ▁Although ▁his ▁contempor aries ▁acc laimed ▁Adam ' s ▁" gen ius ▁for ▁architecture ", ▁recent ▁architect ural ▁histor ians ▁have ▁found ▁his ▁work ▁of ▁more ▁variable ▁quality . ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 8 th ▁and ▁ 1 9 th ▁centuries , ▁he ▁was ▁accepted ▁as ▁Scotland ' s ▁" Univers al ▁Arch itect ", ▁and ▁at ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁