Gottfried Semper, London Writings 1850–1855
Author(s)
Gnehm, Michael
Hildebrand, Sonja
Weidmann, Dieter
Collection
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)Language
EnglishAbstract
Gottfried Semper (1803–1879) left behind a voluminous legacy of architectural-theory writings. The manner, in his works, in which he analysed architecture from a cultural-historical perspective as the key discipline in human artistry continues to exert a deep fascination up until today. The London Writings make available previously unpublished or little-known texts originating during Semper’s exile in London (1850–1855) in a critical and commented edition, including in their original wordings. Swayed by his impressions of the first Great Exhibition of 1851 and as a lecturer at the Department of Practical Art, it was in London that Semper laid the foundations for his theoretical magnum opus Der Stil (Style, 1860/63). He counterpoised the phenomena of the globalised flow of merchandise and a globalisation of knowledge that he observed with his thoughts on the global development of architectural culture in all its manifold material, social and political conditions.
Keywords
Gottfried Semper; Architekturtheorie; Great Exhibition 1851; Polychromie; Design ReformDOI
10.3929/ethz-b-000512309ISBN
9783856764258, 9783856764258Publisher
gta VerlagPublication date and place
Zürich, 2021Classification
Theory of architecture