Style in the technical and tectonic arts, or, Practical aesthetics

NA 23 00 5~5 200 4 The Getty Research Institute Publications Program Thomas Crow, Director, Getty Research Institute Gail Feigenbaum, Associate Director, Programs Julia Bloomfield, Head, Publications Program Texts & Documents Julia Bloomfield, Kurt W. Forster, Harry F. Mallgrave, and Thomas F. Reese, Publications Committee Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practical Aesthetics J. Duncan Berry, Editorial Consultant Steven Lindberg, Manuscript Editor Gottfried Semper, Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen Kunsten; oder, Praktische Aesthetik: Ein Handbuch fur Techniker, Kunst/er und Kunstfreunde, 2 vols. (Frankfurt am Main: Verlag tor Kunst & Wissenschaft, 1860; Munich: F. Bruckmann, 1863), was t rans· lated by Harry Francis Mallgrave and Michael Robinson , with translations from Latin and Greek by Amir Baghdadchi. All photographs of illustrations from Semper's Der Stil are courtesy the Research library, Getty Research Institute, 86,818560 Published by the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles Getty Publications 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 Los Angeles, CA 90049-1682 www.getty.edu/publications @ 2004 J. Paul Getty Trust Second printing Cover: Gottfried Semper, Design for silver punchbowl (see p. 884); filigree glass (see p. 603) Frontispiece: W. Unger, Portrait of Gottfried Semper, 1871. From Zeitschrift fur bildende Kunst 14 (1879): facing p. 293. Courtesy Research Library, Getty Research Institute, 86,S482 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Semper, Gottfried, 1803-1879. [Stil in den technischen und tektonischen KOnsten, oder, Praktische Aesthetik, ein Handbuch tor Techniker, Kunstler und Kunstfreunde. English] Style in the technical and tectonic arts, or, Practical aesthetics / Gottfried Semper ; introduction by Harry Francis Mallgrave ; translation by Harry Francis Mallgrave and Michael Robinson, with translations from Latin and Greek by Amir Baghdadchi. p. cm. - (Texts & documents) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0,89236·597·8 ISBN 978-0-89236·597-5 1. Architecture-Aesthetics. 2. Architecture-History. 3. Decoration and ornament, Architectural. I. Title: Practical aesthetics. II. Title: Handbook for technicians, artists, and friends of the arts. 11 1. Mallgrave, Harry Francis. IV. Getty Research Institute. V. Title. VI. Series. NA2500.S46213 2004 720'.l-dc21 2002153381

Contents ... vii Preface Introduction Harry Francis Mal/grave Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practical Aesthetics: A Handbook for Technicians, Artists, and Friends of the Arts Part One. Technical Origin of the Most Important Forms, Types, and Symbols in Architecture 71 Prolegomena Volume One. Textile Art: Considered in Itself and in Relation to Architecture 103 Chapter 1. Introduction 109 Chapter 2. Classification of the Technical Arts 113 Chapter 3. Textiles: A. General-Formal 167 Chapter 4. Textiles: B. Technical-Historical Volume Two. Ceramics, Tectonics, Stereotomy, Metallurgy: Considered in Themselves and in Relation to Architecture 467 Chapter 5. Ceramics: A. Aesthetic-Formal 559 Chapter 6. Ceramics: B. Technical-Historical 623 Chapter 7. Tectonics (Carpentry): A. General-Formal 651 Chapter 8. Tectonics: B. Technical-Historical 725 Chapter 9. Stereotomy (Stone Construction): A. Aesthetic-Formal 753 Chapter 10. Stereotomy: B. Technical-Historical 823 Chapter 11. Metallurgy (Metalwork) 901 Semper's Table of Contents 903 Plates 921 Works Cited by Semper 947 Selected Bibliography 955 Index