FORMATIVE IDEAS IN ARCHITECTURE ZACCHAEUS TOW 4 OCTOBER 2013

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1 FORMATIVE IDEAS IN ARCHITECTURE ZACCHAEUS TOW 4 OCTOBER 2013 QUESTION Compare and contrast the work of one leading figure of English 19 th C architecture (say either John Soane or John Nash) with one of either a French (e.g. Charles Garnier or Henri Labrouste) or German (e.g. Karl Friedrich Schinkel or Gottfried Semper) architect. Focus on analysing the differences and similarities that can be found in each architect s use of revivalism. How does their employment of revivalism in their work express the values and ideas of their respective nations? 1

2 This essay will focus on the work of John Soane and Gottfried Semper, comparing and contrasting their approach. Being influential theorists, educators and architects in their own respective countries, Soane and Semper brought forward the ideas and notions through their own interpretations of historical architecture that have been adopted my many of today s well-known architects. Though these two architects look back to archaeological beginnings of architecture, the approach and understanding that came through for them were very different; such as the understanding of primitive architecture, ideas of decoration and methods of symbolism. In his early career, John Soane already showed strong evidence of his eclectic approach towards ancient architecture while Gottfried Semper started with a keen interest in the origins of antiquity. Their interests though disparate, shared one commonality the study and interpretation of ancient architecture through a direct analysis. Though his early work (Hammels Park Dairy) illustrated his heterogenic approach towards architecture, his museum truly described his nature as if to enter his mind itself. Soane was known to have his own collection of antiquities, ancient salvage and art that he stored at Lincoln s Inn Fields (today known as Sir John Soane s Museum). He used it as a library, drawing room, and a place to store his ancient treasures. There, he experimented with architectural ideas in search of his own style and language His unique style was highly idiosyncratic, the product of individual innovation, developed in a climate in which genius is encouraged to create, rather than to copy and adopt 1. Fig 1. Lincoln s Inn Fields (Interior ) 2 Fig 2. Preliminary Remarks on Polychromatic Architecture and Sculpture in Antiquity 3 (1834) 1 Helene Furjan, Glorious Visions: John Soane s Spectacular Theater (USA: Routledge, 2011), Helene Furjan, Glorious Visions: John Soane s Spectacular Theater, Harry Francis Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century (USA: Yale University Press, 1996), 54. 2

3 Semper s reflections on origins were heavily based on his argument that in order to understand art, one must go back to the primitive conditions of human society 4. His remark concurs with his actions Semper personally took measured drawings and collected paint samples (to prove his concepts of polychromy) of the ancient temples, and copied nothing of what others had assembled, in order to develop his own ideas 5. He later published a pamphlet (Preliminary Remarks on Polychromatic Architecture and Sculpture in Antiquity) in response to the polychrome lobby on Quatremere de Quincy and Hittorf. Semper approached the topic from a strong archaeological perspective, and his findings were considered to be very radical and challenged the ideas of classical scholarship of the time. Though both architects partook in the Grand Tour, their understanding of the historical buildings differed. Their experience and interaction with antiquity propelled them in different directions. John Soane found meaning in the vernacular, primarily, the idea of primitivism. Figure 3 illustrates Soane s perception of the primitive forms of architecture, where he sought to find the basic language of the past, beyond that of ancient Greece. The design for Hammels Park Dairy (1783) is considered to be one of John Soane s early works, and it exemplifies his approach toward the primitive manner of building quest for the simple and basic as his guiding principle. 6 It can be considered to be transposition of classical architecture into a more vernacular form, within an English context. This abstraction and translation suggests the adaptive approach towards architecture scholarship, instead of simply adopting classicism for what it was. One could describe this to be a turning point by which classicism was no longer seen as a strict set of rules and the perfect order of architecture. Fig. 3 Drawing of the primitive hut (1807) 7 Fig 4. Design for Hammels Park Dairy 8 4 Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century, Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century, Pierre de la Ruffiniere du Prey, John Soane: The Making of an Architect (London: Chicago University Press, 1982), David Watkin, Sir John Soane: Enlightenment Though and the Royal Academy Lectures (USA: Cambridge University Press, 1996), Plate Dorothy Stroud, Sir John Soane: Architect (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), 52. 3

4 Furthermore, Semper reinforces the fallibility of classical scholarship as he puts forward polychromy theories that suggest a flawed understanding of ancient antiquity. During this time, architects and archaeologists have been basing their ideas of classicism through the exclusion of colour and its symbolism of purity. Greek temples were perceived as timeless, fixed and pure in its absolute whiteness (notions put forward by Johann Joachim Winckelmann in the mid 18 th Century as the Greek classical ideal 9 ). Following Jacques Ignance Hittorff, who theorised the significance of colour as an expression of symbolism 10, Semper entered this debate with strong arguments of colour as a form of adornment that articulated important ideas of the building. Unlike Soane, Semper was more interested in the ornamentation of a building rather than the style and language. Figure 5 shows Semper s interpretation and conceived reconstruction of the Pantheon (Drawn by Semper in 1833), one that is adorned with colour, rather than changing its form and composition. Later in his career, however, Semper s concepts of ornament and decoration blended itself into an amalgamation of various styles suited and complimentary to the function of the building. Fig 5. Reconstruction of Pantheon detail 11 Fig 6. Drawing of Dresden Hoftheater by Semper 12 The Dresden Hoftheater, formally known today as the Dresden Opera House (first built in 1841) exemplifies Semper s concept of dressing combined within an eclectic approach encompassing the Classical, Renaissance as well as Baroque styles. Instead of deifying any particular style, Semper works heterogeneously; synergising the styles pertaining associated feelings such as the piety towards the classics and the theatrics of the baroque to one befitting of the time and age of an opera house. This brings us back to the methods employed by Soane in his revival of Greek architecture, where an 9 Harry Francis Mallgrave, History of the Art of Antiquity (USA: Getty Publications, 2006), Harry Francis Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Style (USA: Getty Publications, 2004), Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century, Harry Francis Mallgrave and Wolfgang Herrmann, Gottfried Semper: The Four Elements of Architecture and Other Writings (London: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 17. 4

5 amalgamation of styles brings forth a new form, befitting of its function. Being able to bypass the paradigms of the renaissance, he sets out methods that illustrate a neoclassical approach, encompassing the themes of associationism, radicalism and the sublime. The Bank of England by John Soane is a key example that depicts the innovative conceptualisation and seeking out of the fundamental principles of classical architecture, rather than just copying it. The emergence of such extraordinary architecture were brought together by the novelty of the brief and his readiness to blaze new trails Soane sought to create an appropriate profile for the bank by using a form that was not explicitly borrowed form any other type of building where the style was far away from the most original architectural language in Europe at the moment. 13 Fig 7. Bank of England Main Facade14 Fig 8. Representative view of Banking Hall15 Some key architectural moves such as the abstraction of classical forms, implementation of the shallow vault and clerestory lighting techniques were revolutionary for its time. His banking halls were mainly Pantheon-influenced; however, notice how his understanding of the Pantheon is transposed in form and composition (compared to Semper s drawings of the Pantheon). Although Soane drew heavily from Greek and Roman decorative motifs, there was a tendency away from lavish ornamentation towards a plainer effect 16. In a way, there was a deep reverence for the decorative elements and their meaning that Soane saw as a representation needing careful articulation the decorative system, amongst the ancients, was held to be of such importance that their architects were forbidden to use any ornaments, for the introduction of which they could not account Eva Schumann- Bacia, John Soane and The Bank of England (USA: Princeton Architectural Press, 1991), Schumann- Bacia, John Soane and The Bank of England, Schumann- Bacia, John Soane and The Bank of England, Schumann- Bacia, John Soane and The Bank of England, Watkin, Sir John Soane: Enlightenment Thought and the Royal Academy Lectures,

6 Compare this with Semper s approach of interior and exterior adornment where the visible part of the wall is independent of its structural core. Figure 9 shows an elaborately decorated interior of the Hoftheater as if to exist as a separate layer altogether Hanging carpets remained the true walls, the visible boundaries of space, where the solid walls behind them were necessary for reasons that had nothing to do with the creation of space (One of the concepts within The Four Elements of Architecture) 18. This skin was all about symbolism and conveyance of ideas through ornamentation and adornment (emerged from Semper s studies on primitive woven carpets as a form of craft that was endemic to the craftsman). This is one of the main underlying differences that characterises Semper s execution of his revival technique from Soane s. Fig 9. Dresden Hoftheater (Interior) 19 It is now clear that the once etherealised paradigms of the classics had started to dim away, although still greatly loved and served as source of inspiration. In this revelation of the classics serving as a wellspring of ideas and philosophies with rich history and strong association, and no longer being a strict set of rules of pure architecture, a revival with newfound understanding and interpretation develops. Though classicism was a language, it was elastic and capable of change and growth as demonstrated by these revivalists. bvm 18 Mallgrave and Herrmann, Gottfried Semper: The Four Elements of Architecture and Other Writings, Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century,

7 The eighteenth century was marked by an attempt to escape form the conventional in both verbal and visual languages so as to pursue unmediated nature 20, seeking to emerge from all the chaos and adulteration through a return to origins where truth could be attained by reason. Soane demonstrated some form of resolution and representation through his institutional works such as the Bank of England, but more so, his private collection and works, hidden deep within his catacombs. Soane s library and the convoluted process of intellectual speculation in which he indulged, reflected the eighteenth-century obsession with the exercise of civic virtue, and with the search for origins, whether those of language, of society, of architecture, of religious and sexual symbolism, of primitive customs, laws and religion, of music, and even of plant forms 21. Similarly, Semper, upon taking the initiative to propose an extension to the Zwinger Forum, received major commissions for the Royal Theater (Dresden Hoftheater), Museum, and Art Gallery He soon became the most prominent young architect in Germany, considered by some to heir the mantle of Schinkel 22. Semper strongly believed that the arts under the hegemony of architecture have always symbolised prevailing social, political and religious systems 23, and through large-scale public and institutional works, he conveyed the ideas and values of those in power. During this time, one could compare society to that of the legend of the Babylonian confusion of tongues as the mythical gown of an early historical perception of international law, and the disorder it describes as the start of a more natural order 24 a turning point in Germany s existing social conditions, ideals, and aspirations manifested in his architecture. Propaganda as it may seem (common during this period), but ultimately, from architecture would flow education in taste, values, and ideals Thomas Jefferson 25. (1992 words) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ END ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 20 Barbara Maria Stattford, Voyage into Substance: Art, Science, Nature, and the Illustrated Travel Account, (London: Cambridge University Press, 1984), Watkin, Sir John Soane: Enlightenment Thought and the Royal Academy Lectures, Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: The Four Elements of Architecture and Other Writings, Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century, Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: The Four Elements of Architecture and Other Writings, Kruft Hanno- Walter, A History of Architectural Theory (USA, Princeton Architectural Press, 1994),

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY Darley Gillian. John Soane: An Accidental Romantic. London: Yale University Press, Du Prey Pierre de la Ruffiniere. John Soane: The Making of an Architect. London: Chicago University Press, Furjan Helene. Glorious Visions: John Soane s Spectacular Theater. USA: Routledge, Hanno-Walter Kruft. A History of Architectural Theory. USA, Princeton Architectural Press, Kidson Peter. A History of English Architecture. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, Mallgrave, Harry Francis, and Wolfgang Herrmann. Gottfried Semper: The Four Elements of Architecture and Other Writings. London: Cambridge University Press, Mallgrave Harry Francis. Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century. USA: Yale University Press, Mallgrave Harry Francis. Gottfried Semper: Style. USA: Getty Publications, Mallgrave Harry Francis. History of the Art of Antiquity. USA: Getty Publications, Schumann-Bacia Eva. John Soane and The Bank of England. USA: Princeton Architectural Press, Stattford Barbara Maria. Voyage into Substance: Art, Science, Nature, and the Illustrated Travel Account, London: Cambridge University Press, Stroud Dorothy. Sir John Soane: Architect. London: Faber and Faber, Watkin David, Sir John Soane: Enlightenment Though and the Royal Academy Lectures USA: Cambridge University Press,