Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century [Hardcover]

Dr. Harry Francis Mallgrave (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300066244 | ISBN-13: 978-0300066241 | Publication Date: May 29, 1996

During his life, the German architect, scholar and political revolutionary, Gottfried Semper (1803-1879) experienced early fame, political exile from his homeland, international prominence, and seeing European architecture transformed by his influential body of ideas. In this biography Harry Mallgrave presents an account of the life, buildings and writings of the man he describes as a colossus of the 19th century. Mallgrave weaves a saga of Semper's youth, his fascination with the July Revolution in France, and his voyage to a Greece wracked by civil war. He speaks of Semper's design for the Dresden Hoftheater in the mid-1830s, his influence on Richard Wagner, and his plummeting fortunes after the political unrest of 1848-1849. Mallgrave traces Semper's literary resurrection that culminated with the publication of his book on style; he follows his artistic resurrection with a practice in Zurich and Vienna. By the time of his design for the second Dresden Hoftheater in the 1870s, Semper was without architectural peer in the German-speaking countries and his ideas had pushed European architecture to the brink of modernism.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Living through one of the most tempestuous periods in German history--from the Napoleonic Wars through unification--Gottfried Semper produced some of the monuments of Prussian architecture: the Hoftheater at Dresden, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and the Hofburg Theater in Vienna. He also produced two classic works of art history: The Four Elements of Architecture and Science, Industry, and Art, which influenced contemporaries from Richard Wagner to Louis Sullivan. The tumult of 20th century Germany has more or less overwhelmed Semper's memory and reputation, so this new biography is a welcome addition to the history of 19th century architectural history. Harry Francis Mallgrave is the Willard K. Martin Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon.

From Publishers Weekly

Semper is probably as well known for what he didn't build as for what he did. Architects know him best for his theoretical writings, while many laypeople know him for his work on Wagner's pipedream, the Munich Festspielhaus, elements of which (most notably the second proscenium) were appropriated for Bayreuth. Born in 1803, Semper was eventually appointed to the Academy of Fine Art in Dresden, where he socialized with Wagner, Schumann and others and began a prolific building career that included the Dresden Synagogue, the Art Gallery and, most famously, the Hoftheater. But the structure that most influenced his career was the "Semper barricade," built when (encouraged again by Wagner) he sided with the republicans against the Saxon king in 1849. Exiled from his country, he spent six years in Paris and London and the subsequent 14 in Zurich?once more lured there by Wagner. As an architect without a patron, he built almost nothing for 20 years until, as an old man, he began work on Vienna's Art and Natural History museums. During that time, much of his effort went into writing, and it is here that Mallgrave, who teaches architecture at the University of Oregon, is likely to lose his lay audience. Semper's crucial Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts is difficult enough without adding the extensive publishing history and theoretical antecedents. It's also curious that such academic concerns share space in a volume that defines Gesamtkunstwerk. Semper deserves to be known better among an educated general audience, but this volume will only go partway to making the introduction. 131 b&w illustrations, 22 in color.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300066244
• ISBN-13: 978-0300066241
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,611,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A spectacular biography of a true creative giant, July 23, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century (Hardcover)

It must seem pretty odd to have such a high opinion of a pretty remote subject: the biography of a peripatetic, 19th century German architect. But the author, Harry Mallgrave, is uniquely qualified to explore the vexatious artistic and architectural disputes of the 1830s to the 1870s in such a way that the major themes of the century run through the career - indeed, through the blood - of Gottfried Semper. And this is no accident for Semper, a fiery personality, was a central participant in the intellectual crusade that gave us "modern" culture. In this way, not only do we come to understand the roots of the contemporary professional dilemmas in architecture, but we are encouraged to see the larger, synthetic patterns of German intellectual life that are so important to the formation of our modern (and post-modern) approach to "the good life." I highly recommend the book, notwithstanding the rather daunting price tage, and believe that this long-awaited study marks an important contribution not only to the overall intellectual history of the nineteenth century, but it similarly marks a new standard in the writing of architectural biography. Mallgrave's mastery of fact and interpretation is exemplary; his style, perfectly suited to his task.