Table Of Content

What is Architectural History? What is History? series John H. Arnold, What is Medieval History? Peter Burke, What is Cultural History? John C. Burnham, What is Medical History? Pamela Kyle Crossley, What is Global History? Christiane Harzig, What is Migration History? Andrew Hinde, What is Population History? J. Donald Hughes, What is Environmental History? Andrew Leach, What is Architectural History? Stephen Morillo, What is Military History? Sonya O. Rose, What is Gender History? What is Architectural History? ANDREW LEACH polity Copyright © Andrew Leach 2010 The right of Andrew Leach to be identifi ed as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2010 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 350 Main Street Malden, MA 02148, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4456-1 ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4457-8(pb) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset in 10.5 on 12 pt Sabon by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Group Limited, Bodmin, Cornwall The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.politybooks.com Contents List of illustrations vii Acknowledgements x How to use this book xii Introduction 1 1. Foundations of a modern discipline 9 Architectural history as the architect’s patrimony 13 The architect as artist 19 Architecture and empirical knowledge 25 Architecture and culture 31 A modern discipline? 36 2. Organizing the past 41 Approach 43 Style and period 44 Biography 52 Geography and culture 57 Type 61 Technique 66 Theme and analogy 71 3. Evidence 76 vi Contents 4. How useful? 97 5. History and theory 115 Notes 134 Further reading 156 Index of names 164 List of illustrations 1 Il Gesù. Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. 2 2 Florentia, rendering intended to illustrate Ptolemy’s Geografi a, probably drawn 1420. Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. 12 3 Sebastiano Serlio, studies of architectural details from the Pantheon, in Book III ‘On Antiquities’, Tutte l’opere d’architettura et prospetiva, 2nd edn, 1544. Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. 16 4 Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), portrait of Giulio Romano, c.1536. Courtesy of the Museo Civico del Pala 330 Te, Mantua. © Christie’s Images Corbis 21 5 Pirro Ligorio, Anteiquae Urbis Imago, 1561, detail. Courtesy of the British School at Rome. 27 6 Renaissance Gothic: Stephan Weyrer the Elder, Church of St George, Nördlingen, nave and choir vaults, c.1500. Courtesy of Andreas Praetcker and Wikipedia Commons. 49 viii List of illustrations 7 Mies and America? Jacqueline Kennedy chatting with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 12 April 1964, Hyannis Port, Mass. © Bettman/Corbis. 55 8 Whose heritage? Kaiserbad Spa (now Bath I) at Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, architects Fellner und Helmer, Vienna 1895, atelierchef Alexander Neumann, photographer unknown. Private collection. 61 9 Evolution of the temple type, Plate 1 of Les ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grèce, considérées du côté de l’histoire et du côté de l’architecture, by Julien-David Le Roy, plate by Michelinot, after Le Moine. 64 10 Ampio Magnifi co Collegio, by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, fi rst published in his Opera varie di architettura, prospettive, grotteschi, antichità (Rome: Bouchard, 1750). Courtesy of the Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent. 70 11 Jeffries apartment and courtyard, West 10th St, Greenwich Village, New York, depicted in Rear Window, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1954). Production photograph. Courtesy of Paramount/ The Kobal Collections. 74 12 Poster advertising the Exhibition of Seventy Drawings by Francesco Borromini from the Albertina of Vienna at the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Rome, 1958–9. Courtesy of the Albertina, Vienna. 82 13 Measured drawing and geometrical study of San Lorenzo, Florence, by Matthew A. Cohen. By permission of Matthew A. Cohen. 87 14 Adelaide, South Australia, drawn by Le Corbusier with Hugh Trumble, Bogotá, Colombia, 1950. Courtesy of the Fondation le Corbusier. © Le Corbusier/ADAGP. Licensed by VISCOPY, 2009. 90