ARCADES: PROJECT Eh Translated by Howard Eiland and Kevin McLaughlin PROP URED OY PIE BUST OF THE GERMAN. VOL ME EDITED BY AUTD-THEGEIOANN THE BELKNAP PRESS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, AND LONDON, ENGLAND 1989CONTENTS ‘Transdators’ Foreword Exponde Paris, dhe Capital of die Nineteenth Century” 1%) “Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century” 138), Convolates: Overview Fir Sketches Forly Drufts “Arcatles” Addenda Exposé of 1935, Early Version “Materials fox of 1935: Materials fs “Dialectics at a Staneyell’ by Rolf Tiedemann “The Stary of Old Heryarnin,” by Lasa Fikes janslators’ Noes Guide to Names und terms Index amt 885 393 99 a9 929 946 955 1016 1055nature. It couples the living body to the inorganic world. To the living, it defends the rights of the corpse. The fetishism which thus succumbs to the sex appeal of the inorganic is its vital nerve. ‘The fantasies of Grandville correspond to the Apollinaire later clescribed with this image: “Any material in ea now be introduced into Uae composition of women's spirit of fashion th from nacuse’s dom clothes. I saw at charming dress made of corks... . Steel, wool, sundstone, and files have suddenly entered the vestmentary ats... . ‘They're doing shoes in ‘Venetian glass and hats in Baccarat crystal” C. Lanis Ph 1 tiove in any sem the T Léon Devlrl, Gearzer Voss, 1), 198 Under the reign of Louis Philippe, history. Kor the private individual, pktees of divclling ate for the first tine op- posed to phwes of work, ‘The former conte to constinite the interion Its comple muent is the otfive, (Ror its par, dhe office is distingtished cleanly fom the shop counter, which, with its globes, wall maps, and zilings, looks like a relic of the i 1¢ private indtiviehnal makes bis entry into Doaroque fornos dae proceed the rooms in oday’s residences) The private ind ities, needs the domestic inte ‘vidual, who ins the office has to deal with ven sustain him in his illusions. ‘This necessity is intention of grafting onto his business interests «clear perception of his social the more pressing since he has no function, In the these concerns. From this derive the phantasmagorias of the the private individual, represents the universe, In the interior, he brings together remote locales and memories of the past. His living room is a box in the theater of the world. The interior is the asylum where ant takes refuge, ‘The collector proves to be the true resident of the interior. He makes his concem the idealization of objects “Tiy him falls the Sisyphean task of divesting things of their commodity: character by caking possession of them. Bur he cn bestow on them only connoisseur value, eather than use vahue. The collector delights in evoking a world that is not just distant and long gone but aso better—a world in which, co be sure, buna reat world, but in mgement of his private surroundings. he suppresses both of ior which, for Doings ure no beter provided with what they need than in which things ave faced from the drudgery of being, useful Me head On the night rable, Hike a ranuncales Rest ate, “Line Marte 6851 jo m0 | TExposé of 193 ‘The interior is n t just the universe of the private individual; itis also his érui, Ever since the time of Louis Philippe. the bourgeois has shown a tendency to compensate for the absence of any trace of private life in the big city. He tries to do this within the four walls of his apartment, Its as ifhe had made it a point of honor not to allow the traces of his everyday objects and accessories to get lost. Indefatigably, he takes the impression of 3 host of objects: for his slippers and his watches, his blankets and his umbrellas, he devises coverlets and cases. Hee bas a marked preference for velour and plush, which preserve the imprint of all con- tact, In the style characteristic of the Second Empire, the apartment becomes a Te traces ofits inhabitant are molded into the interior: Here is ces and follows these sort of cockpit the origin of the detective story, which inquires into these v tvacks, Poe —with his “Philosophy of Furniture” and with ew detective becomes :he first physiognomist of the domestic interior. ‘The criminals in early detective fiction are neither gentlemen nor apaches, but simple private citizens of the miidlle class (The Black Cat” “The ‘TeliTale Heart” “William Wilson”) i This secking for my home... was mp allction. ... Where i= my home? Lask and seek and have sought fori; Have not found it tsi, ln spr Zonathust ‘The liquidation of the interior took place during the last years of the nineteenth century. in the work of Jugendstil, but it iad been coming for a long time. The are of the interior was an art of genre. Jugendstil sounds the death knell of the genre Ik rises up against the infatuation of genre in the name of a mal du sizele, of perpetually open-armed aspiration. Jugendstil for the first time takes into consid- eration certain tectonic forms. It also strives to disengage them from their func: tional relations and to present them as natural constants; it strives, in short, to stylize them. The new elements of iron construction—especially the girder— command the attention of this “modern style” In the domain of ornamentation, it endeavors to integrate these forms into art. Concrete puts at its disposal new potentialities for architecture. With van de Velde, the house becomes the plastic expression of the personality. Omament is to this house what the signature is to a painting, It exuls in speaking a linear, mediumistic language in which the flower, symbol of vegetal life, insinuates itself into the very lines of construction. (The curved line of Jugendstil appears at the same time as the tide Les Fleurs du mal, A sort of garland marks the passage from the “Flowers of Evil” to the “souls of Gowers” in Odilon Redon and on to Swan's faire catieys.)"—Henceforth, as Fourier had foreseen, the true framework for the life of the private citizen must be sought increasingly in offices and commercial centers. The fictional framework for the individual's life is constituted in the private home. It is thus that The Master Builder takes the measure of Jugendstil. The attempt by the individual to vie with technology by relying on his inner fights leads to his downfall: the architect Solness kills himself by plunging from his tower.