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GOTTFRIED

SEMPER

19TH CENTURY

TOA-2
ARCHITECT NO.12
6TH SEM
BY: NIDHI JOSHI.

INTRODUCTION:

BORN:

29 November 1803, Altona,(later greater Hamburg),


Germany.

DIED:

NATIONALITY

OCCUPATION

15 May 1879(aged75) Rome , Italy.

professor.

:German.
:Architect , Art Critic, Architectural historian and

He was among the principal practitioners of the NeoRenaissance style inGermanyand Austria.
He was the most influential and prolific German theorist on
architecture in the nineteenth century.
He developed ideas about technology, architecture and art
history.

WORKS : AS AN ARCHITECT
Dresden
Hoftheater or Opera house 1838-1841 (destroyed by fire in 1869) rebuilt as
Neues Hoftheater (Semper opera) 1871-1878 destroyed in 1945, reconstructed in
1985 .
Villa Rosa 1839-46 (destroyed in the Second World War)
Semper Synagogue 1839-1840 (destroyed on November 9, 1938 -Kristallnacht)
Oppenheim-Palace 1845-1848
Semper Gallery(Dresden Gemldegalerie) 1847-1855

Zrich
City Hall 1858 (only concept for competition; not built)
Polytechnical School, (ETH Zurich) 1858-1864
Observatory - 1861-1864

Winterthur
City Hall 1865-1869

Vienna
Municipal Theater (Burgtheater) 1873 - 1888
Museum of Art History (Kunsthistorisches Museum) (18721881, finished 1889)
Natural History Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum) (18721881, finished 1891)

WORKS : AS AN AUTHOR

1. 1851- Die vier Elemente der Baukunst-The Four Elements of Architecture

2.

1852- Wissenschaft, Industrie und Kunst-Science, Industry and Art .Talks about the necessity of
inventions and the advancement of arts and sciences

3. Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen Knsten oder Praktische sthetik,

Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts, Or, Practical Aesthetics which was published in two
volumes in 1861 and 1863

EARLY LIFE: TILL 1834


1. Semper was born into a well-to-do
industrialist family inAltona , Germany.
2. The fifth of eight children, he attended the
Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums(Academic
School of the Johanneum ) inHamburg before
starting his university education atGttingen
in 1823, ( aged 20 ) where he studied
historiographyandmathematics.
3. He subsequently studied architecture in 1825
( aged 22) at theUniversity of Munich taught
by the architect Friedrich von Grtner. (17921847)
4. In 1826, Semper travelled to Paris in order to
work for the architectFranz Christian Gau,
(1790-1854) .
5. In Paris, he was fascinated by the discussions
of the work of Jacques-Ignace Hittorff and his
finding on the polychromy in ancient
buildings.

6. Semper was present when theJuly Revolution


of 1830 broke out.

FYI
Historiographyis the study of the
methodology ofhistoriansin developing history
as an academic discipline, and by extension is
any body of historical work on a particular
subject. The historiography of a specific topic
covers how historians have studied that topic
using particular sources, techniques, and
theoretical approaches. Scholars discuss
historiography by topic such as the "
Historiography of the United Kingdom", the "
Historiography of Canada", "
Historiography of the British Empire", etc and
different approaches and genres, such as
political historyandsocial history. Beginning in
the nineteenth century, with the ascent of
academic history, there developed a body of
historiographic literature. The extent to which
historians are influenced by their own groups
and loyalties such asto their nation state is
a debated question.
TheFrench Revolution of 1830, also known
as theJuly Revolution,Second French
RevolutionorTrois Glorieusesin French, saw the
overthrow of KingCharles X, the French
Bourbonmonarch, and the ascent of his
cousinLouis-Philippe, Duke of Orlans, who
himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne,
would in turn be overthrown in 1848. It marked
the shift from oneconstitutional monarchy,
theBourbon Restoration, to another, theJuly

EARLY LIFE: TILL 1834


7. Between 1830 and 1833 he travelled toItaly
andGreecein order to study the architecture
and designs ofantiquity.

Greece

8. In 1832 he participated for four months in


archaeologicalresearch at theAcropolisin
Athens.
9. During this period he became very interested
in theBiedermeier-inspiredpolychromy
debate, which centered on the question
whether buildings inAncient GreeceandRome
had been colorfully painted or not.
10. The drawn reconstructions of the painterly
decorations of ancient villas he created in
Athens inspired his later designs for the
painted decorations in Dresden and Vienna.

11. His 1834 publicationVorlufige


Bemerkungen ber bemalte Architectur
und Plastik bei den Alten(Preliminary
Remarks on Polychrome Architecture and
Sculpture in Antiquity), in which he took a
strong position in favor of polychromy supported by his investigation of pigments on
the Trajan's column in Rome - brought him
sudden recognition in architectural and

AcropolisinAthens

TheBiedermeierperiod refers to an era in Central Europe


between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew
and arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the
time of theCongress of Viennaat the end of the
Napoleonic Wars, and ended with the onset of the
European revolutionsin 1848. Although the term itself is a
historical reference, it is predominantly used to denote the
artistic styles that flourished in the fields of literature, music,

VIEWS OF THE ACROPOLIS IN ATHENS


These are colored depictions from Sempers early travels around
Europe. Details that are depicted come from Sempers own
investigations around the temples.

FYI
FYI :
. Archaeology, orarcheology,is the
study ofhumanactivity through the
recovery andanalysis ofmaterial culture.
. Thearchaeological recordconsists
ofartifacts,architecture,biofacts or
ecofacts, andcultural landscapes.
Archaeology can be considered both
asocial scienceand a branch of
thehumanities.
. Polychromeis the "'practice of
decorating architectural elements,
sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors.

The Trajans column is aRoman triumphal


columninRome,Italy, that
commemoratesRoman emperorTrajan's
victory in theDacian Wars.
Completed inAD113, the freestanding
column is most famous for its spiralbas
relief, which artistically describes the epic

Trajans column

DRESDEN PERIOD-1834-1849
1. He began to receive architectural commissions at this time, the first of which was Villa
Donner, Altona, near Hamburg.
2. On September 30, 1834 Semper obtained a post as Professor of Architecture at
theKniglichen Akademie der bildenden Knste(today called the Hochschule or Dresden
Academy of Fine Arts) in Dresden thanks largely to the efforts and support of his former teacher
Franz Christian Gau and swore an oath of allegiance to the King (formerly Elector) of
Saxony,Anthony Clement.
3. In the Akademie, he instituted a program in architectural history.
4. Assigned to reform the architectural school, Semper recommended the integration of
practical and theoretical work and replacing the course structure with an atelier-style
experience, what is today the modern architectural school arrangement.
5. The flourishing growth of Dresden during this period provided the young architect with
considerable creative opportunities.
6. Semper's1838 design for the Dresden Hoftheater--promoted by Karl Friedrich Schinkel-demonstrated Semper's theoretic belief of integrating a building into the environment. His first
building for the Dresden Hoftheater burnt down, and the second, today called the Semperoper,
(Semper opera) was built in 1841. The Hoftheater itself was completed in 1841, becoming
Sempers masterpiece.

7. In 1838-40 a synagogue was built in Dresden to Semper's design, it was ever afterward called
theSemper Synagogueand is noted for itsMoorish Revivalinterior style. The Synagogue's
exterior was built in romanesque style so as not to call attention to itself.

FYI: Synagogue is a building in which Jews meet for religious worship


or instruction

DRESDEN PERIOD-1834-1849
8. Certain civic structures remain today, such as the Elbe-facinggalleryof
theZwinger Palace complex.
9. Other buildings also remain indelibly attached to his name, such as the Maternity
Hospital, the Synagogue (destroyed during the Third Reich), the Oppenheim
Palace, and theVilla Rosabuilt for the bankerMartin Wilhelm Oppenheim. This
last construction stands as a prototype of German villa architecture

10. On September 1, 1835 Semper married Bertha Thimmig. The marriage ultimately
produced six children.
11. A convinced Republican, Semper took a leading role, along with his friendRichard
Wagner, in theMay 1849 uprisingwhich swept over the city .
12. He was a member of the Civic Guard (Kommunalgarde) and helped to erect
barricades in the streets.
13. When the rebellion collapsed, Semper was considered a leading agitator for
democratic change and a ringleader against government authority and he was
forced to flee the city.
14. He was destined never to return to the city that would, ironically, become most
associated with his architectural (and political) legacy.
15. The Saxon government maintained a warrant for his arrest until 1863.

DRESDEN HOFTHEATER
1.
When the Semper-designed Hoftheater burnt down in 1869, KingJohn, on the
urging of the citizenry, commissioned Semper to build a new one. Semper produced
the plans, but left the actual construction to his son, Manfred.
2.
"What must I have done in 48, that one persecutes me forever? One single
barricade did I construct - it held, because it was practical, and as it was practical, it
was beautiful", wrote Semper in dismay.

Semper Synagogue

Semperoper

SEMPER SYNAGOGUE
1. The Synagogue's exterior was built in romanesque style so as not to call attention
to itself.
2. The interior design included not only the Moorish inspired wall decorations, but
furnishings: specifically, a silver lamp of eternal light, which caught Richard
Wagner and his wife Cosima's fancy. They gave a great deal of effort to have a
copy of this lamp.
3. It was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938. He also designed the Dresden museum.

ELBE-FACINGGALLERYOF THEZWINGER PALACECOMPLEX.

Constructed from 1847 until 1854.


It is reminiscent of theItalian Palazziof theRenaissance.
In 1855, the interior was completed.
The sculptorsErnst Rietscheland Ernst Julius Hhnel
fromDresdencompleted the outer decoration of the building.
The building was severely damaged during the February 13,
1945bombing of Dresden in World War II.
The building's reconstruction was completed in 1960. Following another
restoration period of more than four years, the Semper Gallery reopened in 1992.

FYI: RICHARD WAGNER


Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 13
February 1883) was a German composer, theatre
director, polemicist, and conductor who is
primarily known for his operas (or, as some of his
later works were later known, "music dramas").
Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both
the libretto and the music for each of his stage
works. Initially establishing his reputation as a
composer of works in the romantic vein of Weber
and Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera
through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk
("total work of art"), by which he sought to
synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and
dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama,
and which was announced in a series of essays
between 1849 and 1852.
Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first
half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des
Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).
When the unsuccessfulMay Uprising in
Dresdenbroke out, in which Wagner played
aminor supporting role, warrants were issued for
the revolutionaries' arrest.
Wagner had to flee, first visiting Paris and then
settling inZrich

POST-REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD (1849 - 1855)


1. After stays inZwickau,Hof,Karlsruhe(Germany) andStrasbourg, (France)Semper eventually
ended up back in Paris, like many other disillusioned Republicans from the 1848 Revolutions (such
asHeinrich Heine (Germanpoet,journalist,essayist, andliterary critic)andLudwig Brne (was a
German-Jewish political writer and satirist, who is considered part of theYoung Germany
movement.)).
2. In the fall of 1850, he travelled to London, England.
3. But while he was able to pick up occasional contracts including participation in the design of
the funeral carriage for theDuke of Wellingtonand the designs of the Canadian, Danish,
Swedish, and Ottoman sections of the 1851 Exhibition in theCrystal Palace he found
no steady employment.
4. His stay in London was disappointing professionally, however, it proved a fertile period for
Semper's theoretical, creative and academic development.
5. In England, Henry Cole (1808-1882), the director of the newly formed Department of
Practical Art, (later the Victoria and Albert Museum) appointed Semper professor of architecture
at the School of Practical Arts. Semper published an article in the Journal of Design on building
materials. This became the basis of his 1852 book Wissenschaft, Industrie und Kunst.
6. He publishedDie vier Elemente der Baukunst(The Four Elements of Architecture) in 1851
andWissenschaft, Industrie und Kunst(Science, Industry and Art) in 1852.
7. A booklet , ber die bleieren Schleudergeschosse der Alten, demonstrated that, rather than
strictly angular, the Greeks calculated trajectories of their architecture to make them visually
appealing.
8. These works would ultimately provide the groundwork for his most widely regarded
publication,Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen Knsten oder Praktische sthetik,
( Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts, Or, Practical Aesthetics)which was published in
two volumes in 1861 and 1863

ZRICH PERIOD (1855 - 1871)

1. Concurrently with the onset of the industrial revolution, theSwiss Federationplanned


to establish apolytechnicalschool.
2.

As the principal judge for thecompetition held to select a design for the new building,
Semper deemed the submitted entries unsatisfactory and, ultimately, designed the
building himself.

3. Proudly situated (where fortified walls once stood), visible from all sides on a terrace
overlooking the core ofZurich, the new school became a symbol of a new epoch.
4. The building (18531864), which despite frequent remodeling continues to evoke
Semper's concept, was initially required to accommodate not only the new school
(known today as theETH Zurich), but the existingUniversity of Zurich, as well.
5. In 1855 Semper became a professor of architecture at the new school and the success
of many of his students who attained success and renown served to ensure his legacy.
6. The Swiss architectEmil Schmidwas one such student.
7. With his income as a professor, Semper was able to reunite his family, bringing them
to Zurich from Saxony.
8. The City Hall inWinterthuris among other buildings designed by Semper in
Switzerland.
9. Semper providedBavaria'sKing Ludwig IIwith a conceptual design for a theatre
dedicated to the work ofRichard Wagnerto be built in Munich.
10.The project, developed from 1864 to 1866, was never realized, although Wagner
'borrowed' many of its features for his own later theatre atBayreuth.

POLYTECHNIKUM IN 1865

ETH ZURICH (MAIN BUILDING)


In Sempers design for the west faade of the main building of ETH
Zurich, sculptures adorn the temple to the sciences and arts.
Ultimately, however, they were omitted on cost-cutting grounds.

ETH ZURICH (MAIN BUILDING)


Semper worked in a neoclassical style that was unique to him. It emphasized bold and clear
massings with a detailing, such as the rusticated ground level and giant order above, that derived
in part from the work of Andrea Palladio and Donato Bramante. The upper faade areas were
fashioned out of brickwork covered in plaster, not of the sandstone ashlars he had originally
envisaged.

ETH ZURICH (MAIN BUILDING)


During the construction of the University of Zrich, the south wing of the building was allocated to
the University until its own new main building was constructed (1912 1914). At about the same
time, Semper's ETH building was enlarged and received its impressive cupola.

ETH ZURICH (MAIN BUILDING)


Semper's ETH building was enlarged and received its impressive cupola.

ETH ZURICH (MAIN BUILDING)

CITY HALL INWINTERTHUR

The monumental stone structure,


built between 1865 and 1870, counts
among the epochal examples of
European historicism.
Its famous architect is Gottfried Semper,
who at the time lectured at the
Polytechnikum in Zurich.
Johann Jakob Sulzer, Winterthurs Mayor,
clearly favorited Semper among the
architects invited to the competition in
designing the new City Hall.
. The building was to symbolize an
intellectual, political center, which
primarily served as the place for
democratic meetings of the community.
Semper emphasized the central section
with a Corinthian portico., He skillfully
created the City Halls entryway with four
entrances and an outside staircase.
Because of its architectural design, the
City Hall has often been referred to as
temple of democracy.
Due to a lack of space in the original
building, two additional rows of windows
and an enlarged hall were added to the

LATER LIFE :VIENNA (FROM 1871)


1. The 'Museum-question' was discussed in Vienna during the 1860s. Works
forming the imperial art collection were scattered among several
buildings.
2. Semper was assigned to submit a proposal for locating new buildings in
conjunction with redevelopment of the Ringstrasse.
3. In 1869 he designed a gigantic 'Imperial Forum' which was not realized.
4. The National Museum of Art History and the National Museum of
Natural History were erected, however, opposite the Palace according
to his plan, as was the Burgtheater.
5. In 1871 Semper moved to Vienna to undertake the projects. During
construction, repeated disagreements with his appointed associate
architect (Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer), led Semper to resign from the
project in 1876.
6. In the following year his health began to deteriorate. He died two years
later while on a visit to Italy and is buried in theProtestant Cemetery,
Rome
7. Other Semper designs for Vienna were abandoned or finished in a
Baroque-style after Semper's death

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


1. Though he wrote his theories over 200 years ago, Gottfried Sempers ideas about the four elements
of architecture, the primitive hut and bio mimicry are still relevant to modern architecture.
2. The Four Elements of Architectureis a book by theGermanarchitectGottfried Semper.
Published in1851.
3.

It is an attempt to explain the origins of architecture through thelensof anthropology.

4. Rather than settle with the kind of spatial typologies that had grown out of the late eighteenthcentury primitivism of the Abb Laugier and Quatremre de Quincy or even the later
structural typologies such as Viollet -le- Ducs geometrical geology of mountains,
cathedrals and crystal forms Semper was determined to go further back into the mists of prehistory if necessary, in his search for the ultimate forming principles in architecture.
5. Inspired by his early visits to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and the influential work of its curator
and codifier, Georges Cuvier, Semper had decided to attempt a similarly evolutionary classification
of architectural form in terms of functional and material characteristics.
6. Working from the familiar Vitruvian myth of the origin of building in the communal effort of
protecting the newly-discovered fire, Semper then proceeded to analyse the components of the
archetypal primitive hut.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

Primitive hut by Laugier

The Caribbean hut.


Semper came across the Caribbean hut in the Great Exhibition in1851

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


THE PRIMITIVE HUT

7. In his writings, Semper talks of the theoretical primitive hut and the observable
equivalent; the Caribbean hut.
8. Theorists considered these to be important because they are the beginnings of
architecture. Everything that came after derived from these huts.
9. Hermann Wolfgang, in his 1984 book Gottfried Semper: In Search of Architecture,
writes, In another lecture and later in Der Stil, he [Semper] returned once more to
the Caribbean hut in which all elements of ancient architecture appear in their most
original and unadulterated form: the hearth as center, the mound surrounded by a
framework of poles as terrace, the roof carried by columns and mats as space
enclosure or wall.(p169)
10. The prevailing notion of the day was that the Greek temples looked the way they did
because they were versions of the primitive hut, made in marble. However, Semper
disagreed with this oversimplified view.
11. According to a well-known thesis, going back to a passage in Vitruvius and often
repeated by writers on the classical theory of architecture, the archetypal wooden
hut had been the direct model of the Greek stone temple. Semper rejected this
thesis.
12. In one of his first lectures in Dresden, he declared that The question whether the
human races... lived first in caves and from there derived the motifs of their later
buildings or whether they built leaf-covered huts and tents was a futile controversy
and that he was not going to discuss at all because these different means of
protection could at the most have had an influence on the construction for the later

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

image source: http://ocw.nd.edu/architecture/nature-and-the-builtenvironment/


lecture-6/primitive-huts/image_large

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


14.The idea of the primitive hut, however, gives us the four basic elements of
architecture :
the hearth, the roof, the enclosure and the mound.
15.The origins of each element can be found in the traditional crafts of ancient "barbarians":
a) Hearth-fire, ceramics
b) Roof carpentry
c) Enclosure- weaving
d) Mound earthwork ,stone masonry
a) THE HEARTH

Semper, stating that the hearth was the first element created:
The first sign of settlement and rest after the hunt, the battle, and wandering in
the desert is today, as when the first men lost paradise, the setting up of the
fireplace and the lighting of the reviving, warming, and food preparing flame.
Around the hearth the first groups formed: around the hearth the first groups
assembled; around it the first alliances formed; around it the first rude religious
concepts were put into the customs of a cult. Throughout all phases of society the
hearth formed that sacred focus around which took order and shape. It is the first
and most important, the moral element of architecture. Around it were grouped the
other three elements: the roof, the enclosure, and the mound. The protecting
negations or defenders of the hearths flame against three hostile elements of
nature.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


UNDERSTANDING THE HEARTH
From the primitive hut, we derive the idea
of the Hearth.
The hearth is the germ, the embryo, of all
social institutions. The first sign of gathering, of
settlement and rest after long wanderings and
the hardship of the chase, is still the set of the
fire and the lighting of the crackling flame...
The hearth has kept its age-old significance up
to the present. In every room the center of
family life today is still the fireplace. (p198).

While the use of actual fireplaces has fallen


out of style, especially in todays multi-family
residences, there is still a center to every living
space.

The lack of a physical fireplace and the


necessity of its warmth makes it somewhat
more difficult to visualize, but it is there.
It is best described as a spatial
directionality; the place where we are
inclined to place the sofa. The sofa provides
the necessary gathering space around the
hearth, replacing a thing to sit around(the fire)
with a thing to sit on (the sofa).
Modern architecture, in order to have a
successful living space, has kept the hearth in
place while finding ways to remove the actual

FIRE PLACE : FALLING WATER BY FLW

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


16.According to how different human societies developed under the varied influences of
climate, natural surroundings, social relations, and different racial dispositions, the
combinations in which the four elements of architecture were arranged also had to change,
with some elements becoming more developed while others receded into the background.
17.At the same time the different technical skills of man became organized according to these
elements: ceramics and afterwards metal works around the hearth, water and masonry
works around the mound, carpentry around the roof and its accessories.
18.But what primitive technique evolved from the enclosure? None other than the art of the
wall fitter (Wabdbereiter),that is, the weaver of mats and carpets. The carpet in its
capacity as a wall, as a vertical means of protection, had influence on the evolution of
certain architectural forms.
b) ENCLOSURES :

. Enclosures (walls) were said to have their origins inweaving. Just as fences and pens were
woven sticks, the most basic form of a spatial divider still seen in use in parts of the world
today is the fabric screen.
. Only when additional functional requirements are placed on the enclosure (such as
structural weight-bearing needs) does the materiality of the wall change to
something beyond fabric.
. The mat and its use in primitive huts interchangeably as floors, walls, and draped over
frames was considered byGottfried Semper to be the origins of architecture.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

UNDERSTANDING ENCLOSURES:

1. The enclosure, expressed in light, woven material terms, offers the hearth
protection from various environmental factors.
2. Protection of the hearth. There is no need to prove in detail that the protection of
the hearth against the rigors of the weather as well as against attacks by wild
animals and hostile men was the primary reason for setting apart some space
from the surrounding world.(p199)
3. The author is claiming that, once people began to gather and create a
hearth, the impulse to surround and protect the hearth was formed.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


UNDERSTANDING ENCLOSURES AND MATERIALS:

Semper also concluded that materials must


be expressed in unique ways, not used to
stand in for- or appear to be- another
material.
Immediately following these observations
came the statement that brick, timber,
especially iron, metal and zinc have replaced
stone blocks and marble, and that to imitate
the latter would be wrong...This means that
Semper demanded for material, including
iron, to be true to itself .
When new materials arise, as have done
over the centuries and also more rapidly in
the last century, new forms arise to express
their materialities.
The Eiffel Tower looks the way it does
because of its steel construction; it does not
mimic a stone monolith even though it fills
the same purpose as a stone obelisk.

Enclosure is wrapping space in material,


something that has resonated throughout
the history of architecture, and remains one
of the key elements of a successful project

EIFFEL TOWER

STONE OBELISK

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


c) ROOF

The roof provides protection from the


rain and other weather and is derived
from the roof of caves.
Only the climate was a powerful enemy; a
solid, warm roof was needed for protection
against it.
Originally this roof rose directly from the
ground; only later, when combined with the
protective wall, did it take on the form of a
house. (p200)
Whether Semper is right about the exact
timeline of architectures evolution or not,
the roof relates intimately to the enclosure.
Enclosure protects and encloses the
space around the hearth, while the roof
further encloses and protects against
weather.
The roof is another assembly that has
remained relatively stable throughout the
history of architecture.
Though modern methods are more
sophisticated and materials have changed,

FLWS Taliesin- Wisconsin, USA

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


d) MOUND

. Finally, there is the mound.


. The mound is derived from the floor
of cave, expressed in earthworks and
masonry.
. Mounds were needed to make it safe
from flooding. (p199)

LE CORBUSIERS VILLA SAVOYE

. While enclosure and roof have remained


relatively unchanged, modern architecture
has experimented with the expression of
the mound.
. Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye uses its form to
elevate the living space, while Mies
Farnsworth House sits on delicate legs, an
extension of the system that holds the
glass enclosure in place.
. Sempers idea of mound being built of
earth, stone, or masonry has been
challenged.

MIES FARNSWORTH HOUSE

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE


Material

Clay

Wood

Textile

Stone

Technique

Ceramics

Carpentry

Weaving

Masonry

Basic Elements

Hearth

Roof

Enclosure

Substructure

19. Sempers Four Elements of Architecture were an attempt at a universal theory of


architecture.
20. The Four Elements of Architecture was not the classification of a specific typology but
rather was more universal in its attempt to offer a more general theory of architecture.
21. Rather than describing one building typology as being the beginning, he considers what
assemblies and systems are universal in all indigenous primitive structures.
22. The Four Elements of Architecture as an archeologically driven theory stressed
functionalism as a prerequisite to intentionality.
23. Sempers primitive hut theory as put fourth by the Four Elements of Architecture is
considered to be significant in contemporary theory.
24. Semper continues to explore the four elements more closely in subsequent works such as
Der Stils.
25. While agreeing with Quatremre de Quincy on the distinction between idea and model,
Gottfried Semper defines type as the idea that must be understood through the
potentials of four building techniques: terracing (masonry), roofing (carpentry), the hearth
(ceramics) and walling (textiles)

DER STIL
1. Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen Knsten oder Praktische sthetik Style in
the Technical and Tectonic Arts or Practical Aesthetics is a work of Gottfried
Semper, which was published in two volumes in 1861 and 1863.
2. Based upon research during his time in Paris and his experience with the Great
Exhibition, the book theorized that the progress in architecture--or any discipline-meant emulating (imitating) natural science.
3. Der Stil discusses extensively the use of materials within arts, crafts, and architecture.
4. It reviews the details involved in the tectonic arts.
5.

It analyses architectonics in antiquity and current architecture.

6. Provides mathematical formulas to categorize different styles.


7.

Using an taxonomical approach akin to the naturalist Baron George Cuvier (17691832), Semper set out to determine the "laws" of all architecture by examining
eleven modes of building, beginning with domestic.

8. Semper concluded what he called a Bekleidungs theorie (theory of dressing),


deducing the roof.
Tectonic: The art or science of construction of buildings/
theartofassemblingthematerialsusedinconstruction
Architectonics:
1. The science of architecture
2. Oforrelatingtoarchitectureordesign.
3. Havingqualities,suchasdesignandstructure,thatarecharacteristicofarchitecture.

DER STIL
9. In summary, Semper's thesis is that practical artistic and architectural forms
can be understood by looking at the raw materials used: textiles for binding and
covering (walls), ceramics for molding and strengthening in an adequate form (the
hearth), tectonics and carpentry for scaffolding and thatching (roofs and furniture),
and stereotomy, masonry and so on for structural strength (pillars, support).
10. Each of these classes of materials follows its own natural laws and the
elements or ornaments made from them of necessity take specific forms.
Themes derived from one class can of course be transposed to other
materials, just as materials are not limited to their natural usages. Weaving for
example can be used to make baskets, serving a function that is more naturally
ceramic. Only metal, which is by nature malleable, strong, flexible and rigid, can
serve all functions, albeit in a less typical way.
11. In Der Stil, the type-process of the woven wall is carried to its ultimate analytical
conclusion, with the further distinction that the knot is actually the fundamental
building-block of human production. As the basic unit of energy within the tectonic
process, the knot in Sempers thinking offers a striking anticipation of the atomic
model of matter. It is also for Semper an early metaphor for the structure of the
cosmos itself: The knot is perhaps the oldest technical symbol and, as I have shown,
the expression for the earliest cosmogonic ideas that arose among nations.
12.Style than, is the harmonious and internally logical application of the whole
range of materials and their derived forms, brought together under the internal
pressure of the material and the external pressures of the cultural, historical and
personal context of its creation.

is the set of geometrical knowledge and techniques of drawing and cutting the blocks of stone
13.and
Semper
intended
write structures
a book (wall,
in three
the first
two dealing
with the
their assembly
intoto
complex
vault, volumes:
arch, etc.) related
to architectural
construction.
STEREOTOMY

DER STIL
14. As an architectural historian and architect, Semper brought Renaissance architecture into
serious appreciation.
15. Previous art historians, such as Franz Kugler in his Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte, disdainfully
mentioned the period as an architectural style.
16. By the 1860s, Jacob Burckhardt had brought the period into historic vogue.
17. Semper advocated the concept that "form is determined by materials," derived from the
partially-completed volumes of Der Stil.
18. However, Semper also asserted that social, economic and climatic conditions as
essential to style, driven by the free will of creative humans.
19. Since these were to have been addressed in the third, never-written volume, Semper was
criticized for subscribing to a purely materialistic approach.
20. The mathematical analogy in his discussion of style was exaggerated in the English version of
his book (edited by his son).
21. By considering the history of architecture in terms of the history of tectonic processes
developing from a series of primeval, archetypal generative impulses Semper was
attempting to re-establish the principles of aesthetic authority in architecture that were being
steadily eroded in the post enlightenment climate of historicism and rapid industrialization.
22. Alois Reigl attacked Semper's "deterministic core" in 1901 . His theoretical influence included
Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) (who praised Semper as the successor to Goethe for his
exploration of the "inner structure of art") and the work of Heinrich Wlfflin , (who quoted
Semper liberally in his dissertation). Wagner remembered Semper as an iconoclast who
brought arguments (and occasionally fisticuffs) to any social gathering with his "peculiar habit
of contradicting everyone flatly."

SEMPERS THEORY

1. The collected theories of Gottfried Semper provide deep insights to the art and craft of
building. However the ways in which he formulated his theories varied and this can give rise
to difficulties when trying to read them as a piece.
2. For instance, when analysing the materials and crafts of building (designated by him as
the Four Elements), he is penetrating and straightforward; when dealing with his theory of
Stoff-Wechsel (PR: wek-sel) (literally changing material) he introduces a symbolic
mode of description; and when expounding his theory of Bekleidung (dressing or
cladding) he takes off into flights of fancy. This means that one has to pay close
attention to the minutia of the strands of his arguments in order to weave them all together.
3. Gottfried Semper was a teacher of architecture and of industrial craft, a well travelled
historian, a designer, a theorist, and an architect who built major projects. This rounded
experience informed his long-term interest in the properties of materials, in the
methods and tools used in working each one, and in the appropriateness of the
purposes to which each material could be put; it also informed his other abiding
interest in the origins and symbolism of early architecture.
4. The main thrust of his work was to develop a theory of style (or practical aesthetics). The
title of his great work Der Stil -Style in the Technical and Tectonic Artsmakes this evident.

SEMPERS THEORY

4. Although Semper did not spell out a specific definition of style in this book he did define it
variously at different stages of his life. One particular definition given by Semper in a
lecture of 1869, namely the correspondence of an artwork with its history of
origin, comprising all the conditions and circumstances of its creation'. In order to
fill out the implications and meaning of this statement, one has to refer to an earlier
lecture in which Semper presented three aspects of any definition of style:
I.

The internal this concerns the material from which a work is made and its method
of production;

II.

The external this reflects the local, temporal, national and personal forces
acting upon the work; and

III.

The ideal this aspect relates to the artistic interpretation of the idea; the idea
was, for Semper, a precondition of form.

5. The internal and external forces play their vital role in the genesis of an artwork
but both give precedence to the ideal.

SEMPERS THEORY
6. This definition can be understood from a comparison Semper
made in Der Stil between Ancient Egyptian and Greek ceramic
forms.He chose the situla and the hydria.
7. If one considers these two artefacts under his three aspects:
I.

Internally, the material aspect of both vessels is expressed


in their rounded thin walled clay shapes

II.

Externally, whereas the situla was used to scoop water from


the Nile and was carried on a yoke, the hydria collected water
from a spring or fountain and was carried on the head, and

III. The ideal in these forms, Semper speculates, is a


recognition of the awe with which the 'Nile' and the
'spring' were held in the two different cultures; he also saw in
the lotus shape of the situla and in the form of the hydria the
basic features of Egyptian and Greek architecture
respectively.
8. By this example Semper is referring not just to the vessels
correspondence with their genesis but of how the very
knowledge of this correspondence helps us to appreciate
those later styles which were influenced by the ideas forming
the vessels.
9. For him the style of any artefact is defined not just in
terms of its material form and use but of its symbolic
place in society. This becomes clearer after looking at his
views on the origins of architecture.

SEMPERS THEORY
10. It was to nature and to ancient artefacts that Semper looked when formulating this and other
ideas. where man adorns, all he does more or less consciously is to make the law of
nature evident in the object he adorns.
11. In setting out his general principles, he also physically identified artefacts and buildings with
living beings who, along with all nature, are subject to the pull of gravity. The force of gravity
seems to be vital to the structuring of his four collective concepts which he called
Authorities.
12. These concepts were posited to show how the diversity found in nature can be ordered into
unity and are:
a) Symmetry this refers not just to form, but to dynamic principles of growth and
development, and concerns the placing of parts around a vertical axis, e.g. how the human
body is arranged to the left and right of a spine.
b) Proportion this is the ratio of elements in their positioning between earth and sky.
Relating the human analogy to architecture, the base of a building would correspond to the feet
and the dominant element with the torso; other parts are in proportion to these and to the whole.
c)

Direction in the case of man and animals it is actual bodily movement. For a building it is
the potential of movement towards it or through it.

d) Fitness of Content for this Semper cites the example of a crowning pediment on a Greek
temple which derives its form from the first three concepts but falls under this fourth category
because of its reflection of, and receptivity to, the approaching procession of worshippers. It could
be epitomised by the way outstretched arms welcome a loved one.
13. These Authorities represented for Semper the essential response to nature when dealing
with the overall organisation of artefacts and buildings.

SEMPERS THEORY
14. When breaking this organisation down into its constituent parts, he saw there were two
sides to any such analysis;
(i) their making, which process includes the materials used and the methods and
tools employed.
(ii) the use to which they were put, which use may be actual or symbolic.
15. Starting with item (i), he classified raw materials into four categories according to
their particular qualities.Those which are:
a) flexible, tough, and highly resistant to tearing.
b) soft and mouldable, which, after working are able to be hardened and stay in shape.
c) rod-shaped, elastic, and strong in tension.
d) unyielding, dense, and strong in compression; use in construction being by
manageable pieces in regular courses.
16. The individual natures of the materials described under these four categories gave rise
to four crafts in the working of them. These crafts, while respecting the qualities of
the particular material with which they are concerned, transform it into useful form. He
numbered these four crafts to correspond to the numbers of the four materials as
follows:
a) textile - enclosure
b) ceramic (or metal forging and casting)-hearth
c) framework (carpentry)-roof
d) masonry-mound
17. Semper collectively called these the Four Elements of Building, and he recognised
some flexibility in the categories.

SEMPERS THEORY
18. Moving to item (ii) and the use to which the constituents are put, his interest in the origins
of building comes to the fore. He believed that it was weaving and the tying of knots
which formed the basis of the earliest of artefactsand that perhaps after observing such
things as the construction of nests, primitive man wove branches and vines into protective
covers and screens.
19. He also believed that the hearth (a ceramic artefact) had a primeval role in the
development of human settlements and culture.
20. He saw the screen as serving to contain the group gathered around the hearth and
thereby forming a habitat (enclosure).
21. Further developments were the framework which roofed it and the mound to protect
it from flooding (the mound developed later into a masonry platform).
22. As a result of these primitive efforts man was no longer at the mercy of the forces of nature
but had created his own microcosm.

SEMPERS THEORY
23.On the basis of these beliefs, he challenged the view, held by the Abb Laugier, that the primitive
hut was the original model for the development of architectural monuments.
24. His own view was that mans skill in making artefacts provided the prior models from which he
developed the construction of the first buildings.
25.Further, and importantly, when ornaments were hung on and fixed to these buildings, and
thus became static, monumentality occurred.
26.It is at this point in his explanations that Semper shifts into a symbolic mode by the introduction
of his theory of Stoff-Wechsel which was a concept he borrowed from contemporary biologists
who were developing ideas of metabolism.
27.He used this word to explain the transformation which can occur when the construction of an
artefact in one material, (perhaps perishable such as wood), is subsequently transposed into
another medium, (perhaps something more permanent such as stone).
28.This transformation, as well as bringing monumentality, can endow the resultant artefact with a
symbolic significance by virtue of the fact that its form carries with it a vestigial content of
an earlier culture.
29.Semper illustrates this by showing a Greek stone capital deriving from a basket form.For him it is
more than a copy, the imitation in the different material brings along cultural baggage of former
times. The theory of Stoff-Wechsel is thus an amplification and enrichment of Sempers
definition of style where he speaks of an artefact having correspondence with the
circumstances of its creation.

SEMPERS THEORY
30. During his time in London (when
he was a political exile) Semper
was commissioned to design
stands for the 1851 Crystal
Palace Exhibition. This brought
him into contact with an exhibit
containing a Caribbean Hut.
31. He observed that the material
forms of this hut corresponded
to his Four Elements, and further
that these Elements were
discretely identifiable.
32. He noted that the woven screen,
which divided the dwelling and
enclosed the ceramic hearth was
distinct from the bamboo
framework, which in turn was
distinct from the masonry base.
33. This observation confirmed for
him his theory of the Four
Elements.
CARIBBEAN HUT

SEMPERS THEORY
34. In taking his theories further Semper engages in a yet another manner of thinking about building.
35. The tectonic property of the screen in the Caribbean Hut is synonymous with his textile
Element.
36. His view of the primacy of weaving drew him to a conclusion that the polychromatic painting of
Greek temples derived from the dyed and woven wall hangings common in earlier buildings.
37. Replacement of these hangings by coloured render, he argued, transformed the actual surfaces
resulting in the monumentality of the temples. From this claim he developed his Bekleidungs
theory, in which he seems to endow the surface of the screen with a life of its own.
38. This theory of cladding is, in essence, a theory of ornament and can be seen as a
contradiction of his theories of tectonics, since Semper himself referred to it as an annihilation of
reality.
39. Whereas in his description of the Caribbean hut Semper pointed out that the screen which defines
the space enclosure is discrete from the structure, in the Bekleidungs theory he takes this idea of
space definition further. His claim is that even where load bearing masonry itself is inscribed or
decorated with ornament, the actual ornamentation is still to be read as symbolically separate.

SEMPERS THEORY
40.As precedence he cited Assyrian wall-carving which, again he claimed, derived from
earlier textile hangings.
41.This Semper called a Verhuellung (veiling) of the structure which allowed, for him,
the genuine space of architecture to be revealed: Solid walls are but the internal
and unseen scaffolding of the true and legitimate representatives of division.
42.He did add, in mitigation of the rather devastating effect this remark has on those parts
of his work dealing with tectonics, that, only after proper treatment of material
can material be forgotten.

SEMPERS THEORY
43. The Bekleidungs theory led him to reject both cast-iron construction and
the gothic style as a way forward for modern architecture.
44. This was because their emphasis was on the expression of structure rather
than cladding.
45. He personally embraced mainly a neo-renaissance style in his built work and
his buildings such as the Hoftheatre and the Art Gallery in Dresden and the Art
Gallery and Museum in Vienna do not reflect in any obvious way those parts of
his theory such as the Four Elements.
46. Just because his theories are closely concerned with the circumstances of
the origins of the elements and surfaces of architecture, there is no
reason that evidence of this ought to be read directly from his buildings.
47. It is consonant with his views that his architecture should derive via the
sensibilities of Renaissance artists, as, in turn, their work reflects their forebears,
and so on. These, after all, comprise some of the circumstances of their creation.
His ideas, however, did find more direct expression in the work of other
architects. Arguably the two most tangible areas of influence are
a)

where Sempers emphasis on the separation of the Four Elements can be seen
in the clarity of distinction between structure and infill widely found in the
modern movement, and

b) the way in which the development of the curtain wall in Chicago can be traced
from his Bekleidungs theory.

SEMPERS THEORY
48. The idea of veiling or masking is also to be found in Sempers interest in the theatre and in
his studies of ancient Greek dress and drama. He saw theatricality in the relationship between
architecture and its users; a relationship equivalent to that between a performer and a spectator.
49. One can glean this from his theatre plans: in his obsession with the manipulation of the
proscenium between stage and audience, in the controlled acoustics, and in the galleries for
promenading.
50. Indeed, the development of the theory of Gesamptkunstwerk by Wagner appears to have been
influenced by such ideas from Semper.

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