gottfried semper

7
Gottfried Semper 1 Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper Born November 29, 1803 Altona, Hamburg Died May 15, 1879 (aged 75) Rome Nationality German Buildings Semper Opera House Gottfried Semper (pronounced [ˌɡɔtfriːt ˈzɛmpɐ]) (November 29, 1803 May 15, 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture, who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in Dresden and was put on the government's wanted list. Semper fled first to Zürich and later to London. Later he returned to Germany after the 1862 amnesty granted to the revolutionaries. Semper wrote extensively about the origins of architecture, especially in his book The Four Elements of Architecture from 1851, and he was one of the major figures in the controversy surrounding the polychrome architectural style of ancient Greece. Semper designed works at all scales, from a baton for Richard Wagner [1] to major urban interventions like the re-design of the Ringstraße in Vienna. Life Early life (to 1834) Semper was born into a well-to-do industrialist family in Altona. The fifth of eight children, he attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums in Hamburg before starting his university education at Göttingen in 1823, where he studied historiography and mathematics. He subsequently studied architecture in 1825 at the University of Munich under Friedrich von Gärtner. In 1826, Semper travelled to Paris in order to work for the architect Franz Christian Gau, and he was present when the July Revolution of 1830 broke out. Between 1830 and 1833 he travelled to Italy and Greece in order to study the architecture and designs of antiquity. In 1832 he participated for four months in

Upload: giulia-galli-lavigne

Post on 30-Nov-2015

317 views

Category:

Documents


17 download

DESCRIPTION

Wikipedia_Gottfried Semper

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper 1

Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper

Born November 29, 1803Altona, Hamburg

Died May 15, 1879(aged 75)Rome

Nationality German

Buildings Semper Opera House

Gottfried Semper (pronounced [ˌɡɔtfriːt ˈzɛmpɐ]) (November 29, 1803 – May 15, 1879) was a German architect, artcritic, and professor of architecture, who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in Dresden and was put on the government's wanted list. Semper fledfirst to Zürich and later to London. Later he returned to Germany after the 1862 amnesty granted to therevolutionaries.Semper wrote extensively about the origins of architecture, especially in his book The Four Elements of Architecturefrom 1851, and he was one of the major figures in the controversy surrounding the polychrome architectural style ofancient Greece. Semper designed works at all scales, from a baton for Richard Wagner[1] to major urbaninterventions like the re-design of the Ringstraße in Vienna.

Life

Early life (to 1834)Semper was born into a well-to-do industrialist family in Altona. The fifth of eight children, he attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums in Hamburg before starting his university education at Göttingen in 1823, where he studied historiography and mathematics. He subsequently studied architecture in 1825 at the University of Munich under Friedrich von Gärtner. In 1826, Semper travelled to Paris in order to work for the architect Franz Christian Gau, and he was present when the July Revolution of 1830 broke out. Between 1830 and 1833 he travelled to Italy and Greece in order to study the architecture and designs of antiquity. In 1832 he participated for four months in

Page 2: Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper 2

archaeological research at the Akropolis in Athens. During this period he became very interested in theBiedermeier-inspired polychromy debate, which centred around the question whether buildings in Ancient Greeceand Rome had been colorfully painted or not. The drawn reconstructions of the painterly decorations of ancient villashe created in Athens inspired his later designs for the painted decorations in Dresden and Vienna. His 1834publication Vorläufige Bemerkungen über bemalte Architectur und Plastik bei den Alten (Preliminary Remarks onPolychrome 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 inarchitectural and aesthetic circles across Europe [2].

Dresden period (1834 - 1849)

Dresden, Interior of the first Hoftheater (Semper Oper)

On September 30, 1834 Semper obtained a post as Professor ofArchitecture at the Königlichen Akademie der bildenden Künste(today called the Hochschule) in Dresden thanks largely to theefforts and support of his former teacher Franz Christian Gau andswore an oath of allegiance to the King (formerly Elector) ofSaxony, Anthony Clement. The flourishing growth of Dresdenduring this period provided the young architect with considerablecreative opportunities. In 1838-40 a synagogue was built inDresden to Semper's design, it was ever afterward called theSemper Synagogue and is noted for its Moorish Revival interiorstyle.[3] The Synagogue's exterior was built in romanesque style soas not to call attention to itself. The interior design included not only the Moorish inspired wall decorations, butfurnishings: 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.[4][5] Semper's student, Otto Simonson would constructthe magnificent Moorish Revival Leipzig synagogue in 1855.

Certain civic structures remain today, such as the Elbe-facing gallery of the Zwinger Palace complex. His firstbuilding for the Dresden Hoftheater burnt down, and the second, today called the Semperoper, was built in 1841.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 the Villa Rosa built for the banker Martin WilhelmOppenheim. This last construction stands as a prototype of German villa architecture.On September 1, 1835 Semper married Bertha Thimmig. The marriage ultimately produced six children.A convinced Republican, Semper took a leading role, along with his friend Richard Wagner, in the May 1849uprising which swept over the city . He was a member of the Civic Guard (Kommunalgarde) and helped to erectbarricades in the streets. When the rebellion collapsed, Semper was considered a leading agitator for democraticchange and a ringleader against government authority and he was forced to flee the city.He was destined never to return to the city that would, ironically, become most associated with his architectural (andpolitical) legacy. The Saxon government maintained a warrant for his arrest until 1863. When the Semper-designedHoftheater burnt down in 1869, King John, 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."What must I have done in 48, that one persecutes me forever? One single barricade did I construct - it held, becauseit was practicle, and as it was practicle, it was beautiful", wrote Semper in dismay. [6]

Page 3: Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper 3

Post-revolutionary period (1849 - 1855)After stays in Zwickau, Hof, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg, Semper eventually ended up back in Paris, like many otherdisillusioned Republicans from the 1848 Revolutions (such as Heinrich Heine and Ludwig Börne). In the fall of1850, he travelled to London, England. But while he was able to pick up occasional contracts — includingparticipation in the design of the funeral carriage for the Duke of Wellington and the designs of the Canadian,Danish, Swedish, and Ottoman sections of the 1851 Exhibition in the Crystal Palace — he found no steadyemployment. If his stay in London was disappointing professionally, however, it proved a fertile period for Semper'stheoretical, creative and academic development. He published Die vier Elemente der Baukunst (The Four Elementsof Architecture) in 1851 and Wissenschaft, Industrie und Kunst (Science, Industry and Art) in 1852. These workswould ultimately provide the groundwork for his most widely regarded publication, Der Stil in den technischen undtektonischen Künsten oder Praktische Ästhetik, which was published in two volumes in 1861 and 1863.[]

Zürich period (1855 - 1871)

Gottfried Semper

Polytechnikum in 1865

ETH Zurich Hauptgebäude (mainbuilding)

Concurrently with the onset of the industrial revolution, the Swiss Federationplanned to establish a polytechnical school. As the principal judge for thecompetition held to select a design for the new building, Semper deemed thesubmitted entries unsatisfactory and, ultimately, designed the building himself.Proudly situated (where fortified walls once stood), visible from all sides on aterrace overlooking the core of Zurich, the new school became a symbol of a newepoch. The building (1853–1864), which despite frequent remodeling continuesto evoke Semper's concept, was initially required to accommodate not only thenew school (known today as the ETH Zurich), but the existing University ofZurich, as well.

In 1855 Semper became a professor of architecture at the new school and thesuccess of many of his students who attained success and renown served toensure his legacy. The Swiss architect Emil Schmid was one such student. Withhis income as a professor, Semper was able to reunite his family, bringing themto Zurich from Saxony. The City Hall in Winterthur is among other buildingsdesigned by Semper in Switzerland.

Semper provided Bavaria's King Ludwig II with a conceptual design for a theatrededicated to the work of Richard Wagner to be built in Munich. The project,developed from 1864 to 1866, was never realized, although Wagner 'borrowed'many of its features for his own later theatre at Bayreuth.

Page 4: Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper 4

Stadthaus (city hall) Winterthur

Later life (from 1871)

Franz von Lenbach's portrait of Gottfried Sempershortly before his death

To be completed The 'Museum-question' was discussed in Viennaduring the 1860s. Works forming the imperial art collection werescattered among several buildings. Semper was assigned to submit aproposal for locating new buildings in conjunction with redevelopmentof the Ringstrasse. In 1869 he designed a gigantic 'Imperial Forum'which was not realized. The National Museum of Art History and theNational Museum of Natural History were erected, however, oppositethe Palace according to his plan, as was the Burgtheater. In 1871Semper moved to Vienna to undertake the projects. Duringconstruction, repeated disagreements with his appointed associatearchitect (Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer), led Semper to resign from theproject in 1876. 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]

Page 5: Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper 5

Semper's (second) Dresden Opera House as it is today

Work (selected)

The Semper Synagogue c. 1860

•• Dresden• Hoftheater – 1838-1841 (destroyed by

fire in 1869)• Villa Rosa – 1839 (destroyed in the

Second World War)• Semper Synagogue – 1839-1840

(destroyed on November 9, 1938 -Kristallnacht)

• Oppenheim-Palace – 1845-1848• Semper Gallery (Dresden

Gemäldegalerie)– 1847-1855• Neues Hoftheater (Semperoper) –

1871-1878•• Zürich

• City Hall – 1858 (only concept forcompetition; 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) (1872–1881, finished 1889)• Natural History Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum) (1872–1881, finished 1891)

Page 6: Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper 6

LegacySemperdepot, Lehargasse, Vienna

References[1][1] Dorothea Schröder: "Nibelungenring und mystischer Knoten. Gottfried Sempers Entwurf zu einem Taktstock für Richard Wagner" Jahrbuch

des Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg,1993, P.120[2] http:/ / scholar. lib. vt. edu/ theses/ available/ etd-494114149741201/ unrestricted/ etd. pdf[3][3] H.A. Meek, The Synagogue, Phaidon, 1995, p. 188[4][4] Colin Eisler "Wagner's Three Synagogues", Artibus et Historiae 2004, Vol. 25/Nr. 50[5] Eytan Pessen, Zusammenhängende Reliquien, eine Geschichte über Richard Wagner und Gottfried Semper, pp. 1-22, Semperoper Dresden,

Erchien in Wagnerjahr 2013, Spielzeit 2012-2013 & 2013-2014[6][6] Letter to Heinrich Hübsch, January 1852[7] Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome databases Semper Goffredo (http:/ / www. protestantcemetery. it/ graves/ databases. html)

• Berry, J. Duncan. The Legacy of Gottfried Semper. Studies in Späthistorismus ( Ph. D. Diss. (http:/ / dl. lib.brown. edu/ theses/ theses. php?task=search& id=1029), Brown University, 1989).

• Hvattum, Mari. Gottfried Semper and the Problem of Historicism (Cambridge, 2004). ISBN 0-521-82163-0• Herrmann, Wolfgang. Gottfried Semper: In Search of Architecture (Cambridge, MA/London, 1984). ISBN

0-262-08144-X• Karge, Henrik (ed.). Gottfried Semper. Die moderne Renaissance der Künste (Berlin, 2006). ISBN 3-422-06606-3• Mallgrave, Harry Francis. Gottfried Semper - Architect of the Nineteenth Century (New Haven/London, 1996).

ISBN 0-300-06624-4• Mallgrave, Harry Francis. Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey, 1673-1968 (Cambridge, 2005).

ISBN 0-521-79306-8• Mallgrave, Harry Francis. Architectural Theory: An Anthology from Vitruvius to 1870 (Malden, MA/Oxford,

2006). ISBN 1-4051-0258-6• Muecke, Mikesch W. Gottfried Semper in Zurich - An Intersection of Theory and Practice (Ames, IA, 2005).

ISBN 978-1-4116-3391-9• Nerdinger, Winfried and Werner Oechslin (eds.). Gottfried Semper 1803-1879 (Munich/Zurich, 2003). ISBN

3-7913-2885-9• Semper, Gottfried. The Four Elements of Architecture and Other Writings. Trans. Harry F. Mallgrave and

Wolfgang Herrmann (Cambridge, 1989). ISBN 0-521-35475-7• Semper, Gottfried. Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practical Aesthetics. Trans. Harry F. Mallgrave

(Santa Monica, 2004). ISBN 0-89236-597-8

External links• Villa Garbald (http:/ / www. danda. be/ gallery/ villa_garbald/ )• Wagner and Semper (http:/ / www. smerus. pwp. blueyonder. co. uk/ lamp1. htm)

Page 7: Gottfried Semper

Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and ContributorsGottfried Semper  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=565040041  Contributors: -- April, -js-, 777sms, Absecon 59, Ap, AppliedIconology, Bongoramsey, Burschik, CapitalR,Carnildo, Choess, ChrisGualtieri, Corti, Crux, D6, DVD R W, Dahn, Davehi1, Delemon, Dogears, Dottoreso, Elan26, Elekhh, Erud, Eusebeus, FightingStreet, GargoyleMT, Greatgreenwhale,GreenGourd, Gregfitzy, Halibutt, Hertog, Invitamia, Jeff3000, Joseph Solis in Australia, Jsmith1000, KF, Kresspahl, LWDewhirst, Linear77, Lockley, Mackensen, Mattis, Mcginnly, Mmikesch,NSLE, Neddyseagoon, Nick Number, Nicoderno1, Nobs01, Olessi, Omnipaedista, Paul A, Pko, Plasticup, RS1900, Rjwilmsi, Robert1947, RodC, Roland zh, RoyBoy, Saintswithin, Seth Ilys,SimonMayer, Sluzzelin, Smerus, Stemonitis, Superslum, Vargasv, Viajero, Waacstats, Werner Pilz, Woohookitty, 34 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Gottfried-semper.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gottfried-semper.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Mutter Erde, Petar MarjanovicFile:Dresden Hoftheater J C A Richter.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Dresden_Hoftheater_J_C_A_Richter.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: J. C. A.RichterFile:Gottfried Semper Wien.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gottfried_Semper_Wien.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Photo: Andreas PraefckeFile:Hundert Jahre Bilder aus der Stadt Zürich - Das Polytechnikum 1865.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hundert_Jahre_Bilder_aus_der_Stadt_Zürich_-_Das_Polytechnikum_1865.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: S. Zurlinden, upload byRoland zhFile:ETH Zurich from Polyterrace.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ETH_Zurich_from_Polyterrace.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Anand KesariFile:Winterthur Stadthaus.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Winterthur_Stadthaus.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: IkiwanerFile:Gottfried Semper 1879.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gottfried_Semper_1879.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Franz von Lenbach (1836-1904)File:semperopera.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Semperopera.jpg  License: Public domain  Contributors: Original uploader was Smerus at en.wikipediaFile:Alte Synagoge Dresden 1860 2.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alte_Synagoge_Dresden_1860_2.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Louis Thümling(19th century: http://d-nb.info/gnd/14032366X) nach Hermann Krone (1827-1916)

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/