Material Theories

Locating Artefacts and People in Gottfried Semper's Writings

Elena Chestnova author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:20th Jun '22

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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Material Theories cover

Material Theories takes a radically new approach to well-established thinking on nineteenth-century architecture and design by investigating Gottfried Semper’s classic ideas about dressing, metamorphosis of material, and cultural development, culminating in his two-volume publication Style.

This book demonstrates how Semper’s theories crystallised among his encounters with material things of the late 1840s and early 1850s. It examines several discursive frameworks and phenomena which shaped the attitude to artefacts in Europe in the mid-nineteenth century, and which were specifically pertinent to Semper’s evolution: archaeology and antiquarianism, the domestic interior, print media, collections, and the embodied relationship between the designer and their work. For the first time, this book examines the construction of a design theory not only as an intellectual endeavour but also as a process of confrontation with material things. It employs recent approaches to material culture, in particular Thing Theory, in order to show that Semper’s artefact references constituted his ideas, rather than simply giving impetus to them.

It will be an important investigation for academics and researchers interested in interior design history, as well as scholars of material culture and history of design theory.

ISBN: 9780367473914

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 400g

16 pages