Project of a Historical Architecture : illustrating the most noted buildings of antiquity and foreign peoples : taken from history books, commemorative medals, ruins and true depictions

Abstract

On 26 July 1721 the "Wiener Diarium" informed its readers that a new book by the general surveyor of constructions, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, titled "Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur", was ready for subscribers to collect from the architect’s place. The Entwurff is a collection of 86 sheets illustrating the architecture of the Jews, Egyptians, Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, Siamese, Chinese and Japanese, along with some of the author's projects. Upon the third centenary of the author’s death this re-print proposes to look back at Fischer’s book as a precise cultural project, reacting to a specific historical and geographical context, and yet suggesting a more general attitude that can challenge contemporary architecture as well. The volume is accompanied by a complete translation of the original texts and complemented with essays by Maarten Delbeke, Steven Lauritano and Pier Paolo Tamburelli.