The first universal history of architecture
In 1721 the architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach published a book that brought together the architectures of different cultures from Egypt to Japan. Three centuries later ETH professor Maarten Delbeke has issued a re-print of the influential publication.
In 1721 the Austrian architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach published a book, that changed the perception of world architecture. It was titled "Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur" and gathered 86 sheets illustrating the architecture of “the ancient Jews, Egyptians, Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, Siamese, Chinese and Japanese”, along with some of the author's projects. The book presented depictions of famous historic architecture sites like the pyramids of Egypt, the city of Babylon, the great cistern of Constantinople or the royal residence in Siam. The work had a considerable influence throughout Europe. It is considered as the first comparative and universal history of architecture, although historical and archaeological fidelity was not the primary goal.
Illustrations from the book
Fischer von Erlach died in 1723. But his publication lives on and influences architecture three centuries later. To make the book accessible to a wider audience ETH professor Maarten Delbeke has issued a re-print of the famous publication. The volume is accompanied by a complete translation into English of the original texts and complemented with essays by Maarten Delbeke, Steven Lauritano and Pier Paolo Tamburelli. “The 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 authors write. The book launch takes place on April 24 in the ETH Zurich Main Building.
external pageFischer von Erlach: Project of a Historical Architecture (1721), edited by Maarten Delbeke and Pier Paolo Tamburelli, Humboldt Books, 2023
Book Launch and Roundtable Discussion, Wednesday, April 24, 18:15 followed by an Aperitif, ETH Zürich Main Building (HG), room E 33.1, Rämistrasse 101, Zürich