Architecture and the Historical Imagination: Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, 1814–1879 (Reinterpreting Nineteenth-Century Architecture)

Notre-Dame in Paris, the walled city of Carcassone, the fortress at Pierrefonds, visionary projects using iron construction...Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc's importance within modern architecture cannot be overstated. Hailed as one of the key theoreticians of modernism, he was also the most renowned restoration architect of his age, a celebrated medieval archaeologist and a fervent champion of Gothic revivalism. He published some of the most influential texts in the history of modern architecture such as the Dictionnaire raisonne de l'architecture francaise du XIe au XVIe siecle and Entretiens sur l'architecture, but also studies on warfare, geology and racial history. Martin Bressani expertly traces Viollet-le-Duc's complex intellectual development, mapping the attitudes he adopted toward the past, showing how restoration, in all its layered meaning, shaped his outlook. Through his life journey, we follow the route by which the technological subject was born out of nineteenth-century historicism Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 10 Translation and Abbreviations 22 Preface 24 Acknowledgments 28 Part I: Restoration and Loss 32 1 Mourning 34 At Notre-Dame 34 Double Bind 42 Incorporation 55 Doubling 61 2 Architecture Painted 76 Drawing the Past 76 History in Color 84 Historical Drama 89 Italian Interlude 93 La poésie sauvage 104 Part II: The Gothic Reborn 122 3 History Re-enacted 124 Return to the Gothic 124 The Question of Vézelay 130 Restoration and the Referential Illusion 134 Vézelay Repaired 144 4 Reviving the Gothic 160 Joining the Revivalists 160 The Gothic as Excess 164 Archaeology Practiced 171 The Sainte-Clotilde Controversy 176 Revivalism versus Modernity 182 5 The Gothic Narrated 196 Introït 196 Viollet-le-Duc’s Account of Gothic Construction: A Brief Overview 197 Taxonomy versus Narration 203 Part III: The Gothic Disseminated 220 6 Toward Empire 222 Identification Works 222 Unity as the Aftermath of Conflict 232 The Te Deum Ceremony of January 1852 241 7 The Gothic Put to Use 254 The Second Empire and the Launching of the Dictionnaire raisonné 254 The Dictionnaire raisonné as a Publishing Venture 259 The Dictionnaire raisonné as Graphic Environment 263 Arousing Curiosity: The Figures of the Dictionnaire raisonné 270 Text and Image 272 The demi-effet 278 Drawing as Restoration 280 8 Physiology of the Ancient Architecture of France 298 Architecture versus Construction 298 The Ideal Cathedral 308 Compulsion to Repeat 319 Part IV: The Gothic as Will 334 9 War rue Bonaparte: 1856–1864 336 Omnipotence 336 At the Beaux-Arts in 1857 344 The coup of 1863–1864 346 10 Instinct and Race 364 Instinct and Memory 364 Race as an Aesthetic of Revenance 376 11 Style 412 Style versus Styles 412 Shaping Objects 413 The Imprint of an Idea 418 Style and Race 423 Part V: Transgressions into Modernity 436 12 Locomotives and Iron 438 Curiosities, Ugliness and Transgression 438 Mechanical Fantasies 446 Iron Historicized 454 Iron through the Lens of History 457 13 At War 482 14 Late Works 496 The Geography of Time 496 The Massif du Mont-Blanc 509 15 Conclusion: Autogenic Rebirth 530 Bibliography 558 Index 598 "Hailed as one of the key theoreticians of modernism, Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was also the most renowned restoration architect of his age, a celebrated medieval archaeologist and a fervent champion of Gothic revivalism. He published some of the most influential texts in the history of modern architecture such as the 'Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle' and 'Entretiens sur l'architecture', but also studies on warfare, geology and racial history. Martin Bressani expertly traces Viollet-le-Duc's complex intellectual development, mapping the attitudes he adopted toward the past, showing how restoration, in all its layered meaning, shaped his outlook. Through his life journey, we follow the route by which the technological subject was born out of nineteenth-century historicism."-- Page 1 Hailed as one of the key theoreticians of modernism, Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was also the most renowned restoration architect of his age, a celebrated medieval archaeologist and a fervent champion of Gothic revivalism. He published some of the most influential texts in the history of modern architecture such as the Dictionnaire resonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle and Entretiens sur l'architecture, but also studies on warfare, geology and racial history. Martin Bressani expertly traces Viollet-le-Duc's complex intellectual development, mapping the attitudes he adopted toward the past, showing how restoration, in all its layered meaning, shaped his outlook. Through his life journey, we follow the route by which the technological subject was born out of the nineteenth-century historicism Hailed as one of the key theoreticians of modernism, Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was also the most renowned restoration architect of his age, a celebrated medieval archaeologist and a fervent champion of Gothic revivalism. He published some of the most influential texts in the history of modern architecture such as the Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle and Entretiens sur l'architecture, but also studies on warfare, geology and racial history. Martin Bressani expertly traces Viollet-le-Duc's complex intellectual development, mapping the attitudes he adopted toward the past, showing how restoration, in all its layered meaning, shaped his outlook. Through his life journey, we follow the route by which the technological subject was born out of nineteenth-century historicism. The importance of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879) within modern architecture cannot be overstated. Key theoretician of modernism, renowned restoration architect, medieval archaeologist and champion of Gothic revivalism, he also published some of the most influential texts in the history of modern architecture. Martin Bressani expertly traces Viollet-le-Duc's complex intellectual development, showing how restoration, in all its layered meaning, shaped his outlook. Through his life journey, we follow the route by which the technological subject was born out of nineteenth-century histo The importance of Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879) within modern architecture cannot be overstated. Key theoretician of modernism, renowned restoration architect, medieval archaeologist and champion of Gothic revivalism, he also published some of the most influential texts in the history of modern architecture. Restoration And Loss -- Gothic Reborn -- The Gothic Disseminated -- The Gothic As Will -- Transgressions Into Modernity. Martin Bressani. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.