History (Architecture)

The Voyeur and the Impostor

by Margaret Maile Petty

published in PLAT 1.0 (Fall 2010): pp. 60-67.

In the mid-twentieth century the voyeur, a cinematic impostor, began to lurk around the perimeters of modern American... more In the mid-twentieth century the voyeur, a cinematic impostor, began to lurk around the perimeters of modern American domestic architecture. Like the dark and troubled plots of the contemporaneous film noir, this impostor put an ordered and controlled appearance on the architectural import of modern (and foreign) architectural ideals and materials. Like the desert mirage, architectural photography conjured visions of a new way of living. An indoor-outdoor fantasy for the American family. The camera, and the photographer behind it, cased the new glass houses in the hills of Southern California. These black and white chiaroscuro scenes, framed through transparent widescreen window walls, revealed to the popular American audience who they wanted to be and what they wanted others to think they were. Clean, modern, stylish, happy and democratic. While the family was rarely seen (except in advertisements—another impostor) it was suggested in the carefully set dining table, the angular oversized house plants, and most often, the warm burning lights.

Stones of Ayanis: New Urban Foundations and the Architectonic Culture in Urartu during the 7th C. BC

by Ömür Harmansah

in Bautechnik im Antiken und Vorantiken Kleinasien. Internationale Konferenz 13-16. Juni 2007 in Istanbul. (Byzas 9). Martin Bachmann (ed.). Ege Yayınları: Istanbul, 177-197.

During the reign of Rusa II in the first half of 7th century BC, Lake Van Basin underwent a remarkable process of... more During the reign of Rusa II in the first half of 7th century BC, Lake Van Basin underwent a remarkable process of urbanization and reconfiguration of its political landscapes through the construction of new cities. The urban spaces that were eventually created were demarcated with a particularly powerful and innovative
architectonic culture: finely carved stone masonry. I argue in this article that monumental building activity, as a historically conspicuous event, creates a medium of exchange of artisanal knowledge and technological innovation. The dramatic
urban landscape of the Iron age city at Ayanis (ancient Rusahinili-Eiduru-kai) in Eastern Turkey on the Eastern shore of Lake Van, features an impressive fabric of such architectonic culture, not only a product of long-term building technologies
in the region, but also that of a series of innovations associated with the reign of its founder Rusa II. This paper specifically focuses on the complex set of stone masonry techniques in the monumental structures at Ayanis, and attempts to reflect
on the multi-faceted aspects of symbolic technologies of production in the context of the foundation of the city. It argues that the highly refined stone masonry in Urartu was a symbolically charged architectural technology that effectively operated as royal insignia in the public sphere, but it also derived from the local corpus of building knowledge in the Lake Van basin.

BOOK REVIEW

by Emine Koseoglu

Author: Emine Koseoglu

Modern Turkish architecture: 1900–1980, by Renata Holod, Ahmet Evin and Suha Özkan, Ankara, Chamber of Architects of Turkey, 2005, 194 pp., 80 TL (Turkish Liras) for 2 volume boxed set (paperback), ISBN 975 395 872 4

Architecture in Turkey around 2000: issues in discourse and practice, by Tansel Korkmaz, Ankara, Chamber of Architects of Turkey, 2005, 175 pp., 80 TL (Turkish Liras) for 2 volume boxed set (paperback), ISBN 975 395 890 0


Planning Perspectives, Volume 25, Issue 3, pp.383-408, July 2010.

Il destino del patrimonio artistico bresciano durante la seconda guerra mondiale

by Carlotta Coccoli

published in «Civiltà Bresciana», anno XIX, n. 2, giugno 2010, pp. 127-148.

«Diverse soluzioni a problemi strutturali tipici della Pieve rustica lombarda del ‘400: confronto e verifica nel tempo degli interventi eseguiti in Santa Maria Assunta a Esine (BS) e Santa Maria Assunta a Nembro (BG)»

by Carlotta Coccoli

Co-autored with G. TOLA, in La prova del tempo. Verifiche degli interventi per la conservazione del costruito, Atti del XVI Convegno di Studi “Scienza e Beni Culturali”, Bressanone, 27-30 giugno 2000, pp. 467-478.

«Various solutions for structural problems typical of 14th century Lombardy Pieve: comparison and evaluation of the... more «Various solutions for structural problems typical of 14th century Lombardy Pieve: comparison and evaluation of the interventions carried out on Santa Maria Assunta at Esine (BS) and Santa Maria Assunta at Nembro (BG)»

The two 15th century churches present similar structural problems.Interventions supported by documents which took place in the same period of the 60s and the 90s of this century can be compared. The problem in studying past interventions consists generally in the poor documentation left but we hope that the documentation of these years restorations will be a good basis for future interventions, because the only way to examine the success of past interventions and plan for the present is to know exactly how the conditions of the structure have evolved before, during and after the different interventions.


Subject Keywords: Building; Church; Restoration; Structure; Consolidation; Performance; Evaluation

«Archeologia e cemento armato: la ricomposizione del frontone del pronao del Capitolium di Brescia (1939-1945)»

by Carlotta Coccoli

Co-autored with B. SCALA and G. P. TRECCANI, in Architettura e materiali del Novecento. Conservazione, Restauro, Manutenzione, Atti del XX Convegno di Studi “Scienza e Beni Culturali”, Bressanone, 13-16 luglio 2004, pp. 221-230.

«Archaeology and reinforced cement: the reconstruction of the pronao of the Capitolium of Brescia»

The... more «Archaeology and reinforced cement: the reconstruction of the pronao of the Capitolium of Brescia»

The article illustrates the principal role of reinforced concrete in the restoration of the Capitolium of Brescia. The recomposition of the pronao of the tempio capitolino can be considered as an example of 20th century architecture. This statement is in part based on the fact that its current composition is three-thirds modern materials (reinforced concrete, masonry, plastic cement, and asphalt for covering). Today, this work presents two types of problems: the deterioration of the reinforced concrete used in the reconstruction of the foundation structure, and the result of the interaction between the reinforced concrete and the original material, Botticino stone. The authors describe the debate that the proposed solution for the restoration of the archaeological monument raised, related to the reinterpretation of the architectural elements after finding additional fragments of the monument and to the selection of materials for reconstruction (for example, coloured concrete with powdered Botticino stone was proposed for the reconstruction of the new capitals). The article includes material surveys of the Capitolium, indicating the visual organization and identification of different materials and risk zones.

Subject Keywords: Restoration; Concrete; Reinforced concrete; Archaeology; Reconstruction; Cultural property; Conservation; Stone; Deterioration; Damage; Damage due to restoration; Interpretation; Display

«Chiesa di San Bernardino»

by Carlotta Coccoli

in G.P. TRECCANI (a cura di), Vulnerabilità sismica e salvaguardia del centro storico. Il caso di Salò (1901-1970),... more in G.P. TRECCANI (a cura di), Vulnerabilità sismica e salvaguardia del centro storico. Il caso di Salò (1901-1970), Brescia, Grafo, 2005, pp. 101-114.

«La tecnologia G.I.S. per la gestione dei dati storici»

by Carlotta Coccoli

in S. MENONI (a cura di), La salvaguardia di valori storici, culturali e paesaggistici nelle zone sismiche italiane. Proposte per un manuale, Roma, Gangemi editore, 2006, pp. 182-186.

«Sul progetto di riduzione del Palazzo Municipale. Il dibattito sui restauri di Palazzo della Loggia attraverso i quotidiani bresciani (1861-1913)»

by Carlotta Coccoli

Co-autored with B. SCALA, in I. GIUSTINA, G.P. TRECCANI (a cura di), «Il Palazzo della Loggia di Brescia. Indagini e progetti per la conservazione», Atti del Convegno di studi “Storia e problemi statici del palazzo della Loggia di Brescia”, Università degli Studi di Brescia – Facoltà di Ingegneria, Brescia, Starrylink Editrice, 2007, 219-239.

“I «fortilizi inespugnabili della civiltà italiana»: la protezione antiaerea del patrimonio monumentale italiano durante la seconda guerra mondiale”

by Carlotta Coccoli

published in: Pensare la prevenzione. Manufatti, usi, ambienti, Atti del XXVI Convegno di Studi “Scienza e Beni Culturali”, Bressanone, 13-16 luglio 2010, pp. 409-418.

The paper presents a short account of the policy of monuments’ preventive protection, promoted by the Italian... more The paper presents a short account of the policy of monuments’ preventive protection, promoted by the Italian government before the Second World War. In fact, since the late twenties, the Italian Ministry of National Education adopted safeguard measures for the protection of monuments in the event of armed conflict through the preparation of a «mobilization plan of  works of art in case of war» by which all movable works of art were transferred to deposits selected for their isolation and distance from military objectives. Immovable works of art and monuments were protected against blast or collapse by elaborate brickwork or timber and sandbag frameworks. In spite of the system could not be employed on a large scale - also due to the lack of funds – and the superintendents had to select  the most important buildings, whereby anyway hundreds of monuments up and down Italy were cased in protective layers of sand-bags, masonry, or ferro-concrete. On balance this programme of preventive protection must be judged a success.