Primitive Renaissance

Modernity became one of a number of equally plausible cultural strategies for organizing life in the contemporary world."--BOOK JACKET.

This book examines the discourse on ‘primitive thinking’ in early twentieth century Germany. It explores texts from the social sciences, writings on art and language and – most centrally – literary works by Robert Musil, Walter Benjamin, Gottfried Benn and Robert Müller, focusing on three figurations of alterity prominent in European primitivism: indigenous cultures, children, and the mentally ill.

This innovative edited collection charts the rise, fall and possible futures of the word primitive. The word primitive is fundamental to the discipline of architecture in the west, providing a convenient starting point for the many myths of architecture's origins. Since the almost legendary 1970s conference on the Primitive, with the advent of post-modernism and, in particular, post-colonialism, the word has fallen from favour in many disciplines. Despite this, architects continue to use the word to mythologize and reify the practice of simplicity. Primitive includes contributions from some of today’s leading architectural commentators including Dalibor Vesely, Adrian Forty, David Leatherbarrow, Richard Weston and Richard Coyne. Structured around five sections, Negotiating Origins; Urban Myths; Questioning Colonial Constructs; Making Marks; and Primitive Futures, the essays highlight the problematic nature of ideas of the primitive, engage with contemporary debate in the field of post colonialism and respond to a burgeoning interest in the non-expert architecture. This now controversial subject remains, for better or worse, intrinsic to the very structure of Modernism and deeply embedded in architectural theory. Considering a broad range of approaches, this book provides a rounded past, present and future of the word primitive in the architectural sphere.

Volume 2 of monumental 3-volume classic offers comprehensive and detailed coverage of architectural terms, individuals and national styles. Total in set: over 100 photographs and more than 1000 illustrations. Bibliography.

The name Michelangelo instantly conjures up the Sistine Chapel, the David, the Pieta and countless other great works. In his History of Italian Painting, the French writer Stendhal remarked that, “between Greek antiquity and Michelangelo nothing exists, except more or less skilled forgeries”. In Promenade in Rome, Chateaubriant expresses his admiration for the refined lines of the Pieta. A number of great writers such as Manzoni view Michelangelo as one of the indisputable Masters of the western revival in art. The work of Michelangelo has, indisputably, stood the test of time. How was he able, in so few years, to develop the methods behind a body of work worthy of his Greek predecessors? Often referred to as a superhuman and a creative genius, Michelangelo was an incomparable artist of the Italian Renaissance and is often ranked alongside Leonardo da Vinci in terms of influence and achievement. In this work, Jean-Matthieu Gosselin explores Michelangelo’s many identities: sculptor, architect, painter and draughtsman.