In the past Gottfried Semper (1803-1873) has been framed as a significant theoretician but not an important architect. Few scholars have until now examined the resonances between his writings and his built works. This scholarly text explores the consequences of thinking architectural production as the intersection of theory and practice in six of Semper’s lesser known works which he created during his tenure in Zurich, Switzerland, between 1854 and 1871.
This book has three objectives: the first is to retrace the tentative seams that link Semper’s built and written works, and in this process challenge the still pervasive assumption that the architect’s buildings have little to do with his important theoretical and historical texts. The second objective is to construct a detailed analysis of Semper’s lesser known works, with the intent to map a constellation of his theoretical and practical tactics. The third objective is to show how these means of production may inform a different practice of writing and building that considers the expanded, interdisciplinary role architecture can play in the twenty-first century.
From this perspective Semper’s hybrid work—advanced via the roles of influential writer, teacher, and designer—holds the potential to undermine the entrenched lines of division between practices at the same time that it promotes new linkages between design and building for contemporary applications.
