Internationales Symposium 'A Dialogue of the Arts'Reinterpreting Architectural Structure and its Description in Literature of Early Modern Times to the Present

Hors les murs Colloque

20oct201621oct2016

During the earlier conferences of 2010, 2012 and 2014, which dealt with "Descriptions of Architecture in Literature of Early Modern Times to the Present” respectively "Descriptions of Interior Design in Literature of Early Modern Times to the Present” and the conference of 2014, The Relationship of Exterior and Interior: Descriptions of Architecture and Interiors in Literature of Early Modern Times to the Present”, the fourth conference is devoted to „Reinterpreting Architectural Structure and its Description in Literature” and this again relying on literature of different languages from Early Modern Times to the present. The past three conferences have shown us that literary descriptions of different times and languages witness the time in which they are written: they are on the one hand an important contribution for understanding the development of methods in Art History, on the other hand they can disclose new interdisciplinary dialogues. The presentations and the following publication of the foregoing conferences have shown clearly that literary texts of different genres like prose, poetry, travelogues, diaries as well as letters and other categories are door-openers not only for new art historical perceptions, but also can give hints to new methods of the discipline. This means not only the breaking up of the periodical conception of Art History, but also the architectural and spatial categories which defines it.

These are also the intentions of the fourth conference and this by the fact that architectural treatises and architects themselves rarely or never consider a reinterpretation of buildings, giving them strict functions. But there can be descriptions of exterior observers, inhabitants and even visitors given by the author who can observe changing or new functions of a building never conceived of by its architect. Fixed in literary texts, the new functions can be described as well as analyzed and in this way contribute to new methods and methodology for Art History. It is the goal of this fourth conference to test how far these new proceedings can influence traditional methodology and promote new methods for Art History.

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Informations

October 20-21st - 9H-17H

UNIVERSITÄT ZÜRICH
KUNSTHISTORISCHES INSTITUT
RÄMISTRASSE 73
8006 ZÜRICH