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Architecture and Truth in Fin-de-Siecle Vienna

Hardback

Main Details

Title Architecture and Truth in Fin-de-Siecle Vienna
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Leslie Topp
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:250
Dimensions(mm): Height 257,Width 180
Category/GenreTheory of architecture
ISBN/Barcode 9780521822756
ClassificationsDewey:720.943613
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 64 Halftones, unspecified; 16 Line drawings, unspecified

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 21 June 2004
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This book examines one of the key notions of modernist architecture as it was formulated in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century. Providing a close analysis of four major buildings - Olbrich's Secession Building, Hoffmann's Purkersdorf Sanatorium, Wagner's Postal Savings Bank, and Loos's Michaelerplatz building - Leslie Topp investigates how 'truth' could be interpreted in a variety of ways, including truth to purpose, symbolist or ideal truth, and ethical notions of authenticity. Drawing on newly uncovered archival materials, Topp offers a new interpretation of familiar buildings that are shown to encompass utopianism, hyper-rationality, and subjectivism. She also explores the connections between Viennese modern architecture and contemporary painting, psychiatry, fashion, labor issues, and anti-Semitic politics.

Reviews

'Architecture and Truth in Fin-de-Siecle Vienna provides a welcome reading of how architects innovated in concert with institutions. It offers many insights.' Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians