Tag Archives: classical architecture

New Books at APL: The Pantheon

PantheonMarder, Tod A. and Mark Wilson Jones, ed. The Pantheon: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

I think it would be near impossible to pick a favorite building, but the Pantheon is a definite contender! I was thus excited that this book arrived today. I noticed last week that it was “in process” according to the Recent Arrivals of the library’s website. The work consists of a collection of twelve essays plus the introduction. The first half focuses on the ancient Roman Pantheon. The essays included cover issues of dating and construction as well as a discussion on Agrippa’s earlier building. The later half considers the Pantheon in various historical contexts. I look forward to reading the new research regarding dating and construction as well as the chapter on the Middle Ages.

 

Georgian Architecture for Blake

Professor Emeritus Blake Alexander was a great admirer of classical architecture.  His personal library, which he donated to the Architecture & Planning Library and is currently being processed, contains many important titles that focus on British architecture, including many of Nikolaus Pevsner’s The Buildings of England.Shortly after he passed away last December, I was asked by Fred Heath, vice-provost to UT Libraries to select a book that would be purchased in Blake’s memory.  I believe he would have enjoyed my selection: Georgian Architecture in the British Isles 1714-1830.  Published last year by English Heritage, this is revised and expanded edition for the original 1993 Georgian Architecture also by James Stevens Curl.  The book includes extensive illustrations including plans, sections and elevations as well as renderings and contemporary photos.  The select bibliography spans 12 dense pages that will clear offer a wealth of options for further readings.  More information about this title can be found on the author’s website. Georgian Architecture in the British Isles 1714-1830

The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera

MacGibbon, David. The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera. Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1888.

Scottish Victorian architect David MacGibbon moved to the French Riviera in 1874 after a tragic accident left his daughter Rachel permanently disabled. In this restorative climate, MacGibbon discovered the rich architectural heritage of Provence and its environs, documenting these spaces in a number of sketches that would later form the core of The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera. Published 14 years after this initial excursion, The Architecture of Provence and the Riveria examines ancient and medieval architecture in southern France, an heretofore underrepresented region in the annals of cultural history. Here, MacGibbon chronicles the early history of the region and explores its late-antique and medieval social and political infrastructure before focusing the remainder of his work on its art and architecture. In these sections, MacGibbon combines chronological, stylistic and geographic categories to organize his work, including a number of explanatory sketches to better demonstrate the spaces and works of art about which he has concerned himself.

Library of Congress call number: NA 1049 P8 M3