{architecture} – Page 127

The House with Chimaeras

The House with Chimaeras, 10 Bankovaya St, Kiev.

The House with Chimaeras was designed by the architect Vladislav Gorodetsky in 1901–1902. Gorodetsky was born in 1863 into a prosperous Polish szlachta family in the Podillia region. After finishing the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg in 1890, he moved to Kiev, where he lived for almost 30 years. At the time of the building’s construction, Gorodetsky had already established himself as a prominent Kiev architect, having designed many city buildings, from the St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral to a Karaite kenesa and the current National Art Museum of Ukraine. Besides architecture, Gorodetsky was also interested in big-game hunting, which explains why his building features many animals.

The Italian sculptor Emilio Sala was responsible for both the internal and external sculptural decorations, such as mermaids, dolphins, and frogs on the roof of the building, sinking ships and hunting trophies on the exterior walls, and exuberant interior decorations, such as grand stairways and chandeliers depicting huge catfish strangled in the stems of lotus flowers.

• A gallery of details
• The House at night on Flickr

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Adolph Sutro’s Gingerbread Palace
• The Triangular Lodge

Piranesi as designer

Pier table for Cardinal Rezzonico (c. 1768).

This ostentatious object is on display at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in an exhibition devoted to Piranesi’s work as a designer. Piranesi (whose work adorns the current {feuilleton} header) is far more well-known for his Carceri d’Invenzione and Vedute di Roma prints than for his furniture design, of course, so this exhibition addresses a side of the artist/architect which is rarely explored outside the more extensive books about his work. I’d seen this table before in black and white photographs in John Wilton-Ely’s substantial monograph, The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1978) but those photos don’t fully convey its lavish (some might say gaudy) effect.

The exhibition runs from September 14, 2007–January 20, 2008. From the Cooper-Hewitt site:

This exhibition examines the artist’s role in the reform of architecture and design from the 18th century to the present. This is the first museum exhibition to show Piranesi’s full range and influence as a designer of architecture, elaborate interiors and exquisite furnishings. On view will be etchings, original drawings and prints by Piranesi, as well as a selection of three-dimensional objects. In addition to his better-known architectural projects, Piranesi also designed fantastic chimneypieces, carriage works, furniture, light fixtures and other decorative pieces. The exhibition is co-curated by Dr. Sarah E. Lawrence, director, Master’s Program in the history of decorative arts and design, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and John Wilton-Ely, professor emeritus, University of Hull.

Diverse Maniere…, Open to Chimneypiece: Griffon Monopods on the Jambs (1769).

The original table design appeared in Diverse Maniere, a collection of prints showing design for clocks, furniture and fireplaces. Many of these are the most bizarre and detailed inventions in Piranesi’s corpus, especially the elaborate Egyptian-themed fireplaces. Very few of these confections were built at all but a number of the prints are in the exhibition and can be seen at its very elegant website.

• NYT feature on Piranesi and the Cooper-Hewitt exhibition

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The etching and engraving archive

Eugene de Salignac

Queensboro Bridge, exposures made for experiment, February 9, 1910.

From New York Rises: Photographs by Eugene de Salignac at the Museum of the City of New York until October 28th. Via Boing Boing.

• More Selignac bridge photos

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Luther Gerlach’s Los Angeles
• The Bradbury Building: Looking Backward from the Future
• Karel Plicka’s views of Prague
• Downtown LA by Ansel Adams

20 Sites n Years revisited

South London Dreaming by Tom Phillips (2007).

Tom Phillips’ ongoing art project, 20 Sites n Years, is now presented on his site with a facility which allows the viewing of all the photos for each location. (And if you haven’t come across the project before, the specifications are here.) Nice being able to step through the photos year by year especially if you don’t have a copy of Phillips’ Works and Texts. In an earlier description of the project he speculates on its possible manifestations in the future since the plan is that it be continued indefinitely after its creator’s death. This small web manifestation is one development that wouldn’t have been anticipated in 1973. Other possibilities, such as the likelihood of South London being eventually submerged by a rising Thames, were fanciful in the Seventies but no longer seem so remote.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The Tom Phillips blog
• 20 Sites n Years by Tom Phillips