A cycle of lectures on 19th century architecture of the Department of Architecture and Urbanism, ISCTE Lisbon / Portugal, entitled “Nineteenth Century Revisited” will happen every Thursday between the 3rd March and the 21st April 2021, online via ZOOM at 3.30 pm (GMT+0).
3rd March – Barry Bergdoll
10th March – Anthony Vidler
17th March – Umberto Napolitano
24th March – Juan Calatrava
14th April – Jùlia Varela
21st April – Nuno Grande
Zoom link: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/83624515187
ID: 83624515187
The first lecture will be held on 3rd March by Barry Bergdoll – “Revisiting the European Nineteenth century after Brexit: Thoughts on European Architecture 1750-1890 at 21”:
“To open a series in 2021 on the Nineteenth Century I propose to reflect on the daunting task two decades ago of writing one of the two volumes devoted to architecture of that period in the Oxford University Press History of Art series, a series aimed to introduce students and a more general public to major periods and themes of the history of art and architecture (the other was on the Architecture of the United States). Published as the Twentieth Century came to a close, that volume is now twenty-one years old, a maturing moment, perhaps, to reflect on its aims, shortcomings, and on the state of study of 19th century architecture as it slips further and further into the rear view mirror, even as certain aspects of 19th century culture seem, as the factory warning sometimes announces “closer than that may appear,” if only to judge by the rise of parochial nationalism making the concept of “Europe” seem more fragile than it has in generations. How does that project, commissioned in the mid-1990s, appear in 2021 with new framings of global art history, critical race theory, and a new generation of post-colonial thought, in addition to such themes as the institutional turn in art history and the infrastructural turn in architectural history? How might it look if written today?”
The third lecture will be held on 17th March by Umberto Napolitano – “Paris Haussmann. A Model’s Relevance”:
“In the 19th century, Paris underwent profound transformations above and below ground, from the city center to its outskirts. Georges Eugène Haussmann, Prefect of the Seine from 1853 to 1870, embodies this entire century of public works that continue to shape the city’s organization and identity. Paris Haussmann explores and analyzes the characteristics of this homogenous yet polymorphous cityscape, the result of a lengthy process of changes and evolutions, even in recent times. Research was conducted at all levels to classify and compare roadways, identify public spaces, and organize the blocks and buildings according to their current geometry. For the first time, the qualities of the Haussmann model have been set forth to show how they grapple with the challenges that contemporary cities face.”
