Stadtbaukunst: The Role of the "Other Modernity" in Designing European City The Wohnhof and Borstei Siedlung

With this study we want to focus on an historical period, the '20s, fundamental for contemporary urban design. The '20s represent a moment of synthesis of several elements: the potentialities and the risks of the industrial revolution; the ideas of the utopians, Howard's idea of garden city; the tragedy of the First World War, the need for a large number of houses to be built in a short time. So the '20s are full of reified ideas about the theme of dwelling. In particular, we want to focus on the research carried out in Germany by a group of architects linked to the figure of Theodor Fischer and to the schools of Stuttgart and Munich. They considered urban design as “the art of building the city” (Stadtbaukunst), and they carried out the idea of modern city based on traditional elements (street, square, landmark, type and its variations) considered in a renewed relationship with nature and landscape. Studying the urban plans of these architects of the “other modernity” means studying parts of the city, trying to give order to the big and shapeless city. These parts assume the features of small town in the big city, or close to it, attempting to re-establish the idea of city as the place of human dwelling. This study allows us to reflect on the problem of the expansion of the city and the definition of its boundaries,providing information on how to establish a new town (in nature), or how to re-establish an idea of city in the shapeless parts (suburbs)

Constructing Kingship in Early Solomonic Ethiopia: The David and Solomon Portraits in the Juel-Jensen Psalter

Determining what the psalter illustrations of medieval Ethiopia—especially the David and Solomon portraits in the Juel-Jensen Psalter—have in common with other traditions helps to single out what makes them unique and shows that they were structured around Ethiopian imperial ideology, which considered the country’s emperors as descendants of these biblical figures. The distinctly Ethiopian character of these images is foregrounded to show that the work of Ethiopian artists can be appreciated only if one considers their communicative intentions and sociocultural backgrounds

A Contextual Reading of Ethiopian Crosses through Form and Ritual

Maria Evangelatou’s book promises to explore new research questions and challenge Eurocentric approaches to Ethiopian crosses by presenting an analysis of their use and significance among the Christian orthodox population of Ethiopia. Unfortunately, the study fails to deliver on this promise due to a lack of direct engagement with Ethiopian voices and the relevant literature, and a reliance on publications that focus on noncontemporary or non-Ethiopian contexts. This lack of engagement with Christian Ethiopians leads to significant misinterpretations. Moreover, by adopting an approach to Ethiopian sources that fails to recognize the existence of significant shifts within the Ethiopian literary tradition, the author flattens Ethiopia’s historical dimension, and thus unintentionally reproduces the kind of Eurocentric representation of the country that she set out to challenge

Towards a Comparative Framework for Research on the Long Cycle in Ethiopic Gospels: Some Preliminary Observations

This article argues that it is possible to improve our understanding of Ethiopian manuscript illumination of the early Solomonic period by adopting a systematic comparative approach. It does so by presenting a case study which analyses and compares the iconography of two examples of the long cycle dating to the second half of the fourteenth century. This comparison shows how technical skills and artistic choices contributed to the shaping of Ethiopian manuscript illumination, and in doing so it sheds some light on the artistic practices of early Solomonic illuminators

Escrituras migrantes

En los últimos tiempos, algunos escritores extranjeros en Italia que escriben en italiano han mostrado su desacuerdo ??justo?? con el hecho de ser encasillados dentro de la incómoda etiqueta de los “escritores inmigrantes” e, incluso, también en el cajón solo aparentemente más amplio de los “escritores migrantes” […]He participado en esta discusión de manera claramente conflictiva. Yo aprendo si trabajo con los demás; trabajar con los demás significa: hacer una obra común con alguien sin el cual no hubiera sido posible ni siquiera imaginarla; o aprendo en el conflicto. Las medias tintas son juegos de poder, de conveniencia, de negocios, de congreso, chatear on line. Aprovecho, por lo tanto, la ocasión de la organización del festival-encuentro ??con alemanes, suizos, austriacos e italianos?? para poner un poco de orden en mis ideas que, obviamente, nacen y crecen de los enfrentamientos.