The Performative Character of Style

The redefinition of the concept of style in the 19th century — a broad theoretical and ‘foundationalist’ inquiry central to the era’s architectural preoccupations — reflected the desire to understand the cultural and material mechanism through which ‘authentic’ architectures were born. It focused upon the artistic unity within a given historical period, not as some abstract speculation on ideal form, but as a reflection on the constitutive formation of artistic cultures: not what makes an architecture beautiful, but what makes it authentic and living. Focusing, amongst many authors, upon the theoretical work of French architect Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814–1879) as a case study, I will explore how ‘style-theory’ was a search to understand the profound nature of the creative act itself, how it sought to grapple with humanity’s very ‘shaping power’

L’architecture recadrée : la photographie et le nouveau régime visuel dans la presse architecturale après 1870

Gourlier versus Narjoux : le géométral versus la perspective Le mode de représentation architecturale, tel qu’il fut pratiqué par les architectes, a subi des transformations importantes en France tout au long du xixe siècle. Comparons, par exemple, deux importants recueils de monuments français et parisiens du début et de la fin de ce siècle. Le Choix d’édifices publics de Charles Pierre Gourlier est publié entre 1825 et 1850 et répertorie en trois gros volumes 209 édifices publics, choisis à..

L’architecture à l’heure du numérique, des algorithmes au projet

Il y a vingt-cinq ans, l’architecture était encore largement produite à la main, à l’aide d’encre appliquée sur du calque. La diffusion des outils numériques est venue bouleverser la situation. L’écrasante majorité des projets est aujourd’hui conçue au moyen de l’ordinateur. Les outils, on le sait, orientent les pratiques créatives et sont même susceptibles de provoquer leur redéfinition. Quel a été l’impact du numérique sur l’architecture ? Les contributions à cette discussion tentent d’appo..

Architectes et photographes au xixe siècle

Si l’on connaît les relations étroites qui lièrent, au XIXe siècle, l’architecture et la photographie, les relations entre l’architecte et le photographe, la façon, notamment, dont le premier apprend rapidement à solliciter et utiliser le second, en influant sur sa pratique, n’ont été abordées que ponctuellement à l’occasion d’études ou d’expositions monographiques. Citons pour mémoire l’exposition « Le photographe et l’architecte. Edouard Baldus, Hector-Martin Lefuel et le chantier du Nouveau Louvre de Napoléon III » (musée du Louvre, 1995) réalisée en grande partie à partir du fonds de l’Agence d’architecture du Louvre, ou des expositions monographiques consacrées à des architectes (« AlfredNicolas Normand », CNMHS, 1978 ou « Charles Garnier, un architecte pour un empire », Paris, ENSBA, 2010). Pourtant, dans leur double volonté de former de vastes corpus visuels pouvant servir de références à leurs projets et de documenter leurs œuvres bâties, y compris dans les phases provisoires de leur mise en œuvre, l’architecte trouve dans le photographe un partenaire décisif, dont il apprendra vite à orienter l’objectif, voire à retoucher ou à recadrer les images, notamment pour les publier

The antinucleon-nucleon interaction at low energy : annihilation dynamics

The general properties of antiproton-proton annihilation at rest are presented, with special focus on the two-meson final states. The data exhibit remarkable dynamical selection rules : some allowed annihilation modes are suppressed by one order of magnitude with respect to modes of comparable phase-space. Various phenomenological analyses are reviewed, based on microscopic quark dynamics or symmetry considerations. The role of initial- and final-state interaction is also examined.Comment: 128 pages, 49 tables, 27 figure

Technical Design Report for the PANDA Solenoid and Dipole Spectrometer Magnets

This document is the Technical Design Report covering the two large spectrometer magnets of the PANDA detector set-up. It shows the conceptual design of the magnets and their anticipated performance. It precedes the tender and procurement of the magnets and, hence, is subject to possible modifications arising during this process.Comment: 10 pages, 14MB, accepted by FAIR STI in May 2009, editors: Inti Lehmann (chair), Andrea Bersani, Yuri Lobanov, Jost Luehning, Jerzy Smyrski, Technical Coordiantor: Lars Schmitt, Bernd Lewandowski (deputy), Spokespersons: Ulrich Wiedner, Paola Gianotti (deputy

Physics Performance Report for PANDA: Strong Interaction Studies with Antiprotons

To study fundamental questions of hadron and nuclear physics in interactions of antiprotons with nucleons and nuclei, the universal PANDA detector will be built. Gluonic excitations, the physics of strange and charm quarks and nucleon structure studies will be performed with unprecedented accuracy thereby allowing high-precision tests of the strong interaction. The proposed PANDA detector is a state-of-the art internal target detector at the HESR at FAIR allowing the detection and identification of neutral and charged particles generated within the relevant angular and energy range. This report presents a summary of the physics accessible at PANDA and what performance can be expected.Comment: 216 page

Projet de Labrouste pour le tombeau de l'empereur Napoléon. Essai d'interprétation symbolique de l'architecture romantique

Bressani Martin. Projet de Labrouste pour le tombeau de l'empereur Napoléon. Essai d'interprétation symbolique de l'architecture romantique. In: Revue de l'Art, 1999, n°125. pp. 54-63

Problems of housing, technology, and building form in fin de siecle Paris : Auguste Perret and the building at 25b rue Franklin

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1985.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 283-301).The thesis studies the apartment block at 25b rue Franklin in Paris designed in 1903 by the architect Auguste Perret. It documents the building's history and discusses its design in the context of late-nineteenth-century theoretical debate on housing and architecture. The first part of the study examines the context. It includes an analysis of the ·various constraints that Perret faced at rue Franklin in an attempt to establish clearly the extent of their influence on the design of the building. ~ext a typological survey of the apartment block in nineteenth-century Paris brings out those aspects of the building type considered problematical by the architects of the period. The second part of the study discusses the theoretical issue of rationalism. It first distinguishes the different brands of rationalist theories in France at the end of the nineteenth century. An examination of the 25b shows the mark left by the writings of Eugene Viollet-le-Duc on Perret's rationalist conceptions of architecture. It also illustrates the link established between industry and rationalism at rue Franklin. The third section of the thesis addresses the organic theory of architecture in its relation to the 25b rue Franklin. Contrary to the conventional view, the discussion demonstrates that the design of 25b rue Franklin entailed aims which went beyond a strict response to legal or site constraints or the faithful expression of structure. Perret at rue Franklin attempted to root his architecture in society, nature, and history. This "organicism" was again largely indebted to the insights of Viollet-le-Duc. It also reflected Perret's firm conviction that reinforced concrete itself was an "organic" material which summarized and surpassed all previous materials. With such notions in mind, Perret endeavored to achieve a synthesis of what were considered the two great architectural traditions of the Western world: Gothic and Greek.by Martin Bressani.M.S