Architectural Encounters between Idea and Material: The 1547 Frontispiece of Walther Hermann Ryff

To examine the contemporary challenges in the practice of architecture of the encounters between physical building materials and metaphysical concepts, this paper examines a renaissance frontispiece from Walther Hermann Ryff’s Architectur of 1547. Architectural frontispieces materialize the idea of an author in a synoptic image and act as thresholds in the encounter between reader and author. Platonic notions of idea preceding and being superior to material dominate architectural thought. This study of the Allegory of Constrained Genius reveals the importance of the Aristotelian interpretation of the integration of matter in the intellect. This conflict parallels the simultaneous debates between Catholic transubstantiation and protestant impanation. These lessons are applied to practice today, suggesting a significant role for the material imagination in architectural design.

Volume Editors
David Covo & Gabriel Mérigo Basurto

ISBN
0-935502-57-2