Reenactionary appears to be a word I invented sometime in
second half of 1999.
The first time I wrote the word architecturism was 30
January 2001 within personal notes, and the first time I
wrote architecturism 'publicly was 28 October 2001 here at
design-l. I may not be the first person to use this word,
however, as a google search indicated a couple other people
using this term, also in 2001.
A search of 'reenactionary and 'architecturism' within the
design-l and architecthetics online archives will provide a
fairly good 'history' of the use of these terms. I may have
used to words in posts to archipol, but that archive is no
longer available online (or maybe it moved to a new URL).
It has long been my intention to compose a e-book entitled
REENACTIONARY ARCHITECTURISM. So far, I have compiled lots
of material.
Here's something I read for the first time today--I'm not
kidding. It was (ghost)written/published in 1913 by a second
cousin of Ludwig and Otto:
Herrenchiemsee was a miniature Versailles, and it was here,
in the Galerie des Glaces, that the King gave his ghostly
dinner parties, one of which he afterwards described to my
aunt, who in turn narrated the incidents and the
conversations to me, although not literally in the words
which follow:
Shortly before midnight, the wonderful "Galerie" glowed with
the soft light of many candles which turned the crystal
candelabra into chains of glittering diamonds. The
dinner-table, which was decorated with gold plate and
exquisite glass and flowers, was laid for thirteen guests,
and at five minutes before midnight King Ludwig entered the
room to await their arrival.
When the clock struck twelve, the great doors were flung
open, and the Groom of the Chambers announced -- Queen Marie
Antoinette. Ludwig came forward to receive her, and what did
he see? A beautiful woman dressed in delicate satin, her
powdered hair entwined with pearls and roses, and round her
neck a thin blood-red line; for the King imagined that at
his bidding the Queen's spirit resumed the earthly aspect
which she wore during the gorgeous days at Versailles,
together with the cruel mark of the guillotine.
Louis XIV, with flowing wig and suit of stiff gold-encrusted
brocade came mincingly forward on high red heels to be
welcomed by his host; then Mary, Queen of Scots, lovely in
black velvet, with the crimson kiss of death on her neck,
looked deep into the King's eyes and enthralled his soul.
Catherine the Great, resplendent in her gorgeous robes,
brought with her the taint of blood and desire, and the
romantic troubadour Wolfram von Eschenbach, who followed the
august lady, shivered as his sleeve inadvertently brushed
her arm.
Julius Cresar, whose bald head was encircled with a laurel
wreath, entered with the all-conquering Alexander, and the
Emperor Constantine followed them absorbed by his vision of
the Cross.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and the cross-grained cynic
Diogenes seemed entirely out of place in that lovely
glittering room, and so did the Emperor Barbarossa as he
roughly acknowledged Ludwig's salutation. A solemn monk was
the next arrival, and then the King looked anxious, for one
guest was late, but at last the Spirit of the Mountains
drifted lightly into the room. She was fair as the dawn
which is only seen to perfection in the lonely places of the
world, and her eyes were the deep blue of the quiet lakes.
From beneath a crown of icicles her long fair hair fell over
her white shoulders, and her transparent draperies were
adorned with flowers and moss.
The King smiled at the Fairy, who kissed him with cold sweet
lips that whispered of the purity of life far from the
haunts of men; then she placed her hand upon his brow and
bade him think of the forests, and the wild creatures which
he loved and whose lives he held sacred.
Dinner was served, and thirteen servants waited on the
guests, whose conversation was varied and often brilliant,
as befitted such a gathering of the Great Ones of all Ages.
But the Mountain Fairy sat by the King, and spoke of her
distant home where the streams flowed swiftly over the
emerald water weeds; she told him the secret which the wind
tells the pine-trees in the dreary winter days, and how
their resinous tears in summer are shed by the dryads
imprisoned in their hearts. She made him smell the perfume
of the flower-starred moss which she wore, and the enchanted
King paid little attention to Marie Antoinette, who was
talking trivialities about the Trianon and the Fountains of
Versailles.
Finally Ludwig pledged his guests, and when the hands of the
great gilt clock marked the hour of one he shattered his
glass so that it could never be used to drink less noble
toasts. Then silently and swiftly the ghostly diners
disappeared, followed by the King.
Ludwig firmly imagined that this dinner was really attended
by the illustrious dead, and his servants heightened the
illusion by devouring the courses as soon as they were
removed; so when the King passed through the serving room
and saw that the food had really been consumed, he was more
than ever convinced of the truth of his delusion.
["Ludwig occupied Herrenchimsee Palace on one occasion only:
for ten nights in the autumn of 1885." -- Wilfrid Blunt, THE
DREAM KING. Ludwig was declared insane and subsequently soon
died mid-June 1886.]
reenactment is as reenactment does?
Kahn and Matta-Clark have lately been discussing
architecture and cut-outs (and cut-up books). Piranesi and
Schmitt are together composing a documentation of SANTA
COSTANZA. And the ghost-writer John the Baptist Piranesi has
taken over ENCYCLOPEDIA ICHNOGRAPHICA, the project initiated
at Quondam.
Did you know Ludwig is close friends with T.S. Eliot?
My life-long next-door neighbor, who is now 80+ years old,
spent Holy Week and Easter on retreat in Elkins Park. At
least somebody I actually know spent some time recently
close to Saint Catherine de Ricci, Trumbauer, and who knows
who else.
--
The Design-L list for art and architecture, since 1992...
To subscribe, send mailto:design-l-subscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To signoff, send mailto:design-l-unsubscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Visit archives: http://lists.psu.edu/archives/design-l.html
second half of 1999.
The first time I wrote the word architecturism was 30
January 2001 within personal notes, and the first time I
wrote architecturism 'publicly was 28 October 2001 here at
design-l. I may not be the first person to use this word,
however, as a google search indicated a couple other people
using this term, also in 2001.
A search of 'reenactionary and 'architecturism' within the
design-l and architecthetics online archives will provide a
fairly good 'history' of the use of these terms. I may have
used to words in posts to archipol, but that archive is no
longer available online (or maybe it moved to a new URL).
It has long been my intention to compose a e-book entitled
REENACTIONARY ARCHITECTURISM. So far, I have compiled lots
of material.
Here's something I read for the first time today--I'm not
kidding. It was (ghost)written/published in 1913 by a second
cousin of Ludwig and Otto:
Herrenchiemsee was a miniature Versailles, and it was here,
in the Galerie des Glaces, that the King gave his ghostly
dinner parties, one of which he afterwards described to my
aunt, who in turn narrated the incidents and the
conversations to me, although not literally in the words
which follow:
Shortly before midnight, the wonderful "Galerie" glowed with
the soft light of many candles which turned the crystal
candelabra into chains of glittering diamonds. The
dinner-table, which was decorated with gold plate and
exquisite glass and flowers, was laid for thirteen guests,
and at five minutes before midnight King Ludwig entered the
room to await their arrival.
When the clock struck twelve, the great doors were flung
open, and the Groom of the Chambers announced -- Queen Marie
Antoinette. Ludwig came forward to receive her, and what did
he see? A beautiful woman dressed in delicate satin, her
powdered hair entwined with pearls and roses, and round her
neck a thin blood-red line; for the King imagined that at
his bidding the Queen's spirit resumed the earthly aspect
which she wore during the gorgeous days at Versailles,
together with the cruel mark of the guillotine.
Louis XIV, with flowing wig and suit of stiff gold-encrusted
brocade came mincingly forward on high red heels to be
welcomed by his host; then Mary, Queen of Scots, lovely in
black velvet, with the crimson kiss of death on her neck,
looked deep into the King's eyes and enthralled his soul.
Catherine the Great, resplendent in her gorgeous robes,
brought with her the taint of blood and desire, and the
romantic troubadour Wolfram von Eschenbach, who followed the
august lady, shivered as his sleeve inadvertently brushed
her arm.
Julius Cresar, whose bald head was encircled with a laurel
wreath, entered with the all-conquering Alexander, and the
Emperor Constantine followed them absorbed by his vision of
the Cross.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and the cross-grained cynic
Diogenes seemed entirely out of place in that lovely
glittering room, and so did the Emperor Barbarossa as he
roughly acknowledged Ludwig's salutation. A solemn monk was
the next arrival, and then the King looked anxious, for one
guest was late, but at last the Spirit of the Mountains
drifted lightly into the room. She was fair as the dawn
which is only seen to perfection in the lonely places of the
world, and her eyes were the deep blue of the quiet lakes.
From beneath a crown of icicles her long fair hair fell over
her white shoulders, and her transparent draperies were
adorned with flowers and moss.
The King smiled at the Fairy, who kissed him with cold sweet
lips that whispered of the purity of life far from the
haunts of men; then she placed her hand upon his brow and
bade him think of the forests, and the wild creatures which
he loved and whose lives he held sacred.
Dinner was served, and thirteen servants waited on the
guests, whose conversation was varied and often brilliant,
as befitted such a gathering of the Great Ones of all Ages.
But the Mountain Fairy sat by the King, and spoke of her
distant home where the streams flowed swiftly over the
emerald water weeds; she told him the secret which the wind
tells the pine-trees in the dreary winter days, and how
their resinous tears in summer are shed by the dryads
imprisoned in their hearts. She made him smell the perfume
of the flower-starred moss which she wore, and the enchanted
King paid little attention to Marie Antoinette, who was
talking trivialities about the Trianon and the Fountains of
Versailles.
Finally Ludwig pledged his guests, and when the hands of the
great gilt clock marked the hour of one he shattered his
glass so that it could never be used to drink less noble
toasts. Then silently and swiftly the ghostly diners
disappeared, followed by the King.
Ludwig firmly imagined that this dinner was really attended
by the illustrious dead, and his servants heightened the
illusion by devouring the courses as soon as they were
removed; so when the King passed through the serving room
and saw that the food had really been consumed, he was more
than ever convinced of the truth of his delusion.
["Ludwig occupied Herrenchimsee Palace on one occasion only:
for ten nights in the autumn of 1885." -- Wilfrid Blunt, THE
DREAM KING. Ludwig was declared insane and subsequently soon
died mid-June 1886.]
reenactment is as reenactment does?
Kahn and Matta-Clark have lately been discussing
architecture and cut-outs (and cut-up books). Piranesi and
Schmitt are together composing a documentation of SANTA
COSTANZA. And the ghost-writer John the Baptist Piranesi has
taken over ENCYCLOPEDIA ICHNOGRAPHICA, the project initiated
at Quondam.
Did you know Ludwig is close friends with T.S. Eliot?
My life-long next-door neighbor, who is now 80+ years old,
spent Holy Week and Easter on retreat in Elkins Park. At
least somebody I actually know spent some time recently
close to Saint Catherine de Ricci, Trumbauer, and who knows
who else.
--
The Design-L list for art and architecture, since 1992...
To subscribe, send mailto:design-l-subscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To signoff, send mailto:design-l-unsubscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Visit archives: http://lists.psu.edu/archives/design-l.html