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33-414: From 1838 to 1841, the architect Gottfried Semper built a representative opera house, which replaced the previous Morettisches Opernhaus . He took the forum plan devised by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann as the basis for his well thought-out urban planning solution. The opening took place on 12 April 1841 with Carl Maria von Weber 's Jubelouvertüre and Goethe's Torquato Tasso . The circular building in

66-656: A conceptual design for a theatre dedicated to the work of Richard Wagner to be built in Munich. The project, developed from 1864 to 1866, was never realized, although Wagner 'borrowed' many of its features for his own later theatre at Bayreuth . Already in 1833, there were first plans in Vienna for the public presentation of the Imperial Art Collections. With the planning of the Vienna Ring Road ,

99-472: A few years in an interim theatre, the so-called "Bretterbude". Meanwhile, Semper was working on new building plans for the second theatre, today's Semperoper . The Dresden court councillor Wilhelm Lesky built his Villa estate in Kötzschenbroda on the remains of the burnt-down first Semper's Opera House as a picturesque arrangement of ruins. These spolias are no longer preserved today. In contrast,

132-536: A prototype of German villa architecture. On September 1, 1835, Semper married Bertha Thimmig . The marriage ultimately produced six children. A convinced Republican, Semper took a leading role, along with his friend Richard Wagner , in the May 1849 uprising which swept over the city. He was a member of the Civic Guard (Kommunalgarde) and helped to erect barricades in the streets. When the rebellion collapsed, Semper

165-785: A strong position in favor of polychromy - supported by his investigation of pigments on the Trajan's column in Rome - brought him sudden recognition in architectural and aesthetic circles across Europe. [1] On September 30, 1834, Semper obtained a post as Professor of Architecture at the Königlichen Akademie der bildenden Künste (today called the Hochschule) in Dresden thanks largely to the efforts and support of his former teacher Franz Christian Gau and swore an oath of allegiance to

198-467: A terrace overlooking the core of Zürich , the new school became a symbol of a new epoch. The building (1853–1864), which despite frequent remodeling continues to evoke Semper's concept, was initially required to accommodate not only the new school (known today as the ETH Zurich ), but the existing University of Zurich , as well. In 1855, Semper became a professor of architecture at the new school and

231-945: The Acropolis in Athens . During this period he became very interested in the Biedermeier -inspired polychromy debate, which centered on the question whether buildings in Ancient Greece and Rome had been colorfully painted or not. The drawn reconstructions of the painterly decorations of ancient villas he created in Athens inspired his later designs for the painted decorations in Dresden and Vienna. His 1834 publication Vorläufige Bemerkungen über bemalte Architectur und Plastik bei den Alten ( Preliminary Remarks on Polychrome Architecture and Sculpture in Antiquity ), in which he took

264-543: The Protestant Cemetery, Rome . Gottfried Semper's legacy in the field of architecture is marked by his profound influence on architectural theory, design, and education, as evidenced by scholarly research and critical analysis. The Four Elements of Architecture The Four Elements of Architecture is a book by the German architect Gottfried Semper . Published in 1851 , it is an attempt to explain

297-598: The Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in Dresden and was put on the government's wanted list. He fled first to Zürich and later to London. He returned to Germany after the 1862 amnesty granted to the revolutionaries. Semper wrote extensively on the origins of architecture, especially in his book The Four Elements of Architecture (1851), and

330-532: The University of Munich under Friedrich von Gärtner . In 1826, Semper travelled to Paris in order to work for the architect Franz Christian Gau , and he was present when the July Revolution of 1830 broke out. Between 1830 and 1833 he travelled to Italy and Greece in order to study the architecture and designs of antiquity . In 1832, he participated for four months in archaeological research at

363-1025: The Zwinger Palace complex. He designed the Dresden Hoftheater in 1841, which burned down in 1869. It was rebuilt in 1878 by his son to Semper's plans and today is called the Semperoper . Other buildings also remain indelibly attached to his name, such as the Maternity Hospital, the Synagogue (destroyed during the Third Reich), the Oppenheim Palace, and the Villa Rosa built for the banker Martin Wilhelm Oppenheim. This last construction stands as

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396-671: The 1848 Revolutions (such as Heinrich Heine and Ludwig Börne ). In the fall of 1850, he travelled to London, England. But while he was able to pick up occasional contracts — including participation in the design of the funeral carriage for the Duke of Wellington and the designs of the Canadian, Danish, Swedish, and Ottoman sections of the 1851 Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace — he found no steady employment. If his stay in London

429-604: The King (formerly Elector) of Saxony, Anthony Clement . The flourishing growth of Dresden during this period provided the young architect with considerable creative opportunities. In 1838–1840 a synagogue was built in Dresden to Semper's design, it was ever afterward called the Semper Synagogue and is noted for its Moorish Revival interior style. The Synagogue's exterior was built in romanesque style so as not to call attention to itself. The interior design included not only

462-559: The Königliches Hoftheater: Ida von Lüttichau , wife of the general director Wolf Adolf August von Lüttichau , reported in a letter: 51°3′16.23″N 13°44′6.61″E  /  51.0545083°N 13.7351694°E  / 51.0545083; 13.7351694 Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper ( German: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈzɛmpɐ] ; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic , and professor of architecture who designed and built

495-527: The Moorish inspired wall decorations but furnishings: specifically, a silver lamp of eternal light, which caught Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima's fancy. They gave a great deal of effort to have a copy of this lamp. Semper's student, Otto Simonson would construct the magnificent Moorish Revival Leipzig synagogue in 1855. Certain civic structures remain today, such as the Elbe-facing gallery of

528-515: The Palace according to his plan, as was the Burgtheater. In 1871, Semper moved to Vienna to undertake the projects. During construction, repeated disagreements with his appointed associate architect ( Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer ), led Semper to resign from the project in 1876. In the following year, his health began to deteriorate. He died two years later while on a visit to Italy and is buried in

561-654: The Swiss municipality of Affoltern am Albis in return for the planning and construction of their main church's bell-tower. This citizenship was later confirmed by the Zürich cantonal government in December 1861 and with these new Swiss passports in hand, Semper was once again able to travel and finally also visit Germany, after the warrant for his arrest had been cancelled in May 1863. Semper provided Bavaria 's King Ludwig II with

594-401: The desert is today, as when the first men lost paradise, the setting up of the fireplace and the lighting of the reviving, warming, and food preparing flame. Around the hearth the first groups formed: around the hearth the first groups assembled; around it the first alliances formed; around it the first rude religious concepts were put into the customs of a cult... Throughout all phases of society

627-651: The forms of the Italian early Renaissance was praised as one of the most beautiful European theatres. Semper's first theatre building was considerably closer to the castle than his second opera house, which still exists today; the forerunner of today's Theaterplatz was laid out in front of the opera in 1840. In the following years, Richard Wagner was Kapellmeister there, and gave the world premieres of several of his music dramas: Rienzi , Der fliegende Holländer and Tannhäuser , with singers including Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient and Joseph Tichatschek . In 1838,

660-430: The hearth formed that sacred focus around which took order and shape. It is the first and most important element of architecture. Around it were grouped the other three elements: the roof, the enclosure, and the mound. The protecting negations or defenders of the hearths flame against three hostile elements of nature. Enclosures (walls) were said to have their origins in weaving . Just as fences and pens were woven sticks,

693-429: The most basic form of a spatial divider still seen in use in parts of the world today is the fabric screen. Only when additional functional requirements are placed on the enclosure (such as structural weight-bearing needs) does the materiality of the wall change to something beyond fabric. The mat and its use in primitive huts interchangeably as floors, walls, and draped over frames was considered by Gottfried Semper to be

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726-549: The museum question became pressing again. Works forming the imperial art collection were scattered among several buildings. Semper was assigned to submit a proposal for locating new buildings in conjunction with redevelopment of the Ring Road. In 1869, he designed a gigantic 'Imperial Forum' which was not realized. The National Museum of Art History and the National Museum of Natural History were erected, however, opposite

759-419: The origins of architecture through the lens of anthropology . The book divides architecture into four distinct elements: the hearth, the roof, the enclosure and the mound. The origins of each element can be found in the traditional crafts of ancient "barbarians": Semper, stating that the hearth was the first element created: The first sign of settlement and rest after the hunt, the battle, and wandering in

792-574: The origins of architecture. Semper's Four Elements of Architecture was an attempt at a universal theory of architecture. The Four Elements of Architecture was not the classification of a specific typology but rather was more universal in its attempt to offer a more general theory of architecture. Rather than describing one building typology as being the beginning, he considers what assemblies and systems are universal in all indigenous primitive structures.” The Four Elements of Architecture as an archaeologically driven theory stressed functionalism as

825-487: The respected Dresden clockmaker Friedrich Gutkaes was commissioned to construct a clock that could be easily read from all seats. This clock from the Kunstuhrenfabrik Gutkaes is today one of the most historically significant of its kind. On 21 September 1869, the theatre building was completely destroyed in a fire due to carelessness during repair work. After the catastrophe, performances continued for

858-613: The so-called Rietschelgiebel  [ de ] , which can be seen today at the Burgtheater on the Ortenburg  [ de ] in Bautzen , has been preserved. This group of figures created by Ernst Rietschel with the title "Allegory of Tragedy" was originally installed on the north wall of the Dresden Court Theatre, but had no longer found a use when the opera house was rebuilt. Important conductors worked at

891-535: The success of many of his students who attained success and renown served to ensure his legacy. The Swiss architect Emil Schmid was one such student. With his income as a professor, Semper was able to reunite his family, bringing them to Zürich from Saxony. The City Hall in Winterthur is among other buildings designed by Semper in Switzerland. In 1861, Semper and his family were awarded Swiss citizenship by

924-615: The urging of the citizenry, commissioned Semper to build a new one. Semper produced the plans but left the actual construction to his son, Manfred. "What must I have done in 48, that one persecutes me forever? One single barricade did I construct - it held, because it was practical, and as it was practical, it was beautiful", wrote Semper in dismay. After stays in Zwickau , Hof , Karlsruhe and Strasbourg , Semper eventually ended up back in Paris, like many other disillusioned Republicans from

957-706: Was born into a well-to-do industrialist family in Hamburg in 1803. When French troops occupied the city in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars , the family moved to nearby Altona , at the time part of Denmark . The fifth of eight children, he attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums in Hamburg before starting his university education at Göttingen in 1823, where he studied historiography and mathematics . He subsequently studied architecture in 1825 at

990-498: Was considered a leading agitator for democratic change and a ringleader against government authority and he was forced to flee the city. He was destined never to return to the city that would, ironically, become most associated with his architectural (and political) legacy. The Saxon government maintained a warrant for his arrest until 1863. When the Semper-designed Hoftheater burnt down in 1869, King John , on

1023-484: Was disappointing professionally, however, it proved a fertile period for Semper's theoretical, creative and academic development. He published Die vier Elemente der Baukunst ( The Four Elements of Architecture ) in 1851 and Wissenschaft, Industrie und Kunst ( Science, Industry and Art ) in 1852. These works would ultimately provide the groundwork for his most widely regarded publication, Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen Künsten oder Praktische Ästhetik, which

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1056-643: Was one of the major figures in the controversy surrounding the polychrome architectural style of ancient Greece . He designed works at all scales—from major urban interventions such as the redesign of the Ringstraße in Vienna , to a baton for Richard Wagner . His unrealised design for an opera house in Munich was, without permission, adapted by Wagner for the Bayreuth Festspielhaus . Semper

1089-512: Was published in two volumes in 1861 and 1863. Concurrently with the onset of the industrial revolution, the Swiss Federation planned to establish a polytechnical school. As the principal judge for the competition held to select a design for the new building, Semper deemed the submitted entries unsatisfactory and, ultimately, designed the building himself. Proudly situated (where fortified walls once stood), visible from all sides on

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