The facsimile and English-language reprint of Entwurff einer historischen Architektur, published in 1721 by Austrian architect and historian Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, a historical and theoretical work covering all architectural periods and styles, from Stonehenge to Chinese imperial arches, which had a considerable influence throughout Europe.
On 26 July 1721 the "Wiener Diarium" informed its readers that a new book by the general surveyor of constructions, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, titled "Entwurff einer historischen Architektur", was ready for subscribers to collect from the architect's place. The Entwurff is a collection of 86 sheets illustrating the architecture of the Jews, Egyptians, Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, Siamese, Chinese and Japanese, along with some of the author's projects.
Upon the third centenary of the author's death this re-print proposes to look back at Fischer's book as a precise cultural project, reacting to a specific historical and geographical context, and yet suggesting a more general attitude that can challenge contemporary architecture as well. The volume is accompanied by a complete translation of the original texts and complemented with essays by Maarten Delbeke, Steven Lauritano and Pier Paolo Tamburelli.
Maarten Delbeke (born 1970 in Bruges) is professor for the history and theory of architecture at ETH Zurich. Delbeke studied architecture at Ghent University, where he obtained his PhD in 2001. After fellowships in Rome, Oxford and Montreal he taught at the universities of Ghent and Leiden, before coming to Zurich in 2017. He has lectured and published widely on the history and theory of art and architecture in early modern Europe, the reception of mannerism and baroque in the 20th century, the relationship between architecture, print culture and text, and rococo architecture. Delbeke is also active as a curator and a critic. He was the founding editor of Architectural Histories, the online journal of the European Architectital History Network (EAHN).
Pier Paolo Tamburelli (born 1976 in Tortona) is an architect, one of the founding partners of baukuh. baukuh completed the House of Memory in Milan (2015) and the entrance pavilion of the Poretti Brewery in Induno Olona (2019). The office has transformed the Seminar School in Hoogstraten, developped the strategic plan for the Student City and the new headquarters of the Albanian Police in Tirana, and designed the new European library in Milan. Tamburelli has taught at the Berlage Institute Rotterdam, at TUM Munich, at FAUP Porto, at Harvard GSD, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, at Milan Politecnico, and he holds the chair of Design Theory at TU Vienna. Tamburelli was one of the founders and editors of the architectural magazine "San Rocco". In 2022 he published "On Bramante" for MIT Press.
Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723) was an Austrian architect, sculptor, engraver, and architectural historian. He is considered one of the creators of the Second Austrian Baroque architectural style.
