Chatterjee Anuradha - John Ruskin and the Fabric of Architecture

Through the theoretical lenses of dress studies, gender, science, and visual studies, this volume analyses the impact John Ruskin has had on architecture throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explores Ruskins different ideologies, such as the adorned wall veil, which were instrumental in bringing focus to structures that were previously unconsidered.

John Ruskin and the Fabric of Architecture examines the ways in which Ruskin perceives the evolution of architecture through the idea that architecture is surface. The creative act in architecture, analogous to the divine act of creation, was viewed as a form of dressing. By adding highly aesthetic features to designs, taking inspiration from the veil of womens clothing, Ruskin believed that buildings could be transformed into meaningful architecture. This volume discusses the importance of Ruskins surface theory and the myth of feminine architecture, and additionally presents a competing theory of textile analogy in architecture based on morality and gender to counter Gottfried Sempers historicist perspective.

This book would be beneficial to students and academics of architectural history and theory, gender studies and visual studies who wish to delve into Ruskins theories and to further understand his capacity for thinking beyond the historical methods. The book will also be of interest to architectural practitioners, particularly Ruskins theory of surface architecture.

Anuradha Chatterjee is an architectural historian and theorist based in Sydney. She completed her MArch and PhD from the University of New South Wales. Anuradha is the author of Built, Unbuilt, and Imagined Sydney (COPAL Publishing, 2015) and Surface and Deep Histories (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), and the founding editor of online refereed journal The Eighth Lamp: Ruskin Studies Today .

Anuradha Chatterjee

First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2018 Anuradha Chatterjee

The right of Anuradha Chatterjee to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Chatterjee, Anuradha, author.

Title: John Ruskin and the fabric of architecture / Anuradha Chatterjee.

Description: New York : Routledge, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017014257| ISBN 9781472449436 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315611365 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: ArchitecturePhilosophy. | Ruskin, John, 18191900Influence.

Classification: LCC NA2500. C453 2017 | DDC 720.1dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017014257

ISBN: 978-1-4724-4943-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-61136-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC