Richard A. Etlin – författare

This work explores the social and cultural hierarchies established in 18th-century France to illustrate how the conceptual basis of the modern house and the physical layout of the modern city emerged from debates among theoretically innovative French architects of the 18th-century. Examining a broad range of topics from architecture and urbanism to gardening and funerary monuments, the author shows how the work of these architects was informed by considerations of symbolic space. For Etlin, the 18th-century city was a place in which actual physical space was subjected to a complex mental layering of conceptual spaces. He focuses on the design theory of Boullee and Durand and charts their legacy through the architecture of Paul Philippe Cret, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn. He defines the distinctive features of neoclassicism and outlines the new grammar for classical architecture articulated by theorists and architects such as Laugier, Leroy and Ledoux.After discussing the 18th-century hotel, revolutionary space and the transformation of the image of the cemetery, Etlin examines the space of absence as embodied in commemorative architecture from Boullee and Gilly to Cret, Wright and Terragni. His book provides an accessible introduction to a century of architecture that transformed the classical forms of the Renaissance and Baroque periods into building types still familiar today.

Exploring the social and cultural hierarchies established in 18th-century France, this volume illustrates how the conceptual basis of the modern house and the physical layout of the modern city emerged from debates among theoretically innovative French architects of the 18th-century. Examining a broad range of topics from architecture and urbanism to gardening and funerary monuments, he shows how the work of these architects was informed by considerations of symbolic space. Richard Etlin asserts the 18th-century city was a place in which actual physical space was subjected to a complex mental layering of conceptual spaces. He focuses on the design theory of Boullee and Durand and charts their legacy through the architecture of Paul Philippe Cret, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis Kahn. He defines the distinctive features of neoclassicism and outlines the new grammar for classical architecture articulated by theorists and architects such as Laugier, Leroy, and Ledoux.After discussing the 18th-century "hotel", revolutionary space, and the transformation of the image of the cemetary, Etlin examines the space of absence as embodied in commemorative architecture from Boullee and Gilly to Cret, Wright, and Terragni. This book provides an accessible introduction to a century of architecture that transformed the classical forms of the Renaissance and Baroque periods into building types still familiar today.

"Art, Culture and Media Under the Third Reich" explores the way in which Nazi Germany used art and media to portray their country as a champion of "Kultur" and civilization. Rather than focusing strictly on the role of the arts in state-supported propaganda as other studies do, this volume reveals how multiple domains of cultural activity served to conceptually dehumanize Jews and other groups, sowing the psychological seeds for the Holocaust to come. Topics covered by the essays range from the design of the Nuremberg Party Rally Grounds to Nazi experiments with radio. Contributors address nearly every facet of the art and mass media under the Third Reich - efforts to define degenerate music; the promotion of race hatred and warfare through film, architecture and public assemblies; visual iconography and style; views of the racially ideal garden and landscape; portrayal and reception of art and culture abroad; the treatment of exiled artists; and issues of territory, conquest and cult. Anyone studying the history of Nazi Germany or the role of the arts in nationalist projects should benefit from this book.

This book offers a response to the critique of traditional humanism, and particularly its cultural dimension, that has been at the heart of intellectual discourse of the past decade. In simple, clear language, Richard Etlin articulates the nature of aesthetic experience through analysis of works in a wide variety of media, including painting, sculpture, architecture, drawing, literature and dance. Establishing categories for determining value in the arts and letters, Etlin also explores the operations of the creative process in a discussion of artistic genius, reaffirming the transcendent moral and enduring qualities in great works of art. Etlin offers, moreover, a critique of the fundamental premises of the post-structuralist thinkers, including Jacques Derrida, Stanley Fish, Hayden White, Pierre Bourdieu, and Edward W. Said, whose work is placed within the context of modern intellectual history.