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Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Re-Discovering Antiquity Through The Dreams Of Poliphilus

by Esteban Alejandro Cruz

Formats

Softcover
$96.00
Softcover
$96.00

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 11/15/2006

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 8.25x11
Page Count : 256
ISBN : 9781412053242

About the Book

Five hundred years ago, an operatic tale of unrequited love and female erotica, launched a more available and sustaining passion in Renaissance architecture. What has remained inaccessible, however, is a complete understanding of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, the text and haunting woodcuts that fascinated European civilization upon its publication in Venice in 1499, inspiring artists, architects, and patrons ever since. The importance of the image has always been a fundamental aspect of iconographic, human communication, and it is the vivid imagery described by the dreamer in search of his lost love and the introduction of more than 160 beautifully, haunting illustrations that has made Hypnerotomachia Poliphili as fascinating today as it was in the late fifteenth century when the Press of Aldus Manutius first published this graphically exquisite book. The story of Poliphilus, whose lust for the indifferent Polia is rivaled only by the carnal pleasures he encounters in the incredible architecture, gardens, and landscapes of his sleeping imaginations, has inspired centuries of architects to create similar sensuality in the real-life buildings and gardens they designed. The cryptic messages, fantastic architecture, innovative graphic designs and layouts of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili have moved and stirred western culture, prompting translators then and now to seek richer understanding of the author's (or authors') intent. It remains uncertain who wrote the book, but the writer — singular or plural — seemed to want to produce a very spatial and graphic architectural treatise. This text was too visionary for its time, and it was published during a crucial turning point in history. The late 1400s in Rome were not very safe for the intellectually and scientifically curious. Renaissance academies that once flourished under the court of Nicholas V became underground collegiate societies dispersed under the following rule of the Borgia Papacy. The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was itself discreetly published in Venice, which at that time was an attractive city for its innovative interests and developments, far away from the Papal States. Although I am not attempting to argue as to who wrote the original manuscript, one couldn't help as to suggest that it was a group effort, an innovative way of working together that truly expresses the renaissance and humanist spirit of its time. Since the Hypnerotomachia came about within this context, the visions and wonders described in the original Aldine manuscript are presented in an overwhelming play of philological and archeological allegories. In order to have a better understanding of what this visionary incunabulum contains, I am, with my project, proposing to use graphical and architectural forms of critical analysis instead of literary studies traditionally associated with scholarly work in the past (whose works I mention in the first chapter "methods"). For this reason, I am proposing: Formas Imaginisque Poliphili, which means "imaginary models of Poliphilus" revealed. MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIPHILI By utilizing the technology of today with the history and traditions of the past, I hoped to develop a first series of digital, artist reconstructions of the architecture and landscapes described in this enigmatic book of the early renaissance. Since I was dealing with building and environmental design, the passages were quite familiar to those of a basic design background: research, vignettes, scale-measurement-proportion, practical simulations, etc., while at the same time, employing experience and methods developed during my previous work with re-constructing historic Bologna. In addition to this, literary resources such as the works of Leon Battista Alberti, as well as the works of contemporary experts, were reconsidered in order to arrive at a critical and reg

About the Author

Esteban Cruz holds a Bachelors of Architecture degree from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, with post-graduate studies at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura Venezia (IUAV) in Venice, Italy. Since 1996, he has worked on projects in the fields of architecture, urban planning, and conservation, and is currently project manager for an Italian-American firm in Milan engaged primarily in international practice. His interest in history and computers started in 1998 as design consultant for the development of a prototype virtual museum (N.u.M.E.), for the historic city center of Bologna, Italy. Coordinated by the University of Bologna, this project involved historic re-constructions of important monumental areas of the city from the XII to the XVII centuries. It was displayed for the first time at the international conference of IT and computer innovation, SIGGRAPH1999 in Los Angeles. This and other contributions to the fields of Historic and Cultural Heritage, has lead Esteban to be an active member of the International Council of Museums(ICOM).

His interest and research activities dealing with the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili began in 1995 while still as an undergraduate. Since then, he is continuously active in developing graphical reconstructions that "illustrate" the architecture and landscapes encrypted in this Renaissance text. Esteban is an associate member of both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI). He is married and lives between San Francisco, California and Milan, Italy.