Neo-Gothic Style Research Articles

The Maritain Factor: Taking Religion into Interwar Modernism ed. by Rajesh Heynickx and Jan De Maeyer (review)

Maritain Factor: Taking Religion into Interwar Modernism. Edited by Rajesh Heynickx and Jan De Maeyer. [KADOC Studies on Religion, Culture and Society, 7.] (Leuven: Leuven University Press. Distrib. Cornell University Press. 2010. Pp. 211. $42.50 paperback. ISBN 978-90-5867-714-3.)This strong collection of essays fills an important niche in Maritain studies. Through its consideration of the interwar period during which Jacques and Raisa Maritain first launched their apostolate to culture, these authors do much to illuminate the interplay of the aesthetic, religious, philosophical, and political aspects of the crucial decades preceding World War II. Maritain works best known to American readers were written during the two decades after World War II. Therefore, this collection of essays would assist such readers to appreciate the broader perspectives as well as the origins of Maritain's later work.The collection includes both overviews of the Maritains' work and studies of particular relationships and specific trends and movements. These essays are well informed, and they unearth new details about the important relationships of the age. Most of all, the authors develop fresh interpretations of their life and work. editor, Rajesh Heynickx, seeks to break with the schematic and myopic views (p. 14) of Maritain that either consign him to irrelevance because of his Catholicism and Thomism, as well as those who lionize him as the privileged way into the recovery of revitalized philosophy. What they both miss, he claims, is the concrete historical dimension that would make possible such a tremendous impact of a philosopher of fixed principles (p. 14) and eternal perspective on the practices and discourse of the modernists who celebrated change and fragmentariness.Exploring Maritain's own paradoxical claim to be both antimodern and ultramodern, the many essays in book considers how Maritain's Thomism and devout Catholicism led him to friendships and significant dialogue with many of the leaders of modern art, literature, and culture. Stephen Schloesser's The Rise of a Mystic Modernism presents a nice summary of the discoveries and hypothesis of his book Jazz Age Catholicism (Toronto, 2005). In sum, he explores how the very distinction between matter and form opened Maritain to a variety of ways of manifesting the form in diverse materials, style, and approaches. Rather than imitate the past in a neo-Gothic style, modernism could be seen as a way to explore new manifestations of the personal being, the search for God, and the conflict of good and evil. In addition, the modernist struggles with the guilt of war would lead to a reparation for the dead in fitting tribute to the young lives sacrificed in the horror of war. …

The Graystone International Jazz Museum: A Brief History

The Graystone Ballroom, once billed as “Detroit’s Million Dollar Ballroom,” was one of the most popular ballrooms in the nation in the 1920s and early 1930s. Located at Woodward and Canfield, the Graystone was the city’s largest ballroom, handling up to 3,000 patrons on its dance floors and balconies.1 The building was designed in a neoGothic style by renowned architect Rupert W. Koch, though the space was originally intended for a large restaurant called “The Chinese Gardens.” After the original owners pulled out in 1922 jazz bandleader Jean Goldkette, along with Charles Horvath, stepped in and turned the building into a ballroom. Covered in polished gray terra cotta, the original plan called for ten stories though it ultimately stood at just half that. In 1928 an adjacent space called Graystone Gardens opened, allowing patrons to enjoy entertainment outside of the venue. In keeping with its reputation as the most popular dance spot in the city, the Graystone commanded a stellar musical lineup. Nearly every popular jazz musician of the era performed there: Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and a host of other jazz greats. At one point the ballroom’s house band featured legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, and both Goldkette’s Orchestra and the predominantly African American McKinney’s Cotton Pickers became nationally renowned while playing at the Graystone.2 Although African American bands performed at the Graystone the institution was largely segregated, as were most major entertainment venues during this era. The Graystone, like other ballrooms, had theme nights: Wednesdays were “Boy Meets Girl Night” and Monday nights catered to African American audiences. The Monday night dances at the

Neogothic Park Pavilions and Utility Constructions in the Russian Empire XIX Century

The publication is devoted to development of neogothic architecture in Russian Empire. The little-known facts concerning features of a shaping of architectural forms in neogothic stylistic of the XIX century are considered. The comparative analysis of domestic and foreign monuments of architecture of neogothic style is carried out. Features of development of neogothic park pavilions and utility constructions are accented.

Architecture of Neogothic Castles, Palaces, Estates, Mansions and Profitable Houses in the Russian Empire XIX Century

The publication is devoted to development of neogothic architecture in Russia. The little-known facts concerning features of a shaping of architectural forms in neogothic stylistic of the XIX century are considered. The comparative analysis of domestic and foreign monuments of architecture of neogothic style is carried out. Features of development of neogothiccastles, palaces, estates, mansions and profitable houses are accented.

Neogothic Public and Industrial Buildings in the Russian Empire XIX Century

The publication is devoted to development of neogothic architecture in Russia. The little-known facts concerning features of a shaping of architectural forms in neogothic stylistics of the XIX century are considered. The comparative analysis of domestic and foreign monuments of architecture of neogothic style is carried out. Features of development of domestic neogothic public and industrial buildings are accented.

The Chapel of La Misericordia in the Quarter of Flores, Buenos Aires

One of the most interesting areas of research of the Gothic Revival in Argentina is the study of chapels built for the use of religious schools’ communities. Among these, the Chapel of La Misericordia helped to determine the scope and characteristics of the neo-Gothic style in Argentina. The windows are a recreation of the Gothic openings. Their decorative motifs derive from Winchester style manuscripts, while the figures clearly show Pre-Raphaelite reminiscences. This apparent aesthetic paradox conveys a message unchanged for centuries in a traditional medium such as a neo-Gothic cover, although adapted to the sentimental sensitivity for a girls’ school chapel. In this article we will focus on the iconographic analyses of the astounding stained-glass windows crafted in the 1930s by the Tiroler Glasmalerei Anstalt of Innsbruck.

건축가 발타르의 건축 이론과 작품에서의 이중성

This study examines two aspects of the architectural theory and works of Louis-Pierre Baltard (1764-1846), famous for his neoclassical architecture. Firstly, he was a theorist and professor at <TEX>${\acute{E}}$</TEX>cole des Beaux-Arts, supporting the classical expression of architecture in opposition to the neo-Gothic style, which was a rising trend at that time. Secondly, he was a functionalist regarding architectural organization, particularly in penitentiary architecture, in which domain he was one of the first specialists. Our standpoint is that this disaccord was not an internal contradiction on the part of the architect but a difference in two sensibilities corresponding to two external conditions of his architectural work. The aim of the study is to determine the ways in which the early 19th century fostered two architectural currents-the classical grammar of exterior expression and the functional organization of architectural space-that preceded the emergence of the styles as neo-Gothic, Art nouveau in the late 19th century and notably the Modern Movement in the early 20th century.

Canadian Architecture and Nationalism: From Vernacular to Deco

The debates about national and local architecture in Canada go as far as the construction of the first permanent structures. The young country had to invent its native architectural tradition and at the same time to mitigate European influences. Introducing the notion of longing – or nostalgia – into the debate on Canadian design and architecture this study argues that European grandeur, innovations as well as financial and cultural magnitude often played an important role in the desire to create artistic projects including public and residential buildings. The interest in the Gothic revival and the forging of the Neo-Gothic style can be tied to a nostalgic feeling for the British Isles (their land of origin) and also for the utopian notions of unalienated artistic production during the Romanesque and Gothic periods championed by British philosophers Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852) and John Ruskin (1919-1900). The cultural horizons of those who participated in the forging of the national style included both the notion of modernity and its opposite (the anti-modern), the dream of the new but also the dream of the old. The article argues that such a complex inspiration is at the core of any modernist production, for it brings together and blurs the modern and anti-modern, the old and the new, and by doing so, it generates constant innovation. At the core of forging the nationalist style, there is also a desire to incorporate European history and heritage, not to negate or reject it. Finally, it argues that Art Deco became the vehicle that helped to popularize the ideas of modernity propagated by avant-garde artists and architects.

木曽川桃山水力発電所の建築について

The hydraulic power stations, as going up the valleys in early 20th century, were confronted with a scenic problem and were obliged to be suitable to the scenary. Shiro SATO, an architect, was invited to design these buildings on Kiso River. The building of Momoyama power station (1923) was i built in Neo-Gothic style in reinforced concrete, but the outer surfaces of which were remained to be bare concrete as cast. This somewhat curious feature is supposed to have been an attempt by the architect, aiming to establish a style of modern architecture. It also seems to symbolize the situation of Japanese architecture in 1920s.