František Schmoranz Jr. and the Reception of Islamic Architecture in Central Europe

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60461071%3A_____%2F22%3AN0000006" target="_blank" >RIV/60461071:_____/22:N0000006 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.umeni-art.cz/cz/issue-detail/4-3aePCE" target="_blank" >https://www.umeni-art.cz/cz/issue-detail/4-3aePCE</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

František Schmoranz Jr. and the Reception of Islamic Architecture in Central Europe

Original language description

The Islamic past and present only became a fundamental topological part of the West-ern image of Egypt in the latter half of the 19th century. This was in part due to the de-velopment of Oriental studies as a research discipline, the wide range of travel possibili-ties, and the social and cultural transformation of the Middle East as it sought its mod-ern identity. Islamic forms that had previously been overlooked began to assert their presence as means of architectural representation at world exhibitions, where they com-peted with replicas of ancient monuments. One of the actors in this process was the Aus-trian architect of Czech origin František (Franz) Schmoranz Jr. (1845–1892), who de-signed the Egyptian pavilion at the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. Schmoranz became thor-oughly acquainted with Islamic architecture during repeated stays lasting several months in Cairo, and upon his return worked in Vienna as a respected expert and pro-moter. He organised several exhibitions of Islamic architecture for the Austrian Muse-um of Arts and Industry, and created a collection of glass vessels decorated with oriental arabesques for the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1878. Though he did not publish any research outcomes, as an architect and designer he was one of the pioneers of arche-ologically based Orientalism. Unlike most Europeans, his appreciation of Islamic art was not restricted to two-dimensional decoration. Schmoranz significantly expanded the radius of the possible reception of the Orient by introducing the Western public to the residential qualities of the Arab home, thus satisfying the growing need for ‘interiority’ in the industrial society of the 19th century. This article deepens and clarifies our knowledge of the life, work and ambitions of this artist, primarily by focusing on the issue of cultural transfer in connection with the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. It seeks to answer the question of how the building designed by Schmoranz met the expectations aroused in Central Europe by contact with the Orient. In addition, by means of an in-vestigation into the reception of Islamic material culture, the author wishes to contribute to the discussion of alternative forms of Orientalist thinking, which has up till now been predominantly the domain of linguistic and literary research.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60401 - Arts, Art history

Project

<a href="/en/project/DG18P02OVV041" target="_blank" >DG18P02OVV041: Architecture and Czech politics in the 19th to 21st century</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Umění

ISSN

0049-5123

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

LXIX

Issue of the periodical within the volume

4

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

22

Pages from-to

416-437

UT code for WoS article

000830148400024

EID of the result in the Scopus database

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