PriArc examines the relationship between architecture, print culture, and uses of the past in modern Europe and beyond.

Printing the Past. Architecture, Print Culture, and Uses of the Past in Modern Europe (PriArc) is an international, multidisciplinary research project funded by the Humanities in the European Research Area Program (HERA). Looking primarily at architectural debate from the 18th to early 20th century, we study the ways in which new notions of the past were negotiated and constructed through architecture. This negotiation took place not only in stone but on paper, not least in the illustrated press emerging from the 1830s onwards, spreading architectural texts and images to new audiences in Europe, European colonies, and USA.
Montage entitled 'The Most Famous Buildings in the World', showing a variety of well-known architectural landmarks from across the globe

PriArc

Printing the Past. Architecture, Print Culture, and Uses of the Past in Modern Europe (PriArc) is an international, multidisciplinary research project funded by the Humanities in the European Research Area Program (HERA). PriArc examines the relationship between architecture, print culture, and uses of the past in modern Europe and beyond. Looking primarily at architectural debate […]
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Transference

With the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, not only the geographical but also the temporal map of Europe was redrawn. The new “historical-mindedness” of the 19th century is particularly noticeable when looking at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. With students coming from all over the world, the École’s influence spread over Europe, Eurasia and the Americas, continuing well into the 1960s. […]
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Legitimization

The new awareness of historical specificity emerging around 1800 entailed an increasing recognition of the geographical and chronological contingency of human culture and sparked new questions regarding historical development. When the past could no longer be seen as stable, uniform and universal, it seemed all the more urgent to understand the nature and causes of historical change. […]
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Preservation

Cultural heritage is a modern invention, emerging in the aftermath of the French revolution. It involved preserving actual monuments, of course, but surprisingly often, the rescue operation took place on paper, sparking questions regarding matter and discourse, durability and ephemerality, copy and original, which are still at the core of contemporary conservation and preservation efforts. […]
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Projection

The rise of popular print culture in the 19th century came during a period of massive civic upheaval, when infrastructural projects of unprecedented size and complexity were ripping through the physical and social fabric of urban metropolises. PriArc’s UCL-led initiative, Projection, seeks to understand the operation of this narrative of progress, mediated through printed visions of architecture and institutional collection strategies, in the past and in the present. […]
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‘A City of Slime Only Lacking Humankind’. Victor Hugo’s Paris of the Sewers

https://www.oasejournal.nl/en/Issues

PriArc PhD Ben Vandenput publishes an article on Victor Hugo and the Paris sewer system in the next issue of OASE Journal of Architecture, no. 104 on ‘The Urban Household of Metabolism’. “‘A City of Slime Only Lacking Humankind’. Victor Hugo’s Paris of the Sewers”, argues that Hugo’s view of the Paris sewers in Les Misérables provides a […]
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Repetition, Revival, Reconstruction: The Visual Culture of Architecture 1750-1900

JUNE 14, 2019
University of Cambridge
http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/28479I

Together with Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge, and the ‘Re-‘ interdisciplinary research network, the PriArc project organizes the open conference ‘Repetition, Revival, Reconstruction: The Visual Culture of Architecture 1750-1900’. The conference is organized by PriArc professor Caroline van Eck and postdoc Maude Bass-Krueger. Speakers include […]
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The Pen and the Chisel: Outlining Ancient Egypt for a Modern European Future

JUNE 26, 2019
Royal Drawing School, Shoreditch, London
https://royaldrawingschool.org/lectures-events/pen-and-chisel-outlining-ancient-egypt-modern-european-future/

PriArc PhD Eirik Bøhn gives the lecture “The Pen and the Chisel: Outlining Ancient Egypt for a Modern European Future” at the Royal Drawing School at Shoreditch, London, 26 June 2019. Bøhn explores the role of drawings and engravings in the Napoleonic survey of Egypt, arguing that these images of Egyptian antiquity pointed as much […]
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PriArc book awarded design prize!

https://www.grafill.no/avb/vinnere/arets-vakreste-boker/faktabok/faktabok-voksen/images-of-egypt

The lavishly illustrated volume Images of Egypt was awarded the diploma for the most beautiful book of the year at the prestigious award ceremony organized by the Norwegian Association for Visual Communication, GRAFILL. Aslak Gurholt from the design bureau Yokoland has designed the book, which was praised by the jury for its classic yet contemporary flair, […]
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Images of Egypt. The curators’ take

SEPTEMBER 20-DECEMBER 20, 2018
Historical Museum, Oslo

In July 1798, General Bonaparte invaded Egypt with an army of soldiers, engineers and scholars. One month later, Admiral Nelson destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile. Situated between Europe and India, Egypt now became the Middle East for European empires. Since then, images of Egyptian landscapes and monuments have circulated as […]