Before and After the End of Time : Architecture and the Year 1000

The end of the worldand of timewas expected by many to occur in the year 1000. This was based on references in the Bible, which also described in considerable architectural detail the Heavenly City of Jerusalem that was to come. The essays in this book look at the contrast between the heavenly architecture of prophecy and the Romanesque architecture that did appear. At the turn of the first millennium, spiritual and historical notions of time were held simultaneously. The powerful imagery of an ideal, translucent kingdom of heaven permeated the European imagination at the same time that the massive style of Romanesque architecture began to flourish. The essay "The Human Architect..." serves as an excellent introduction to Romanesque architecture with its revival of cut-stone masonry and the technological revolution it began. It delineates its links to classical antiquity and points out its innovations. Other essays focus on references to God as the divine architect, on the precious stones of which the Heavenly City is built, architectural photography, and the influences of both Romanesque architecture and the imagery of the ideal city on architects and scholars. They bring to life some of the most powerful and enduring ideas in western European cultural tradition. This book is illustrated throughout in color and black and white. Numerous photographs, drawings, and plans illustrate the exteriors, interiors, and sculptural details of Romanesque architecture. A series of lithographs from Odilon Redon's Apocalypse series evoke the Medieval imagination. 30 color illustrations, 51 black-and-white illustrations.

Smith (architectural history, Harvard Graduate School of Design) curated this intriguing exhibition of medieval architecture, its creation and study, and the Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, for which this book provides accompanying essays (it's not a full catalog). Three of the essays, on Europeans in 1000 and their notions of the Apocalypse, architects, the heavenly Jerusalem, and God as divine architect, are by Smith; the remaining essays are on medieval stone construction, architectural photography and the study of early medieval art at Harvard (both by noted architectural historian James Ackerman), and the design process behind the exhibition. Highlights of the show, including Odilon Redon's lithograph series of the Apocalypse, are reproduced in good quality b&w and one full-page color reproduction. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)